April 24, 2025 • 28 mins
Attorney Bernie Brown has prosecuted thousands of fraudsters. This episode delivers 12 practical, logic-first lessons from someone who’s lived it. From avoiding fake customer service numbers to spotting phishing attempts, this is your anti-scam playbook, told with honesty, humility, and hard-earned insight.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:11):
Welcome all to Bernie Brown'sdelight where legal mindse both
day and night in uncertain times.
So.
Welcome to the Logical Lawyer Podcastwith attorney Bernie Brown, retired Los
(00:35):
Angeles assistant city attorney withdecades of legal experience and also
extensive leadership experience servingin top bar associations like the John
M Langston Bar Association and theAssociation of Black City Attorneys.
Bernie is powered by a deep personaltestimony that took him from South
(00:56):
central LA to the courtrooms.
In downtown la Bernie divesinto today's toughest legal,
social, and spiritual issues.
He brings facts, answers, and sharpanalysis to cut through all of the noise.
So if.
You are ready for a nononsense perspective.
Then let's get started withyour host attorney, Bernie
(01:18):
Brown, the Logical Lawyer.
My name is Bernie Brown.
This is the Logical Lawyer Podcast wherewe are committed to truth and logic.
Today we're.
(01:40):
And I am gonna tell you about a new fraudscheme that's out there, a new scam.
And I'm gonna tell you,unfortunately, I'm gonna tell you
how I got scammed by the new scam.
Yes, me.
The retired 29 year prosecutor scams.
(02:01):
You know, over the years our officeprosecuted thousands of fraud cases.
I saw thousands of them.
4 84 penal code section 4 84,penny theft penal code section
4 87, brand theft code section.
4 74 false or forged messages.
Penal code section 4 97 receive receivingstolen property penal code section 5 0
(02:28):
2, unauthorized access to a computer, pencode section five 30 false personation,
you know, code section 5 28 0.5 falsepersonation through the internet web.
You know, on and on and on.
Uh, defrauding a person outtamoney penal code section 5 32.
(02:51):
But I mean, you gotta catch him first,and that can be quite difficult.
And yes, even the prosecutor, withall his knowledge, training wisdom
and, and experience can get scammed.
So let me tell you how I gotscammed and, and give you
some logical lessons and tips.
(03:13):
To avoid getting scam.
Okay, so lemme tell you the story.
It started off with an unauthorized accesson my credit card, an unauthorized charge,
I should say, on my credit card I had it.
It was from Regency theaters.
And, uh, you know, what happenedwas I saw this charge and
(03:35):
I said, well, what is this?
I, I didn't charge anything throughRegency, and so I called Regency.
I tried to call the number, uh, Icalled the number that was on, uh, my
credit card number on the credit card.
And when I called that number,unfortunately I couldn't
get through to, uh, uh.
(03:58):
A, a live person.
Now let me just start off withlesson number one, and we're
going to, we're gonna name thelessons as soon as they occur.
All the experts say to avoidfraud, to avoid being scammed,
call the company directly.
(04:19):
And so that's what I did.
Okay?
So, so far I'm doing pretty good.
I called the company directly.
Unfortunately, the company did notallow you to speak to a live agent.
They referred you to a webpage and youhave to fill out a form and you have to
wait, and then if they don't get backto you, you wait more on and on and on.
(04:42):
So I called that number.
I was frustrated.
Because I didn't get tospeak with a live person.
So what did I do?
I went on the internet.
I conducted a basic Google typedin the Google line, Google search.
Uh, I asked to get direct customerservice phone number for Regis,
(05:08):
and sure enough, Google pops up.
Looks like it says ai.
Ai, that's where it seemed likethe source was, and it gave me a
customer service contact phone number.
Now I'm happy 'cause I'm thinking, oh boy,I'm gonna get to talk to a live person.
Okay, now we get to lesson number two.
(05:32):
Lesson number two.
Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot trustthe numbers listed on the internet.
I called the number and got aperson who answered as regency.
Okay, so I think I'm doing good, butwait a minute, we get the lesson number.
(05:53):
Three, uh, the person identified himself.
As Regency now, if anyone callsyou or if you ever calling
a company, ask them first.
Don't identify or don'tsay to them or ask them.
(06:14):
Is this Regency uh, theaters?
Don't ask them, is this the company?
'cause then they'll say, oh yes it is.
But in any event, it seemed to me, mybest of my recollection that he identified
himself as being, uh, a representativeof customer service agent for Regency.
(06:37):
Okay.
But it was interesting.
I was, I was immediately suspiciousbecause the person answering the
phone had a thick foreign accent.
Sounded like it was like fromIndia, a Middle East, middle Eastern
accent, less than number four.
(06:58):
Be aware of persons with foreign accents.
Okay?
This person said he was fromRegency's main office, and here
was the thing that got me to thisbecause he knew my phone number.
Well, he could have gotten thatjust by looking at the phone number
(07:19):
I was calling from, but he did.
He recited my address.
Okay, so he obviously hadsome kind of access that would
tell him my, oh, my address.
So I started telling him about thecharge and, Hey, you, you know, Regency,
there's a charge on my credit card.
It's for Regency.
Oh, by the way, he, he said that hewas from the Regency main office.
(07:45):
So I started telling him, I said,you put this charge on my phone.
And I don't know why you put it on there.
I mean, not on my phone,on my credit card.
I don't know why you put it onthere and it should be removed.
Can you tell me what it's for?
And so the guy, the person onthe phone, he says that he can.
(08:07):
Refund my money.
He said he looked into it.
He said I was looking at it on thecomputer and he can refund my money, but
he said he needed my name, my date ofbirth, and my credit card information.
Oh boy.
Where did my logic go?
(08:28):
So.
Lesson number five.
Number five, never give your creditcard information except maybe for the
last four digits of your credit card.
Uh, you know, 'cause theydon't need your date of birth.
They don't need the expirationnumber, and they certainly, most
(08:50):
definitely don't need the secret.
The, the three digit, uh, codenumber, but hold the, uh, the logical
lawyer, uh, uh, thinking, in fact,believing vehemently strongly believing
(09:12):
that he's speaking with a regency.
Gave him the information.
Big flaw.
Okay?
But before I did it, I questionedthis need for the information.
I said, wait a minute.
What are you talking about?
You don't need this, this information.
For me to give me a refund.
(09:33):
Shouldn't you alreadyhave this information?
And, and he's, he's like, he saidto me, absolutely, unequivocally,
he said, I cannot make you refund ofyour money unless you give me this
information so that I can refund yourmoney back into your credit card.
(09:55):
He insisted that for me to get a refund,I had to give him this information.
And like I said, because I believedthat I had called directly into
the Regency company, I felt asthough he was entrusted person that
I could give the information to.
(10:16):
So, like I said, I gave himthe credit card information.
Then this happened.
He said to me, you would think that thatwould be the end of the story, right?
I already messed up, but let's keepit going because it gets worse.
Logic is flying out the window.
So he said that he needed to meto sign a consent form before
(10:43):
he could return my money.
And I am like, uh, you needme to sign a consent form?
Can't you just return it?
No.
He said, no, I, I gotta have this form.
You gotta sign this form.
And he said, in order to sign the form, hesaid, you gotta download certain software.
(11:03):
Oh boy.
It's only getting worse.
Lesson number six.
You don't need to downloadany software to your phone to
authorize a refund to your account.
You don't need to do that.
But Logic flying out the window, Idownloaded the software, which was
(11:25):
a program that would have allowed.
Him access to my phone and the ability totransfer funds from my phone to himself.
Boy, this is terrible.
So I downloaded the software andthen it said to give him these codes,
(11:50):
and I said, okay, I'm embarrassed.
How can you call me the logicallawyer if I'm making all of easy.
Illogical mistakes, but letlet it, let's keep it going.
'cause you're learning from this,you're learning from my mistakes
as we all learn from other people'smistakes so that we don't get taken.
So anyway, I, I, I, there there was abutton and it said, uh, that if you press
(12:14):
this button, then you would authorizehim to, uh, have access to your phone.
Lesson number seven.
Never, ever download software toauthorize a refund or anything
else, or to give anyone accessto take control of your phone.
(12:40):
It says right there, it says, clickingon this button will give, authorize this
person this to have access to your phone.
What?
So I refuse.
Finally, logic started to kick in.
A logical lawyer finally started to thinkwith a clearer mind, and his logic finally
started to infuse his decision making.
(13:03):
So I refused to click thebutton and I said, yeah, I, I
need to speak to a supervisor.
I said, I need to speakto a supervisor right now.
Oh, I think I'm being logical.
I think I'm being tough.
So anyway, anotherperson comes on the line.
And once again, this person, onceagain had a strong Indian, uh,
(13:24):
India, middle Eastern accent, andthe person had four English grammar.
And, you know, and one of theother things that stood out to me,
they kept calling me Mr. Bernie.
Not Mr. Brown.
Mr. Bernie.
Well, Mr.
Bernie, Mr. Bernie.
(13:46):
So God, now we come tolesson number eight.
Be aware of poor grammar and poor English.
This can be an indication thatyou're dealing with someone
outside of the country.
Even worse, because if they get accessto your phone and they wire the money
to themselves, you are nowhere gonna,you're never gonna see that money again,
(14:09):
and there's no way to prosecute 'em.
You can't get 'em, and thenyour money's just gone.
So I decided to run a little test on him.
So I asked him, where,where, where are you located?
Where are you at?
And I guess he could see that I wasin California, but the phone number I
called said it was a New York number.
(14:30):
So he said, California.
That didn't match because I,'cause the phone number, like I
said, that I originally called,said it was a New York number.
So what did I do?
I told him, I said, lookman, I'm hanging up.
(14:52):
I said, you know, he said,he kept me sistering.
I said, I'm gonna hang up andI'm gonna call the main office.
And he said, you have you,you call the main office.
Whatcha talking about, this is themain office I'm trying give you.
What do you, you know, do youwant your money back, sir?
Do you want your money back?
(15:14):
Oh man.
And so what I did was Iimmediately just hung up.
And I uninstalled the software.
I went to my phone apps, looked inthere and there was that software, and
I pressed Uninstalled to clear it out.
(15:35):
That could have been theend of the story buddy.
He wasn't Gear Up.
He had found a sucker who hadgiven him all my credit card
information and he was determinedto take it all the way to the max.
Glad he didn't, might have beenable to drain all my accounts.
Oh, all those millions of dollars.
Well, maybe not millions.
So what happens?
(15:56):
He calls me back.
My phone ranges, him calling.
What did he say?
Mr. Bernie, I really wannahelp you, Mr. Bernie.
I've been working on this and I'mtrying to get you your money back.
I wanna give you your money back, sir.I'm working on this and I'm going to
give you your money back, but you gottawork with me and you gotta just work.
(16:17):
Wait with, just listen while I'm here.
Just wait that I'm working on it.
Just stay on the linewhile I'm working on it.
Now what the point was, is he wasn'taware that I had uninstalled that software
that I had because I think what he wasdoing was he was trying to access it
(16:37):
so he could access my, my informationso he could get inside my phone.
And once they get inside yourphone, they can block you out.
You won't be able to use your own phone,you won't be able to call anybody.
They can access all your accounts.
'cause a lot of your accounts are on your.
Phone connected through your phone.
(16:58):
Lesson number nine, don't installsoftware on your phone and
uninstall any malware immediately.
And number 10, don't stayon the phone with them.
Don't stay on the line.
Hang up immediately.
(17:20):
So that's what I did.
I hung up immediately, blew amessage, no byebye, come outta
here and hung up the phone.
And you might imagine what happened.
A few minutes later I got atext message from my bank.
(17:40):
Notifying me of suspiciouscharges on my credit card.
This was just a few minutes later.
Thank God the banks were really on theirjob and they notified me that there had
been two suspicious charges on my account.
I went into my account, which I wouldn'thave been able to if I had given them
(18:00):
access to my account, but I went into myaccount and looked at 'em on the phone and
looked at those charges, and sure enough,those were charges that I had not made.
They had just been, uh,made against my account.
So what is lesson number 11?
Authorize your bank to immediatelynotify you if any suspicious
(18:24):
activity occurs on your account.
That was very useful.
It was helpful.
Little bit late, butthat's not their fault.
That's mine.
Lesson number 11, immediatelycontact your bank.
Your bank's fraudulent fraud, Ishould say, department to notify
(18:47):
them of any unauthorized claim andfile a claim as soon as possible.
Now, obviously what they do is theyimmediately close out that credit card,
that that stops any more fraudulentcharges, and you can put a, an alert
on your, on your bank account and onall your other accounts so that, uh,
(19:12):
they'll be on the, on the lookout towatch, to make sure that there aren't
any other, uh, uh, questionable charges.
What transfers on anyof your other accounts?
So.
Notify them, get them to notify youimmediately for any future issues
(19:33):
and, uh, notify their bank fraud unit.
Okay, lesson number 12.
Be careful.
Be careful about giving outyour credit card information,
and I'm the logical lawyer.
Be logical.
(19:57):
Be logical, be smart.
Here's some other tips toavoid getting defrauded.
When you, when you banks and yourmortgage companies or whatever, when
they ask for you for a password, createa complex password, and they, they, and
(20:19):
don't use the same password over andover again because then if they get into
your phone and they find one passwordand you've used it for all your other.
Well accounts, then they'lljust say, oh, guess what?
We got him to use that same passwordand get into other accounts.
So don't use the same password.
(20:40):
And you create complex passwords.
That's with numbers and symbols and,and gadgets and everything else.
Uh, always if you're going give somebodyyour information, do it on credit card.
You can later file a, a claim withthe bank, with the credit card company
(21:06):
and they will refund your moneyif they do determine that it was
a fraudulent uh, scam transaction.
Another tip, be aware of textsor phone impersonations, scams.
Uh, if somebody contacts you and says,oh, you won a bunch of money, or,
(21:29):
oh, you won a prize, or, oh, you oweus all this money, or they call you
and they say, oh, you've got chargesagainst you for, uh, old fees or
whatever, or somebody's ordered a.
Computer and used your name.
You, you listen, listen, listen, listen.
(21:49):
Just hang up the phone.
Don't even talk to them.
Uh, and, and definitely don't call numbersthat appear in popups on your phone.
Don't even call those numbers.
Listen, you know, so manyof us have been hacked.
Notify Facebook immediately if youraccount has been hacked, because what
(22:15):
they're gonna do is they'll use youridentity to ask people for money,
and then the people will bethinking it is from you and
they'll be contacting you and.
It won't be you.
Uh, all the experts say,don't speak with scammers.
(22:36):
Don't even answer the phone.
It's better if you don't answer the phone.
If somebody calls you from an unidentifiednumber, you know what the, a new scam is.
They can revo record your voice anduse your voice to scam others, telling
others that it's you or making othersbelieve that it's actually you, uh,
(23:01):
making the, it's coming from you.
They have AI now and AIis just getting worse.
It's just getting moreworse and worse and worse.
I hate to talk people with poor.
Anyway.
Yeah, AI is, is escalating the game for,for criminals, but they can impersonate
(23:24):
your voice and once they impersonateyour voice, they can impersonate you.
And they can use that impersonated voiceto defraud others or to defraud you.
So don't even talk to them anddon't give them the time to be
(23:45):
while you're talking to them.
They might be tryingto access your account.
Uh, through the internet,so don't even talk to them.
Never give anyone access to your phone.
Well, that's basic.
They can take over your phone andblock you out and access all your
(24:07):
information and accounts, everything.
They'll take over your phone.
Your bank won't even be ableto contact you, and you won't
be able to contact your bank.
Terrible.
So don't give, never give them access, anddon't give strangers your email address.
Your email address, because guess what?
(24:28):
Virtually all of your bankaccounts, all of your accounts,
all of your transactions, you areconnected to your email address.
So you don't want these criminalsto have your email address.
You know, those criminals were whenthey, when they probably, when they
said, oh, if they knew it, they, they,they got, they scam the prosecutors.
(24:51):
They're probably dancing on the tablesand they're probably in some foreign
country, thousands of miles away.
They know you can't do anything to it.
Not like we're gonna beable to prosecute him.
So the moral of the story is be smart.
Don't let 'em get you.
(25:12):
Keep your stuff safe.
You don't let them into your accounts.
Don't let 'em steal your money.
You work too hard for it.
You work too hard for it.
Be logical.
And be smart.
I welcome your comments at theLogical Lawyer at gmail com.
(25:36):
And my webpage is the Logical Attorney.
Me.
My book is a prosecutor's analysis ofPersonal supernatural experiences, and my
webpage is the supernatural attorney.net.
Now you're just saying, wait a minute.
He just gave me his Gmail.
Uh, okay.
(25:56):
Well, you set up a separate Gmailaccount, an independent one, a
separate email account that's notaccessible to your other accounts
so that people won't have access.
It's easy to do.
You can, you can just go onlineto, to Google mail or Gmail
(26:18):
or whatever, Yahoo, whatever.
And set up another,uh, Gmail, uh, account.
Okay.
Thank you for listening.
I, like I said, I welcome your comments.
I am the logical lawyer.
May the love of truth, knowledge,and logic liberate your mind.
(26:42):
God bless you and live long andprosper and don't get scammed.
Well, that's a wrap for thisepisode of The Logical Lawyer.
If you found this insightful, be sure tolike, follow, subscribe, leave a review,
and share it with others who appreciatestraight talk and sharp analysis.
(27:04):
I. Got a question or a topic forBernie, we'd love to hear from you.
Connect with bernie@thelogicallawyer.me.
That's at the Logicallawyer.me, and you've got it.
So until next time, stay informed.
Think critically, and as always.
Keep it logical.
Soon in each week,there's so much to learn.
(27:28):
The logical lawyer shares insights.
You'll earn case by case Wisdomhe'll impart with reason,
thought, and a whole lot of heart
with knowledge.
(27:56):
Where.
Welcome all to Bernie Brown'sdelight where legal mindse both
day and night in uncertain times.
So.
Welcome to the Logical Lawyer Podcastwith attorney Bernie Brown, retired Los
(00:35):
Angeles assistant city attorney withdecades of legal experience and also
extensive leadership experience servingin top bar associations like the John
M Langston Bar Association and theAssociation of Black City Attorneys.
Bernie is powered by a deep personaltestimony that took him from South
(00:56):
central LA to the courtrooms.
In downtown la Bernie divesinto today's toughest legal,
social, and spiritual issues.
He brings facts, answers, and sharpanalysis to cut through all of the noise.
So if.
You are ready for a nononsense perspective.
Then let's get started withyour host attorney, Bernie
(01:18):
Brown, the Logical Lawyer.
My name is Bernie Brown.
This is the Logical Lawyer Podcast wherewe are committed to truth and logic.
Today we're.
(01:40):
And I am gonna tell you about a new fraudscheme that's out there, a new scam.
And I'm gonna tell you,unfortunately, I'm gonna tell you
how I got scammed by the new scam.
Yes, me.
The retired 29 year prosecutor scams.
(02:01):
You know, over the years our officeprosecuted thousands of fraud cases.
I saw thousands of them.
4 84 penal code section 4 84,penny theft penal code section
4 87, brand theft code section.
4 74 false or forged messages.
Penal code section 4 97 receive receivingstolen property penal code section 5 0
(02:28):
2, unauthorized access to a computer, pencode section five 30 false personation,
you know, code section 5 28 0.5 falsepersonation through the internet web.
You know, on and on and on.
Uh, defrauding a person outtamoney penal code section 5 32.
(02:51):
But I mean, you gotta catch him first,and that can be quite difficult.
And yes, even the prosecutor, withall his knowledge, training wisdom
and, and experience can get scammed.
So let me tell you how I gotscammed and, and give you
some logical lessons and tips.
(03:13):
To avoid getting scam.
Okay, so lemme tell you the story.
It started off with an unauthorized accesson my credit card, an unauthorized charge,
I should say, on my credit card I had it.
It was from Regency theaters.
And, uh, you know, what happenedwas I saw this charge and
(03:35):
I said, well, what is this?
I, I didn't charge anything throughRegency, and so I called Regency.
I tried to call the number, uh, Icalled the number that was on, uh, my
credit card number on the credit card.
And when I called that number,unfortunately I couldn't
get through to, uh, uh.
(03:58):
A, a live person.
Now let me just start off withlesson number one, and we're
going to, we're gonna name thelessons as soon as they occur.
All the experts say to avoidfraud, to avoid being scammed,
call the company directly.
(04:19):
And so that's what I did.
Okay?
So, so far I'm doing pretty good.
I called the company directly.
Unfortunately, the company did notallow you to speak to a live agent.
They referred you to a webpage and youhave to fill out a form and you have to
wait, and then if they don't get backto you, you wait more on and on and on.
(04:42):
So I called that number.
I was frustrated.
Because I didn't get tospeak with a live person.
So what did I do?
I went on the internet.
I conducted a basic Google typedin the Google line, Google search.
Uh, I asked to get direct customerservice phone number for Regis,
(05:08):
and sure enough, Google pops up.
Looks like it says ai.
Ai, that's where it seemed likethe source was, and it gave me a
customer service contact phone number.
Now I'm happy 'cause I'm thinking, oh boy,I'm gonna get to talk to a live person.
Okay, now we get to lesson number two.
(05:32):
Lesson number two.
Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot trustthe numbers listed on the internet.
I called the number and got aperson who answered as regency.
Okay, so I think I'm doing good, butwait a minute, we get the lesson number.
(05:53):
Three, uh, the person identified himself.
As Regency now, if anyone callsyou or if you ever calling
a company, ask them first.
Don't identify or don'tsay to them or ask them.
(06:14):
Is this Regency uh, theaters?
Don't ask them, is this the company?
'cause then they'll say, oh yes it is.
But in any event, it seemed to me, mybest of my recollection that he identified
himself as being, uh, a representativeof customer service agent for Regency.
(06:37):
Okay.
But it was interesting.
I was, I was immediately suspiciousbecause the person answering the
phone had a thick foreign accent.
Sounded like it was like fromIndia, a Middle East, middle Eastern
accent, less than number four.
(06:58):
Be aware of persons with foreign accents.
Okay?
This person said he was fromRegency's main office, and here
was the thing that got me to thisbecause he knew my phone number.
Well, he could have gotten thatjust by looking at the phone number
(07:19):
I was calling from, but he did.
He recited my address.
Okay, so he obviously hadsome kind of access that would
tell him my, oh, my address.
So I started telling him about thecharge and, Hey, you, you know, Regency,
there's a charge on my credit card.
It's for Regency.
Oh, by the way, he, he said that hewas from the Regency main office.
(07:45):
So I started telling him, I said,you put this charge on my phone.
And I don't know why you put it on there.
I mean, not on my phone,on my credit card.
I don't know why you put it onthere and it should be removed.
Can you tell me what it's for?
And so the guy, the person onthe phone, he says that he can.
(08:07):
Refund my money.
He said he looked into it.
He said I was looking at it on thecomputer and he can refund my money, but
he said he needed my name, my date ofbirth, and my credit card information.
Oh boy.
Where did my logic go?
(08:28):
So.
Lesson number five.
Number five, never give your creditcard information except maybe for the
last four digits of your credit card.
Uh, you know, 'cause theydon't need your date of birth.
They don't need the expirationnumber, and they certainly, most
(08:50):
definitely don't need the secret.
The, the three digit, uh, codenumber, but hold the, uh, the logical
lawyer, uh, uh, thinking, in fact,believing vehemently strongly believing
(09:12):
that he's speaking with a regency.
Gave him the information.
Big flaw.
Okay?
But before I did it, I questionedthis need for the information.
I said, wait a minute.
What are you talking about?
You don't need this, this information.
For me to give me a refund.
(09:33):
Shouldn't you alreadyhave this information?
And, and he's, he's like, he saidto me, absolutely, unequivocally,
he said, I cannot make you refund ofyour money unless you give me this
information so that I can refund yourmoney back into your credit card.
(09:55):
He insisted that for me to get a refund,I had to give him this information.
And like I said, because I believedthat I had called directly into
the Regency company, I felt asthough he was entrusted person that
I could give the information to.
(10:16):
So, like I said, I gave himthe credit card information.
Then this happened.
He said to me, you would think that thatwould be the end of the story, right?
I already messed up, but let's keepit going because it gets worse.
Logic is flying out the window.
So he said that he needed to meto sign a consent form before
(10:43):
he could return my money.
And I am like, uh, you needme to sign a consent form?
Can't you just return it?
No.
He said, no, I, I gotta have this form.
You gotta sign this form.
And he said, in order to sign the form, hesaid, you gotta download certain software.
(11:03):
Oh boy.
It's only getting worse.
Lesson number six.
You don't need to downloadany software to your phone to
authorize a refund to your account.
You don't need to do that.
But Logic flying out the window, Idownloaded the software, which was
(11:25):
a program that would have allowed.
Him access to my phone and the ability totransfer funds from my phone to himself.
Boy, this is terrible.
So I downloaded the software andthen it said to give him these codes,
(11:50):
and I said, okay, I'm embarrassed.
How can you call me the logicallawyer if I'm making all of easy.
Illogical mistakes, but letlet it, let's keep it going.
'cause you're learning from this,you're learning from my mistakes
as we all learn from other people'smistakes so that we don't get taken.
So anyway, I, I, I, there there was abutton and it said, uh, that if you press
(12:14):
this button, then you would authorizehim to, uh, have access to your phone.
Lesson number seven.
Never, ever download software toauthorize a refund or anything
else, or to give anyone accessto take control of your phone.
(12:40):
It says right there, it says, clickingon this button will give, authorize this
person this to have access to your phone.
What?
So I refuse.
Finally, logic started to kick in.
A logical lawyer finally started to thinkwith a clearer mind, and his logic finally
started to infuse his decision making.
(13:03):
So I refused to click thebutton and I said, yeah, I, I
need to speak to a supervisor.
I said, I need to speakto a supervisor right now.
Oh, I think I'm being logical.
I think I'm being tough.
So anyway, anotherperson comes on the line.
And once again, this person, onceagain had a strong Indian, uh,
(13:24):
India, middle Eastern accent, andthe person had four English grammar.
And, you know, and one of theother things that stood out to me,
they kept calling me Mr. Bernie.
Not Mr. Brown.
Mr. Bernie.
Well, Mr.
Bernie, Mr. Bernie.
(13:46):
So God, now we come tolesson number eight.
Be aware of poor grammar and poor English.
This can be an indication thatyou're dealing with someone
outside of the country.
Even worse, because if they get accessto your phone and they wire the money
to themselves, you are nowhere gonna,you're never gonna see that money again,
(14:09):
and there's no way to prosecute 'em.
You can't get 'em, and thenyour money's just gone.
So I decided to run a little test on him.
So I asked him, where,where, where are you located?
Where are you at?
And I guess he could see that I wasin California, but the phone number I
called said it was a New York number.
(14:30):
So he said, California.
That didn't match because I,'cause the phone number, like I
said, that I originally called,said it was a New York number.
So what did I do?
I told him, I said, lookman, I'm hanging up.
(14:52):
I said, you know, he said,he kept me sistering.
I said, I'm gonna hang up andI'm gonna call the main office.
And he said, you have you,you call the main office.
Whatcha talking about, this is themain office I'm trying give you.
What do you, you know, do youwant your money back, sir?
Do you want your money back?
(15:14):
Oh man.
And so what I did was Iimmediately just hung up.
And I uninstalled the software.
I went to my phone apps, looked inthere and there was that software, and
I pressed Uninstalled to clear it out.
(15:35):
That could have been theend of the story buddy.
He wasn't Gear Up.
He had found a sucker who hadgiven him all my credit card
information and he was determinedto take it all the way to the max.
Glad he didn't, might have beenable to drain all my accounts.
Oh, all those millions of dollars.
Well, maybe not millions.
So what happens?
(15:56):
He calls me back.
My phone ranges, him calling.
What did he say?
Mr. Bernie, I really wannahelp you, Mr. Bernie.
I've been working on this and I'mtrying to get you your money back.
I wanna give you your money back, sir.I'm working on this and I'm going to
give you your money back, but you gottawork with me and you gotta just work.
(16:17):
Wait with, just listen while I'm here.
Just wait that I'm working on it.
Just stay on the linewhile I'm working on it.
Now what the point was, is he wasn'taware that I had uninstalled that software
that I had because I think what he wasdoing was he was trying to access it
(16:37):
so he could access my, my informationso he could get inside my phone.
And once they get inside yourphone, they can block you out.
You won't be able to use your own phone,you won't be able to call anybody.
They can access all your accounts.
'cause a lot of your accounts are on your.
Phone connected through your phone.
(16:58):
Lesson number nine, don't installsoftware on your phone and
uninstall any malware immediately.
And number 10, don't stayon the phone with them.
Don't stay on the line.
Hang up immediately.
(17:20):
So that's what I did.
I hung up immediately, blew amessage, no byebye, come outta
here and hung up the phone.
And you might imagine what happened.
A few minutes later I got atext message from my bank.
(17:40):
Notifying me of suspiciouscharges on my credit card.
This was just a few minutes later.
Thank God the banks were really on theirjob and they notified me that there had
been two suspicious charges on my account.
I went into my account, which I wouldn'thave been able to if I had given them
(18:00):
access to my account, but I went into myaccount and looked at 'em on the phone and
looked at those charges, and sure enough,those were charges that I had not made.
They had just been, uh,made against my account.
So what is lesson number 11?
Authorize your bank to immediatelynotify you if any suspicious
(18:24):
activity occurs on your account.
That was very useful.
It was helpful.
Little bit late, butthat's not their fault.
That's mine.
Lesson number 11, immediatelycontact your bank.
Your bank's fraudulent fraud, Ishould say, department to notify
(18:47):
them of any unauthorized claim andfile a claim as soon as possible.
Now, obviously what they do is theyimmediately close out that credit card,
that that stops any more fraudulentcharges, and you can put a, an alert
on your, on your bank account and onall your other accounts so that, uh,
(19:12):
they'll be on the, on the lookout towatch, to make sure that there aren't
any other, uh, uh, questionable charges.
What transfers on anyof your other accounts?
So.
Notify them, get them to notify youimmediately for any future issues
(19:33):
and, uh, notify their bank fraud unit.
Okay, lesson number 12.
Be careful.
Be careful about giving outyour credit card information,
and I'm the logical lawyer.
Be logical.
(19:57):
Be logical, be smart.
Here's some other tips toavoid getting defrauded.
When you, when you banks and yourmortgage companies or whatever, when
they ask for you for a password, createa complex password, and they, they, and
(20:19):
don't use the same password over andover again because then if they get into
your phone and they find one passwordand you've used it for all your other.
Well accounts, then they'lljust say, oh, guess what?
We got him to use that same passwordand get into other accounts.
So don't use the same password.
(20:40):
And you create complex passwords.
That's with numbers and symbols and,and gadgets and everything else.
Uh, always if you're going give somebodyyour information, do it on credit card.
You can later file a, a claim withthe bank, with the credit card company
(21:06):
and they will refund your moneyif they do determine that it was
a fraudulent uh, scam transaction.
Another tip, be aware of textsor phone impersonations, scams.
Uh, if somebody contacts you and says,oh, you won a bunch of money, or,
(21:29):
oh, you won a prize, or, oh, you oweus all this money, or they call you
and they say, oh, you've got chargesagainst you for, uh, old fees or
whatever, or somebody's ordered a.
Computer and used your name.
You, you listen, listen, listen, listen.
(21:49):
Just hang up the phone.
Don't even talk to them.
Uh, and, and definitely don't call numbersthat appear in popups on your phone.
Don't even call those numbers.
Listen, you know, so manyof us have been hacked.
Notify Facebook immediately if youraccount has been hacked, because what
(22:15):
they're gonna do is they'll use youridentity to ask people for money,
and then the people will bethinking it is from you and
they'll be contacting you and.
It won't be you.
Uh, all the experts say,don't speak with scammers.
(22:36):
Don't even answer the phone.
It's better if you don't answer the phone.
If somebody calls you from an unidentifiednumber, you know what the, a new scam is.
They can revo record your voice anduse your voice to scam others, telling
others that it's you or making othersbelieve that it's actually you, uh,
(23:01):
making the, it's coming from you.
They have AI now and AIis just getting worse.
It's just getting moreworse and worse and worse.
I hate to talk people with poor.
Anyway.
Yeah, AI is, is escalating the game for,for criminals, but they can impersonate
(23:24):
your voice and once they impersonateyour voice, they can impersonate you.
And they can use that impersonated voiceto defraud others or to defraud you.
So don't even talk to them anddon't give them the time to be
(23:45):
while you're talking to them.
They might be tryingto access your account.
Uh, through the internet,so don't even talk to them.
Never give anyone access to your phone.
Well, that's basic.
They can take over your phone andblock you out and access all your
(24:07):
information and accounts, everything.
They'll take over your phone.
Your bank won't even be ableto contact you, and you won't
be able to contact your bank.
Terrible.
So don't give, never give them access, anddon't give strangers your email address.
Your email address, because guess what?
(24:28):
Virtually all of your bankaccounts, all of your accounts,
all of your transactions, you areconnected to your email address.
So you don't want these criminalsto have your email address.
You know, those criminals were whenthey, when they probably, when they
said, oh, if they knew it, they, they,they got, they scam the prosecutors.
(24:51):
They're probably dancing on the tablesand they're probably in some foreign
country, thousands of miles away.
They know you can't do anything to it.
Not like we're gonna beable to prosecute him.
So the moral of the story is be smart.
Don't let 'em get you.
(25:12):
Keep your stuff safe.
You don't let them into your accounts.
Don't let 'em steal your money.
You work too hard for it.
You work too hard for it.
Be logical.
And be smart.
I welcome your comments at theLogical Lawyer at gmail com.
(25:36):
And my webpage is the Logical Attorney.
Me.
My book is a prosecutor's analysis ofPersonal supernatural experiences, and my
webpage is the supernatural attorney.net.
Now you're just saying, wait a minute.
He just gave me his Gmail.
Uh, okay.
(25:56):
Well, you set up a separate Gmailaccount, an independent one, a
separate email account that's notaccessible to your other accounts
so that people won't have access.
It's easy to do.
You can, you can just go onlineto, to Google mail or Gmail
(26:18):
or whatever, Yahoo, whatever.
And set up another,uh, Gmail, uh, account.
Okay.
Thank you for listening.
I, like I said, I welcome your comments.
I am the logical lawyer.
May the love of truth, knowledge,and logic liberate your mind.
(26:42):
God bless you and live long andprosper and don't get scammed.
Well, that's a wrap for thisepisode of The Logical Lawyer.
If you found this insightful, be sure tolike, follow, subscribe, leave a review,
and share it with others who appreciatestraight talk and sharp analysis.
(27:04):
I. Got a question or a topic forBernie, we'd love to hear from you.
Connect with bernie@thelogicallawyer.me.
That's at the Logicallawyer.me, and you've got it.
So until next time, stay informed.
Think critically, and as always.
Keep it logical.
Soon in each week,there's so much to learn.
(27:28):
The logical lawyer shares insights.
You'll earn case by case Wisdomhe'll impart with reason,
thought, and a whole lot of heart
with knowledge.
(27:56):
Where.
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