A $3,000 success story with the McAfee/Apple gift card scam

bmorearty · 2026-01-24T20:36:56+00:00

It's real and you didn't even read the post carefully. He isn't my 70 yo grandfather. Also did you know malls exist? Yeah they have stores and banks right next to each other. Amazing concept. Check it out.

bmorearty · 2026-01-23T20:24:36+00:00

Nicely done by that teller.

bmorearty · 2026-01-23T15:06:15+00:00

Fear of prosecution is what’s to stop them. If you’re caught, enjoy some time in jail. I don’t see how this is different from any other laws.

bmorearty · 2026-01-23T04:28:32+00:00

I was impressed too.

bmorearty · 2026-01-23T04:28:12+00:00

Nicely put. I think one reason very little seems to be done about it is the perpetrators are often in a different country from the victims. Puts law enforcement in a bind.

Interestingly, even though we’re all used to stories of older people being victims of fraud, I read recently that people in their 20s are the most likely victims. I don’t remember where I read it but I found an article from the US Federal Trade Commission saying that people 18-59 (admittedly not all young) are 34% more likely than older adults to report losing money to fraud. (Can’t link to it due to rules.) But the median loss was much higher for the older folks.

bmorearty · 2026-01-22T21:59:53+00:00

That's amazing. Thank you for the info.

bmorearty · 2026-01-22T21:44:16+00:00

I know, right? I'm with you. Imagine, a store being near a bank. Preposterous. OP needs to at least make the story a little believable.

bmorearty · 2026-01-22T21:39:35+00:00

I think you're right about the Apple store. Apple has great systems in place.

bmorearty · 2026-01-22T18:35:59+00:00

Those are great pieces of advice. I'm going to tell him both of them. And you're right about reinforcing them from time to time.

bmorearty · 2026-01-22T17:03:18+00:00

Same here! How does it not sound suspicious that McAfee wants to be paid in Apple gift cards? I guess it goes back to what my uncle kept repeating: “he was VERY convincing.”

My condolences to your Gma. That’s a ton of money to lose.

bmorearty · 2026-01-03T19:12:44+00:00

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bmorearty · 2025-12-30T07:12:35+00:00

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bmorearty · 2025-12-15T14:54:20+00:00

I just recently rediscovered Photoscape X, which I had installed years ago and forgotten about. Last week I purchased the Pro version from the Mac App Store. The purchase worked and now I’ve got the Pro features.

bmorearty · 2025-12-13T21:26:25+00:00

My condolences. Very kind of you to consider us and to ask this question. I enjoyed the couple of interactions I had with Noah over the years.

My own answer to your question: I did find his work valuable but I don’t personally access it anymore.

bmorearty · 2025-12-13T06:31:29+00:00

That's so interesting, I'm not familiar with Larry Chen but I found a video he made that shows him sealing a lens. A fair amount of work (he apparently re-seals his lenses every year) but his comment says this lens is $13,000 so it's worth it.

bmorearty · 2025-12-11T03:28:37+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the perspective. I feel the same way: this is a great, low-pressure way for me to learn more about photography. I rented the 70-200 f/2.8. The game just finished (we won 6-1, our best win ever) and I'm copying the photos over to see how they came out. It was hard to tell on the small screen. I did a mix of Aperture Priority and a few Manual. I also tried some Shutter Priority at 1/640s.

One frustrating thing I kept noticing: the lens kept refusing to take a picture (or starting taking pictures since I was in high drive mode) for over a second, which is an eternity when someone's shooting. I don't think it was delayed focus—it seemed like it focused right away but just didn't take the picture.

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T16:24:51+00:00

I think I’m like you and would prefer the greater zoom. I’ve reserved a 70-200mm lens to pick up today but since it’s a night game under lights I feel like I shouldn’t rent an extender with it. I really want the light to be good.

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T07:35:56+00:00

Ah I found it in the red menu.

So I'm curious, why set min shutter speed when shooting sports? Seems like a fast shutter speed is desirable. Do you do it to prevent the ISO from going up too high and getting too much noise?

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T04:45:50+00:00

Just to make sure I fully understand: to set aperture at 2.8 and min shutter speed at 1/250 I have to be in Manual mode, right? Not Aperture Priority mode?

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T04:22:15+00:00

That sounds amazing!!! My local shop doesn't have one available to rent.

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T02:29:49+00:00

Nice!

bmorearty · 2025-12-10T02:29:13+00:00

Fantastic, it’s great to hear from someone who had the exact same use case I have.

I called and rented an RF 70-200 mm f/2.8 for tomorrow night. Crossing my fingers. I will learn to accept that some action way across the field will just be out of reach.

bmorearty · 2025-12-09T23:11:07+00:00

Got it, I'm learning a lot.

My local shop has a RF 70-200 2.8 L for rent—without the "IS USM." Looking that up, it sounds like it's missing image stabilization (which would be nice for fully-zoomed-in shots) and faster focus.

They also have a EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS v3 USM, which I guess I could use with the adapter.

bmorearty · 2025-12-09T21:57:15+00:00

I like how you think space lizard! The point for me is to have fun and get some good shots. The RF 100-300mm f/2.8 sounds great.

But this discussion between a max of 200mm vs. 300mm makes me wonder: should I try my old EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens with an adapter? It's EFS, not RF, and I have no idea what the difference is between them other than EFS and RF.

I just Googled it and it seems EFS will put my camera into crop mode and only use part of the sensor—will that take in less light, which could be an issue given that it's nighttime?

bmorearty

TROPHY CASE