This morning, I got a text from an unknown number (always a bad sign), saying “For instructions:” and a URL that looked like (and was) a real Google Forms URL.

I was pretty sure that it was a scam, but I had just registered with a new health provider yesterday, so there was a small chance it was legit and the first message had gotten lost. I wasn’t going to visit the link on my phone, or even in a browser – instead, I opened a terminal session and used curl to get the actual contents of the form; doing it that way ensured that no JavaScript could execute.

The title of the form was “UNUSUAL LOGIN ATTEMPT FROM [IP:198.25.4.32] YOUR ACCOUNT IS LIMITED.” and the text was:

We need you to secure your account immediately to prevent any fraudulent activities for your safety. Please follow the steps indicated to verify your identity and gain back full access of your bank account.

Please continue here:

Security Department
CitiBank

I chose to stop my investigation there.

This evening, our friends Lindy and Daniel invited us for Thanksgiving dinner – it was a small gathering (6) with lots of delicious food. It gave me the excuse to make my chocolate pecan peppermint pie for the first time in quite a while. I usually make it with Mrs. Smith’s frozen pie crust, but Lunardi’s didn’t have any when I looked on Tuesday; fortunately, Whole Foods did have a non-larded frozen crust, and it worked just as well.

I’ve been a subscriber to The Economist for a long time, and I really enjoy their journalism and their writing. I looked forward to having the newspaper arrive every week, as well as being able to read the online edition if that was more convenient. But the last time I renewed, the price for digital-and-paper was substantially more than digital-only or paper-only, so I switched to digital-only.

And I almost stopped reading The Economist. Their iOS app blurred the distinction between issues, and it felt like just one more unending stream of information. I got several of their newsletters by email, and those often sent me to the app or the website to read a story, but that was about it.

Today, I finally got around to calling them to switch back to paper, only to discover that they no longer offer paper-only subscriptions; it’s pure digital or a combination. And the first person I spoke with told me that it would cost north of $300 to upgrade the remaining 2-1/2 years of my subscription to the combo.

Soon after that, I was talking to the cancellation department; the representative told me the same thing, but then said the magic words “let me see what I can do for you”. She came up with a deal that seemed to be too good to be true: go to the combo for three years starting today, use my existing subscription as credit, and I’d wind up with a $15 refund. Of course I said “yes”; she said I’d get an email confirming the change in a few minutes and we hung up.

By that time, it was warm enough for Diane and me to go on a long walk – 5K, in fact, so we could complete the virtual Turkey Trot for 2021. The T-shirts had arrived last week and we’d been waiting to wear them!

When we returned, I had an email from The Economist telling me that the price I’d been quoted was a mistake and telling me to call back if I wanted to do anything. So I called and went directly to the cancellation department – this time, the agent offered a more realistic deal: one year of the combo at the Black Friday sale price of $112.50 (50% of the normal price), paid for by my credit, with the remaining $100+ refunded. I said “yes”, and this time, the deal went through.

I should be getting the paper version again in time for the annual year-end double edition, which is always a delight to read.

Timing is everything. Happy Thanksgiving!