DoCS has long had an open dialog surrounding security. In that tradition, over the next 4 Mondays, I will send out emails discussing current trends that are ripped straight from today’s headlines. Some, you may have read. Others, I am sure you have not. We will cover a broad range of stories that could affect you both personally and professionally. I invite you all to join the conversation.
To start off, a beyond the headlines segment: This morning, my father received a voicemail from my brother. This in and of itself is unusual. The message simply stated” Dad, Call me back.” This is also unusual as he has been known to talk paint off walls and is seldom so concise.
I asked my dad what number he called from. He did not recognize the number but read it off to me. In the meantime, I texted my brother to find out if he had called our dad. He had not and is extremely sick with no voice. <insert ominous music here>
As your humble servant, I endeavor to give you the Paul Harvey/Rest of the story here. However, the people making these calls have a challenging time staying in character when a different family member returns their call... and after 20 years, still does not pay bail money. At this point they had a few choice words for me and hung up, refusing to take my call again.
Overall, this ended in the best way possible. I got a story to lead off this year’s campaign. The scammer did not need to endure the dressing down my father would have given them. And lastly, my father did not need more blood pressure medication.
The moral of the story is: use known good numbers when situations like this arise. Do not be pressured into making rash decisions. Finally, share your experiences so we all can learn from them.