Scam

I was up at my normal time. It was already a warm and beautiful morning. Jasper was asleep on a sofa in the Orangery, but stirred when I fired up the coffee machine. At 8:20, we wandered to Zoe's to collect Ellie. She was full of the joys of Spring as it was the last day before the half-term and she was going away with her friend Lilly for the weekend.

We dropped her off at the classroom door, and Di went home while I set off for my morning walk. It really was very warm, and the walk was most enjoyable. On the second loop of my usual course, Di passed me in the car on her way to Cardia Rehab. I completed my walk and settled down for breakfast. Di returned just as I was finishing.

Zoe was due at Goring Hall Hospital for an MRI. I went along to pick her up and drive her across to Goring. We arrived in plenty of time so that she could complete all of the paperwork. The appointments were running a bit late, but we didn't have to wait for too long. I managed to finish another book while she was being processed. Once the imaging was done, we returned to the car and made our way home. I dropped her off, then went home for some lunch and a quiet afternoon in the Orangery.

We collected Ellie from the after-school dance class and took her home. She had a nicely laminated award for her participation in the athletics meet on Wednesday. Bartons School came 3rd out of 15, so it did really well. Back home, Ellie would wait for Pete to collect her and take her back to Lilly's in Angmering. Then they were off to Hastings.

During the afternoon, I received a message:

BARCLAYS: We've placed a hold on a payment of £xxx.xx to HSBC account ending in NNNN. If this was you reply, Y, and your payment will be processed. If you did not make this transaction, please call us on 020 nnnn nnnn

At first, I was concerned. Had someone tried to spend money on my account? Should I call the number? Then a cooler head took over. 

• Don't call the number given, look up the number, 
• and then, do I have a BARCLAYS account? No. 
• Should I panic? No. 

I left it as a reminder to myself that thieving trolls will try any trick they can to steal information, and subsequently money. There seems to be a concerted campaign at the moment, and I would bet that many people get caught.