Re: They are not usually so honest

In article <1033jg5$qa9$1@dont-email.me>,
Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 6/19/25 10:29 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:

In article <10329ko$7gl9$1@dont-email.me>,
Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

>
I got a spam call two days after Mark died.  When the spammer asked how
I was, I said "My husband died two days ago; what do you think?" and he
immediately launched into his spiel.

 
[Hal Heydt]
Typically crass behavior.  I don't confirm or deny data,
particularly medical data.  Often, I will ask where they got what
they claim is medical data about me (which is either so common to
be pure guesswork or flat out wrong).  I will push for them to
tell me what doctor supplied it, with the implication that
*somebody* is going to be in trouble over HIPAA violations.
 
One call actually named a doctor...but not one of mine (I think
he pulled a name out of his posterior because I was pushing for
one).
 
I never tell them Dorothy has died.  Only that she is no longer
at this number. It's none of their f'ing business.

>
Given that his obituary was posted on the Internet, and in File 770, and
who knows where else, it wasn't exactly a secret.  And spammers who
would use that information already have ways to get it.  (The number of
calls/mails offering to buy my house has risen dramatically since Mark
died.)
>
It's like my email address--it's all over the place already.

[Hal Heydt]
Yup.  Dorothy's death was posted (not by me) to Facebork
and Wikipedia, plus newsgroups. 

I can tell when someone has run a "make money by flipping houses"
seminar in the area where the house is that I inherited when my
mother died.  I get a rash of mail, and one or two phone calls,
wanting to buy it.  The callers get a firm "not for sale" and the
snail mail goes straight to the recycling bin.