The Girls are ready to drop a few things that go BOOM on some of the scum of mankind called “scammers.” Good hunting, Ladies!
I have a sad announcement to make. I am going to be gone for the foreseeable future. Please read the Update below. I will return at some point, but due to the circumstances described below, I cannot say when. Stay safe, and stay creative, my friends. God Bless you all.
Thanks for dropping by, and for any comments you wish to leave. I value them all.
#TNA #Girls #scammers #B2 #ScumOfTheEarth #Good-bye
Update: January 18, 2026
Preamble:
Okay. I did something incredibly stupid this week. Really stupid. Seriously stupid. I mean really. I should have known better, I should have had my head in caution mode, I should have opened my eyes a little wider. My 6 remaining common sense braincells were asleep, drunk, or on a lengthy vacation. Yes. I F***-ed up spectacularly. And displayed about as much common sense as a tree frog. And that’s an insult to the frogs.
Therefore…
I do not need any reminders that I’m an idiot. OK? So….. PLEASE… No “OMG, I can’t believe you fell for this,” OR “Rod! Really? You shoulda seen this coming from 100 miles away!” OR “How many red flags slapping you in the face does it take?” OK? Do we have a deal? Good. I knew I could depend on all of you. Thanks!
Onward:
Monday, January12, 2026. While checking her Email, Jolene noticed a message supposedly from Best-Buy’s support division known as “Geek Squad.” As we have a TV from BB, and purchased coverage, I told her to forward it to me, and I’d handle it. Here is the message:
***************************************************************************************
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Subscription Renewed Successfully
Date: 2026-01-12 09:35
From: Louise
To: jt_shelley@XXXXXX
Reply-To: lena-louise.zhonghua@mail.com
GeekSquad
Subscription Renewed Successfully
Questions? Call us 24/7: +1-877-680-2926
Dear jt_shelley@XXXXXX,
Your auto-renewal has been successfully processed. Thank you for
continuing your journey with GeekSquad!
Renewal Amount: $449.99
Subscription Period: 3 Years
Next Renewal Date: January 12, 2029
Your Renewed Support Benefits:
✓ 24/7 Priority Technical Support - Get help anytime you need it
✓ Unlimited Remote Assistance - No limits on support sessions
✓ Advanced Security Protection - Keep your devices safe and secure
✓ System Optimization & Tune-ups - Keep your devices running smoothly
✓ Software Installation & Updates - Expert help with all your software needs
✓ Dedicated Account Manager - Personalized service for your peace of mind
Refund Policy
If you wish to cancel your auto-renewal or request a full refund for
this subscription, you may do so within 24 hours of this renewal date.
📞 Call Us: +1-877-680-2926
Our customer service team is available 24/7 to assist you with any
questions or concerns.
📞 +1-877-680-2926
Thank you for choosing GeekSquad as your trusted technical support
partner.
This is an automated notification. Please do not reply to this email.
For support inquiries, please call +1-877-680-2926
© 2026 GeekSquad. All rights reserved.
Louise
Geeks, Tampa,
Unsubscribe [1] - Unsubscribe Preferences [2]
***************************************************************************************
I looked at the $449.99 charge and figured we could buy a new TV for probably less than that price, so I decided to cancel it and get a refund.
When the call was answered, I could barely understand the guy on the other end. Since pretty much every company in existence uses call centers in God knows what country on the opposite side of the planet, it didn’t raise any suspicions. After being passed through three people, I finally connected with one that spoke English well. His name was “Peter” supposedly. And thus it began.
After 15 minutes or so of bouncing around a confusing bunch of “refund request forms,” he offered to help me if he could send me a “small app” that would allow him to see my screen and control the mouse arrow. Yes. I did. Refer to the preamble above.
After about 20 minutes of going here, going there, visiting my bank account, (so he could send my refund directly to my account) he said “OK, let’s do this. I’ll process your refund, but we’ll have to do it in two parts. I’ll refund you $300.00 in the first transfer, and the rest in the second transfer.” He then sent another form, and said to type $300.00 in the blank, which I did. A bunch of screens flashed by that looked like lines of complex code, almost like the old MS-DOS code from years ago.
Then it happened. At the bottom of the lines of code, it displayed a figure of 30000 – the decimal behind the 300 had somehow (uh-huh) disappeared. He put on a good act. He gasped, and repeated “Oh noooo” about 3 times. He then asked me if I’d forgotten to type the decimal point. “No!” I said. “I typed it and saw it behind the $300!”
He said, “I need you to check your (checking) account, and see if it went there, and how much.” I did. And guess what… There was an extra $30,000 in the account! He groaned, and said he’d speak to his “superior” to find out what to do. As if he didn’t already know…. (found out that they took the $30,000 out of Jo's money market account).
He came back, and told me “OK, here is what we need to do. You need to withdraw that $30,000.00 from your account – in cash. I will give you a pin number and a QR code to be able to check in to one of our ATMs at a store very close to you. Then you will put the cash into the ATM. Once the $30,000 is back in our account, I will process your refund, and all will be done.”
Refer to the preamble above.
Trying to be the honest good guy, I wanted to give them (what I thought was) their money back. Stupid me. When I went to withdraw the money, my friend that manages our nearby branch was rather suspicious, but I (tried to) reassure her I just wanted to give them their money back. It took 2 more trips to other bank branches to get all the cash.
The first ATM seemed to be having problems, so he sent me to a different one at a gas station. And yes, by this time I was starting to wonder… I thought I was doing the right thing by giving ‘Geek Squad’ what was rightfully theirs. But this seemed to be a clumsy way to accomplish it.
On the first day’s second trip, Jolene went with me to help. At the store, she was sitting on a metal stool next to me, when she looked over at me, and said, “Rodney, I’m not feeling very good…” She looked like she was about to fall so I stepped over and put my arms around her. Her eyes rolled up, and she was unresponsive. She toppled the other direction from me and fell off the stool to the floor.
There were a couple ladies in the store close by, and they saw what happened, and called 911. The scammer guy on the phone said “Oh! Take care of your wife! We can finish this tomorrow.” He gave me a phone number and told me to call when I could tomorrow. His apparent 1 or 2 grains of humanity kind of fooled me into halfway thinking he was at least somewhat legit.
At the hospital, they took X-rays, cat-scans, etc. Her right shin was not only broken but dislocated as well. She was in extreme pain. The doctors working on her took her into a treatment room and put her to sleep while they got her ankle back where it was supposed to be and put it in a cast. They took her to a room afterwards, took blood, and ran a bunch of other tests. They were quite thorough. She was in the hospital for the next three days.
As I returned home on the first night, I’m surprised I didn’t collide with anything. I was bawling like a baby most of the way home.
She is now in a rehab facility near the hospital for rest, and the swelling to go down. She will need surgery on her shin, once the swelling goes down. Then there will be therapy for approximately 3 – 4 weeks. And when she can come home, I will take over all the cooking, laundry (which is in the basement) as she continues to heal. It’s going to be a lengthy process, I’m sure.
With this in mind, I’m going to be missing in action at Rendo for the foreseeable future. I will do my best to stop by your galleries when I can, and comment when I can. I have a lot of catching up to do, and I’ll do my best when time allows. I have a lot of work to do, reports to file with FTC, FBI, and every other enforcement agency I can. I'm not expecting to get any of that money back, but we'll see. A VERY expensive lesson on having my head up my ass.
I will be back at some future point; I just can’t say when right now.
Stay safe, and stay creative, my friends. God Bless you all.
Rod's Lair
Rod's Blog
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Art Station
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AOY 2019
#TNA #Girls #scammers #B2 #ScumOfTheEarth #Good-bye
Comments (25)
Nice work 👍
How much did you smash in that mirror factory accident? And why did you agree to overlap the years of bad luck?
I hope your wife heals quickly and you get everything squared away
OMG Rod ... your preamble was so funny that I nearly forgot what a tragedy this was ... sorry!
All I can say is that scam rates, like cancer, are getting worse and worse. A sick neglected society produces scammers like a sick neglected body produces cancer. No easy solution here, besides learning 'street smarts' ... there will be new victims born every minute, and fixing the whole human society might take a century, if ever:-(
Hope to see you back again ... and don't give up!
And that looks like a stealthy bomber ... probably stuffed full of some serious weaponry, I would guess ;-)
Well, I'm glad that preamble brought you some giggles - mission accomplished! And no worries, I will be back at some point - still got a story to finish up, after all! 😁 That is a B-2 Stealth in the BG. They live about 50 miles from me.
I'm so sorry to hear about all that has happened to you and Jo. Take all the time you need, and know that you'll be in my prayers.
Thank you so much!
Now Days you can only put your trust in one person, take a look in the bathroom mirror and see who that is, That was in deed very sad news on both fronts. my main computer has been hacked in to a few times but I keep no info about my accounts on it. I set up my main account and then an second small account with no links between them. Each Mth I go down the town and take a small amount out of my main account then wee put that in to my small account there is only a amount there that I know that I will need. I pay my bills and so on from that account if they get in to that account they can only get theirs hands on that small amount Now I wish your wife an quick and safe return to normal life
Thank you so much!
Keep well Rod & Jolene, and hope it all works out. Scammers are getting smarter to our detriment, and even those of us in the know can still fall for them.
Well, they sure got us.. Those scum have no shame at all.
so sad crap like this happens, as i mentioned before i got hit a few years ago, scammers have ALL my personal inf including ss #. my credit is in the dumps.i hope u can recover from this horrible ordeal Rod. you are a wonderful person and don't deserve this BS. an with AI tech. they will get to us more. with the stuff he was asking i would have backed out on it. so hoping the est for your wife Jo, both of u are going through rough times. that is a lot of money to be scammed for, i have worries like this myself. i get lots of junk mail saying this account is being closed unless i do this. i don't open up those mails. get many like that asking for a payment that was declined, hey, i did not order anything. scammers mail hits me daily. you will be missed during your time away. may the lord come to your aid.u r in my prayers.
Thank you so much, Steve! The swelling seems to be going down slowly.
OUCH!
I hate to see this happen to anyone. It reminds me when my cards got ruin when I went to my regular Capital One location. My card, later my account got hacked at the door. Apparently someone put a reader on the door reader. Took me a month to put things to rights. This was 15 years ago. I hope you'll get things squared away.
Anyway, this is a fantastic piece! Well done.
They're going to be even more dangerous with all this AI crap everywhere. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much, Mike!
Hugs to you and wifey, tell her it is painful but she will heal soooner by following the directions. My daughter broke her ankle 2 years ago and it still gives her trouble and is developing arthritis too...yuck. I will let the Attic folks know of your situation too.
Thank you so much! I need to get over there to the Attic more often, once this is all resolved.
Prayers for both you and Jo!! Deepest condolences for the rest!
Thank you so much!
I pity that I can't swap things: broken ankles to those guys and the money back to you. I wish all the best to you and your wife.
I'm afraid I'd break more than their ankles.... 😒 Thank you so much!
Rod, So sorry to hear all of this. Hugs for you and Jolene
Thank you so much, buddy! She's doing a little better day by day. It's gonna be a long haul, though. I just submitted a report to the FTC.
So sorry to hear about jo's injury and your episode with such despicable characters Rod...In previous times, there would have been swift justice for these individuals that wronged you my friend. Now days, these cowards hide behind technology that can easily cloak their were abouts. Take as much time as you need family comes first, we'll see you back then. :-)
Thanks so much, Johnny! She's doing better.
PS. The TMKF Girls are onto this right away. They're scanning for the scam centre's location.
So sorry about her injury and pain man.
That very type scam is used in the movie "The Beekeeper" (Jason Statham). Bad ass movie! He got the scammers, all the way to the top dog.
Thank you so much! I'll have to check that movie out. Might give me some ideas....
Always wonderful work. Great story and characters!!👍🙋♂️
Thank you so much, my friend!
https://www.renderosity.com/gallery/items/3230920/tmkf-girls-video-call-accepted
Thank you so much! I love it!
So sorry to read of your dreadful experience with these despicable scammers and of Jo's injury. Hope Jo is able to recover quickly, and that you will be able to get some kind of resolution to this fraud.
Thank you so much! Her surgery is Monday (01-26) then more therapy.
Glamorous awesome composition, brilliant render.
Too bad you and Jo had such terrible times.
Best wishes to Jo and hope the scammers be caught as they should be.
Those assholes are getting very clever. I do not think kind thoughts towards them.
They will surely get theirs in the end. Hope she is getting better soon sugar, we miss you at the Attic too.
Happy Valentine's wishes and hugs to you both!
Not to lecture or ridicule you, and for the possible benefit of others reading this thread:
When "Peter" wanted to send you the app, you already know that was time to stop. I understand you must have felt like you had been through the ringer and were finally approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been there too. Perhaps I'm fortunate in this, but hopefully everyone reading this has this option. My answer when it happened to me was, "Seriously? You need to install an app on my (phone/laptop/whatever) to fix this? Never mind, I'll just call my bank." (I could just as easily called the credit card company.)
When I called my bank, they just asked for the information from the entry on my credit card bill and the problem got solved. Three days later, my bank app showed $499.00 added to my balance.
If this helps anyone reading this, then it has served its purpose!
Hugs
My brother's girlfriend got scammed with a refund thing and it was through Amazon. The Amazon agent passed the call onto someone that turned out to be a false agent. Luckily it was not for too much, but the last thing you would expect is to have this happen with a "reputable" company. I think Amazon fixed it eventually.
Oh yeah, this was that momenbt where you got pulled into a scam. Sorry to make you relive it (with a comment). Man the gods better get their acts together and throw you joy and support from now on: You deserve so much light and happiness, it's so overdue. I remember this moment and how maddening it was.
I assume that's a drone back there, or a delivery system for a major weapon. Your pic is a dark lau9nch pad with great lights, and that dark, brooding, macabre flight vehicle in the background. (That thing is dark and sleek.)
And your women are in their outfits, shining even in the dark, and with the usual self assured smiles and postures. I appreciate how you created this as an antidote, and I'm very glad that terrible event is over now. You need your energies for a lot more important things than the juvenile acts of spoiled vicious children.
The pink golds here, btw, are beautiful---even in G's hair. Another fine image, and i hope the text will never have to be repeated again.
That's actually a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber back there. They live about 50 miles from me. Sadly, the Air Force wouldn't let me borrow one over the weekend... 😉
Thanks, Mark! You've made my day!