I was just sitting here, wondering which truth I should share with you first when the phone rang, giving me immediate inspiration. So, here it is – the First Truth According To Jo:

Simply Be are a pain in the arse.

There. I said it. And why did i say it? What would lead me to such a conclusion? I’ll tell you.

Truth: My name is not Kirsty Cummings

Truth: No one by that name lives at my house

Truth: I have told Simply Be this

Truth: They still insist on calling my house on a daily basis with an automated message asking for Kirsty Cummings.

Now, I am starting to think that this is actually a scam and that they are somehow getting money out of me each time I answer the phone to them – my next phone bill will reveal the Truth of that.

In the mean time, I am having to ignore all incoming calls and use my voicemail to screen, in order to avoid answering the phone to these

a) incompetent or 

b) thieving 

idiots.

So, here are  a couple of questions for you:

1) Are you Kirsty Cummings?

2) Have you had a similar problem to this?

Get in touch if you’ve also been stalked by Simply Be or any other automated phone messages!

Appeared on CBC.ca on March 30, 2009.  Byline credit to CBC News.

Oops.  You missed that call.  Wonder who it was.  Maybe I’ll call back and see …

Hold up.  If you’re thinking of calling back that number you didn’t quite recognize when you didn’t get to the phone in time (especially if the area code is 649), think again.  According to CBC News (via CBC.ca), there is a new scam out there — in calling back that missed call, you could find yourself on the phone with an adult sex chat line.  No big right?  Except that those lines cost money — money you’ll find charged to your next phone bill at whatever the going per minute rate is right now for the service in question.

Another related scam, according to the article, involves leaving a voicemail message letting you know that you’ve won a great prize and to call back to collect.

The warning is credited to MyWireless.org, a Washington-based advocacy group with ties to the U.S. telecommuncations industry, according to the CBC.  

Specific area codes to watch for include:

• 649 (Turks & Caicos)
• 809 (Dominican Republic)
• 284 (British Virgin Islands)
• 876 (Jamaica)
• 758 (St. Lucia)
• 664 (Montserrat)

The original release was issued on MyWireless.org by Brian Johnston on March 27, 2009.

Read the original press release at MyWireless.org

Read the CBC.ca story

09 – Phishing – Dont Get Hooked- Mar 23, 2009 – 8:03 minutes (2.84 MB mp3)

Telephone vishing, email phishing and even cell phone text message scams attempting to obtain private financial information are becoming more prevalent – and more sophisticated. In this podcast, we’ll discuss how to avoid becoming a victim by arming yourself with the right information, including:

• understanding scams
• protecting yourself
• responding to requests for information – and,
• reporting a scam

Here with us today to discuss how to protect your financial information is Victoria Selfridge, Ent’s Director of Marketing and eCommerce.

The area code may change on the screen of my cell phone, but the message is always the same, “Hi, this is the second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is expiring.”

Apparently, most of NYC’s factory warranties on their cars are running out because everyone I meet and talk to lately has been cell-phone spammed (with this message).  It certainly seems like they have picked the wrong city since according to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than 75% of Manhattan households do not own a car^.

Maybe they should just stand at the subway turnstiles and try to sell a Metro Card swipe instead?

How To Get Rid Of These Calls

I think I must be sleepwalking, because according to telemarketers, I’ve been entering multiple contests to win a Lincoln Navigator. Since I despise SUVs, this is ludicrous, so I have to surmise an alter ego is taking over my body while I sleep, getting in my car, and finding all-night places to put in entries.

Seriously, late last year, I started getting calls that I had won a Lincoln Navigator. I ignored the first two calls, which resulted in lengthy recorded messages filling up my voicemail. The third one was the final straw, and I called to find out what these bozos were doing calling me, as I am on the Do-Not-Call list and I have no established business relationship with Mitchell Communications. They could not tell me what contest I had entered, and I told them not to call me again per the DNC regs. But I went online and entered the number they called from, and lo and behold, a forum full of people getting the same bogus call with the same faulty premise of having entered a contest for a Navigator.

I decided to file a complaint with the FCC. I filled out their online form, pointed out how these calls violated my rights, gave detailed info. Within two weeks, I got a letter from the FCC saying their investigation found no violation. So I called the number given for an explanation; the person on the other end said there was no additional info in the file and no analyst’s name attached, which he said was unusual. So I sent a follow-up letter, reiterating how Mitchell Communications violated my rights, along with print outs of the many other people who wrote about their experience with what apparently is a scam to get people to attend a two-hour pitch to sell time shares.

I have never heard back from the FCC. So I can only guess that they called the company in question and just accepted their word that I had entered a contest and so their calls were legit. What a joke. And shameful the FCC can’t even pretend to stand behind their “investigation” and tell me why they reached their conclusion.

Interestingly enough, a couple of weeks after I got the form letter from the FCC, I got new calls about my entry to win a Navigator, from different phone numbers. One even went so far as to say, they are very aware I am on the Do-Not-Call registry but this is not a telemarketing call. (As one commenter noted, if Mitchell Communications is not a telemarketer, why do they advertise in Chicago for telemarketing positions?)

If you want to read more about this Navigator scam, check out this thread. And Tony of Mitchell actually commented that we are all “slandering” the company, but when I responded by asking him to show documented proof of our entry forms, he disappeared.

UPDATE April 17, 2009:
Last night, I got home to a recorded message from a Jack Stone of Prize something-or-other, imperative I call about a contest entry of a YEAR ago for an SUV. So I called him back and said, I am on the Do Not Call Registry and I don’t appreciate getting called with a bogus story about my entering a contest for an SUV, since I despise them, and that this is just a scam to circumvent the FCC regulations.

Old Jack retorted that he didn’t appreciate being called a scam, told me to have a “nice life” and HUNG UP ON ME! In-fing-credible.

Again, this is the same old scam, just from under a different rock. It is infuriating that the FCC just doesn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about enforcing the DNC. Explain to me how allowing anyone to call you so long as they offer a button to press to opt out of calls conforms to the intent of the DNC Registry? So Do Not Call means well, call anyway, but allow the consumer to opt out. Well, guess what? How does that work when the message is left on your machine and you are not there to press the opt-out number? If your number is on the Do Not Call registry, it means DO NOT CALL THAT NUMBER. EVER. FOR ANY REASON.

FCC: You are an embarrassment in protecting consumers and citizens.

Dear F&M Bank customer,
We are hereby notifying you that we’ve recently suffered a phishing-Attack. Because we have registered too many frauds we suspended your account. For security reasons you must call us and provide the requested information so we can verify the integrity of your F&M ExpressOnline Banking account. If you fail to complete the verification in the next 24 hours your account will be suspended.

***************************************************

Call us at: +1 (641) 410 2293 and confirm your identity.
***************************************************
Note: The call is free of charge for you!
Please comply and thanks for understanding.
© 2009 F&M Bank

OK, first and foremost this is a fraud. How do I know.. I am not a customer and my email is not in their database for any reason. Beyond that the call is NOT Toll Free. The area code is in Southern Ohio.
If you called this number and gave them information then go immediately to your bank online using the browser and change all passwords. Go to the bank tomorrow and tell them what you did and to lock your account if possible in some way.

If This site has kept you from losing money a donation of $2.00 would be appreciate.
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Over the past few months we’ve been getting random phone calls from people who claim that we called them.  They say that they checked their caller ID and are calling us back.  First of all, why would you do that?  I call people back who leave me a message, but I don’t scroll through my caller ID and call people and ask why they called me.  Anyway, it’s always someone out of state and they sound like they are older.  They always have lots of questions.  Where am I, who am I, what’s my area code and number, (um, didn’t you just call me?).  I have no idea how long they would continue to ask me questions because I feel like if I talk too long they will be able to locate me with some spyware or something.  I can just see someone standing behind them with a stopwatch saying, “1 more minute and we’ve got her!”. 

I don’t know if these people are the scamers or if they are being scammed just like me.  Or is there even a scam?  I didn’t call those people.  I have no idea how my home phone number showed up on their caller ID.  Can someone use your number?  Can they tap into your phone line to disguise who they are?  In today’s world I’m sure it’s possible.  My concern is, am I being charged something, or is this detrimental to my family in some way? 

Yesterday I got one of these calls.  Same situation, older lady (always a lady) calls and says I called her and she’s calling me back – my number is on her caller ID.  I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, believing that she’s being scammed as well, and I explained what’s been happening.  She ignored what I said and continued with her questions.  Then I told her that she could be part of the scam for all I knew.  That’s when she lost it on me.  She starts screaming at me that she had nothing to do with…  I hung up.  Of course she called back, but this time she asked for David Smith with the nicest tone in her voice.  Maybe the next time I get one of those calls I’m mess with them.  Hey, I’ll prank the caller!  It’s been a long time since I did any prank phone calls. 

• Does this happen to anyone else? 
• Have you ever heard of this scam? 
• Do you have any good prank the caller suggestions (something I can keep under 2 minutes, cause you know they are honing in on me each second I’m on the phone). 

Eurovision
I’ve not sat down to watch this properly since the days of Katrina and the Waves. I remember sitting on the sofa at home, screaming myself hoarse when we won (it was a cracking tune). Labour had just swept to power, the nation were singing manically to “Things Can Only Get Better,” I was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt with Puma trainers and doing my best Louise from Sleeper impression… It was the golden age of UK music, when all Eurovision winners needed was a cracking good pop song, a dodgy suit and a bit of love, shining light in our hearts. Ahem.

Course, that was before 9/11 and the Blair/Bush special relationship. Before Asbos and hoodies and happy slapping. Before everything went tits up, basically. Now Eurovision has turned into a bitter and twisted one-horse race, with Balkans voting for Balkans and the Eastern Block ganging up on the rest of us like bullies in the playground. Of course, it’s expected that the UK won’t win. Even with a great pop song like Andy Abrahams’ Evin If, we knew we’d come pretty far down in the league table.

But what really hurt on Saturday night was the fact that Andy sang that song note perfect and still came joint last. Joint last. Even below some entries where the song was shouted (Albania), were a Britney/Aguilera rip off (Greece) or relied on sex (Azerbaijan for the ladies ’n’ gays, Ukraine for the guys ’n’ lezzers). It was almost worth it for Wogan’s angry astonishment, but it also left me deflated. Not meaning to be a bad loser, but what’s the point in even turning up and giving it a go if you’re not going to be given a fair chance of winning? It’s not as if, like Ireland, we cynically took the piss by entering a puppet turkey. We bloody tried dagnammit! It was a cracking song, sung amazingly well (live) and performed… well… he’s no Robbie is he, but he made an effort. Point is, he sung his song far better than Russia and came last. Go figure. I say boycott next year. What’s the point?

Sunday saw a splurge in HMV. With bugger all on TV, I decided to stock up on Peep Show DVDs and got myself series two and three – I’d joined at series four and what better way to spend a bank holiday Sunday than catching up? So glad I did. Spent the whole of Sunday hanging out with Jez, Mark, Super Hans (who I always that was called Super Hands but hey ho), Big Suze and Sophie. Series one was a bit dodgy in parts (especially with the uber shaky cam) but it really picks up by series three. Stand put bits of series three are the first episode (the series bravely bravely begins with Jez trying to end a relationship to which we’ve not been privy) and the Twix-on-the-Quantocks scene – it’s a very long scene with only two of the cast but because of the tight writing and skilled performances it really holds the viewer and is mighty funny too.

Monday night, and things got a bit dark. Ch4’s Life After People (9pm) charted events after humanity has been wiped of the face of the planet. How will our pets cope? Will the Giant Ants take over the earth? How long will our structures last? Not very long it turns out. By now we’ve probably all seen I Am Legend, where Will Smith and his dog cruise around an abandoned New York, with its weeds growing out of cracks in the pavements. And you know, they kinda got it right. Without humanity, the plants take over, leading to mass destruction of our buildings, vehicles, roads and basically any imprint we’ve made. I loved that after 150 years, cats will become kings of the towers of ivy that are in place of our skyscrapers. They might even develop the ability to fly between these creepy structures. While they rule the skys, dogs scavenge with their wolf relatives. I always knew the cats would win out in the end…

After 200 years feckin seagulls and pigeons are *still* around and by 10,000 after humans, the world is a mass of greenery, with only the Great Wall of China and the Great Pyramids still being visible after several thousand years. Even things we’ve invented recently – things we build to last – will decay quite quickly. Our records, burnt onto CDs or stored away in vaults will crumble into dust (how arrogant of us to assume they’re better than cave paintings!) and the only thing to last 100,000 after the death of humanity is… ready for this?

Mount Rushmore! Mount Fucking Rushmore. A symbol of America’s golden age and self-satisfied patriotism. What must those who come after us think of us? Smug egoists, that’s what. And… I guess they’d be right.

Correspondence

Your current student email account with the University will be available to you for life. It may be necessary for us to communicate with you on the detailed arrangements for the Convocation via email. To avoid missing out on important information, please access this email account periodically.

 

i didn’t know! I thought it was nice of them to let us access it for life. Because I sent resumes out using that email address, and i was so afraid that once i graduate, then the recruiters won’t be able to contact me. Then again, the resumes were sent for my internship which is…. 1 year ago. Oh well…. it’s still a nice gesture and i get to keep in contact with my professors. Er, although only 2 la.. but whatever.

The police also created this very informative ppt and sent it to all students in NTU informing them about phone scams:

1) Kidnapping phone scam (my sis’ friend’s father kena, say his kid kena kidnap but nothing happen cos he called the kid’s sister and she happened to be with the sis at that time)

2) Strike lucky draw scam (too good to be true, alot of people already know that it’s a scam)

3) Impersonating a police officer / Supreme court scam (I’ve been scared, revealed my name and NRIC number and ALMOST taken in. -_-”’) So yes, i think i know exactly how they operate.

I just heard from my supervisor that there’ll be 2 interns coming in next week (church camp week) and one of them will be tasked to do my work! (muahha cos i’m going on leave ma) so it’s going to be quite cool having someone under my wing, even if it’s only for a day. That’s something interesting to look forward to!

Oh, i must say that i was very ministered to yesterday while we were out on door to door evangelism. Many times even when we’re doing His work, He’s really more concerned about our growth.

Earlier today I received a phone call from an automated voice telling me I was liable for a free loan or compensation or lottery winnings or somesuch rubbish. It told me that if I pressed the number five on my handset I could hear all about it. Annoyed at being bothered, I hung up. The call didn’t end. I hung up again. The voice carried on talking. I unplugged my phone for a few minutes, plugged it back in and the voice was still there. I listened, rather creeped out, as it came to the end of the recording and finally disconnected me.

I didn’t press the number five on my handset, despite it telling me to.

I dialled 1471 to see who’d called me and discovered it was a 001 country code, which meant that the call had come from America. So I rang BT to check with them that I hadn’t been the victim of some scam and hadn’t been paying for the call at extortionate rates from the second I picked up the phone (because I’m rather paranoid about things like that).

BT informed me that the call came from Michigan, that the only way I could have disconnected it was by unplugging my phone from the wall for 15 minutes, that I hadn’t been paying for it, but if I had followed the automated voice’s advice and pressed the number five on my handset, the call would suddenly have cost me over one hundred dollars a minute.

That’s around £51 for 60 seconds of automated voice.

BT also told me that people fall for this trick quite often. I’m imagining little old ladies pressing the number five on their handsets because they really believe that they are eligible for a free loan or compensation or lottery winnings or somesuch rubbish. One hundred dollars a minute.

One hundred fucking dollars a MINUTE.

What kind of sick scam are these despicable people pulling? After a quick internet search I found other people complaining about them, too. It seems they’re based in Lancashire and they’re a ‘debt solutions’ firm. Anyone fancy burning down their offices? While they’re still inside, perhaps? Although burning might be too good for them, actually. Immoral, scheming, thieving bastards.

Although at least they’re better than that guy in Austria who kept his daughter in a cellar for a quarter of a century. You’ve probably heard about it on the news, so I won’t go into detail, but suffice it to say that I have never been so sickened and incensed about anything in my entire life. If that guy was being kept in a jail somewhere near to me, I’d claw through the walls to reach him and rip him to shreds for what he did to that poor girl.

Sometimes I’m ashamed to be a human being. There are so many ways to hurt people, and so many ways to hate.

Oh dear. Not a good week for ITV, eh? First Michael Grade tries to put a brave face on ITV’s 35% loss in revenue by claiming that it’s viewing figures have gone up, then his new hope, Rock Rivals fails dismally in the viewing stakes, pulling in only 3.9 million – beaten by a repeat of Traffic Cops on the Beeb and a repeat of Grand Designs on Ch4. How embarrassing.

But it does make me feel a lot better about the Great British Public™ – perhaps we do have taste after all (although watching a mille-second of Loose Women on my day off today challenges that somewhat).

No, good on us for not allowing ITV to get away with a rip-off of a TV programme that’s now best known for literally ripping its viewers off. Why bother watching a drama of a show about voting for the winner of a talent contest when you can tune into X Factor, which we all (now) know is dramatically engineered by its producers? It’s bad enough anyway that X Factor seems to go on for about half the year anyway, without this dross clogging up the rest of the time. And what makes matters worse is that “Rock Rivals is part of ITV’s bid to claw back some cash in the wake of the phone-in scandals.” So they’re not even trying to hide the fact that Rock Rivals, was meant to claw back money from the same people who got ripped off by X Factor.

Whoever agreed for this to be made needs to be fired forthwith. How patronising, how arrogant of them to think that X Factor viewers would be so moronic as to lap this shite up (as yes, they are morons, but perhaps not as moronic as we may have first thought, even if they did vote for that little Scottish gimp last year). ITV are clearly not on their viewers’ wavelength. They have such disregard for them as consumers that they think this kind of lazy production is acceptable. It’s feckin not and I’m offended and angry to think that they can’t see that – or worse, that they can but they just don’t care.

It’s no wonder quality American dramas like *takes deep breath* Dexter, Damages, Ugly Betty, 24, Lost, Heroes, Brothers and Sisters, CSI, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives et al are stamping all over our British Dramas (with the exception of Dr Who and LoM). This where viewing figures will continue to go if TV execs continue to treat us like monkeys. And it’ll be precisely what they deserve.

]]> http://bmtv.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/itv-think-were-the-arseholes/ Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:05:28 +0000 badgermadge http://bmtv.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/itv-think-were-the-arseholes/

Oh dear. Not a good week for ITV, eh? First Michael Grade tries to put a brave face on ITV’s 35% loss in revenue by claiming that it’s viewing figures have gone up, then his new hope, Rock Rivals fails dismally in the viewing stakes, pulling in only 3.9 million – beaten by a repeat of Traffic Cops on the Beeb and a repeat of Grand Designs on Ch4. How embarrassing.

But it does make me feel a lot better about the Great British Public™ – perhaps we do have taste after all (although watching a mille-second of Loose Women on my day off today challenges that somewhat).

No, good on us for not allowing ITV to get away with a rip-off of a TV programme that’s now best known for literally ripping its viewers off. Why bother watching a drama of a show about voting for the winner of a talent contest when you can tune into X Factor, which we all (now) know is dramatically engineered by its producers? It’s bad enough anyway that X Factor seems to go on for about half the year anyway, without this dross clogging up the rest of the time. And what makes matters worse is that “Rock Rivals is part of ITV’s bid to claw back some cash in the wake of the phone-in scandals.” So they’re not even trying to hide the fact that Rock Rivals, was meant to claw back money from the same people who got ripped off by X Factor.

Whoever agreed for this to be made needs to be fired forthwith. How patronising, how arrogant of them to think that X Factor viewers would be so moronic as to lap this shite up (as yes, they are morons, but perhaps not as moronic as we may have first thought, even if they did vote for that little Scottish gimp last year). ITV are clearly not on their viewers’ wavelength. They have such disregard for them as consumers that they think this kind of lazy production is acceptable. It’s feckin not and I’m offended and angry to think that they can’t see that – or worse, that they can but they just don’t care.

It’s no wonder quality American dramas like *takes deep breath* Dexter, Damages, Ugly Betty, 24, Lost, Heroes, Brothers and Sisters, CSI, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives et al are stamping all over our British Dramas (with the exception of Dr Who and LoM). This where viewing figures will continue to go if TV execs continue to treat us like monkeys. And it’ll be precisely what they deserve.

]]> http://r0ck3r.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/the-lord-of-the-ice-dance-setee%e2%80%a6/ Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:07:23 +0000 r0ck3r http://r0ck3r.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/the-lord-of-the-ice-dance-setee%e2%80%a6/

Dancing on Ice, the most tricky of the celebrity talent show (in that it’s Dancing. On Ice!), returned over the weekend with a slightly new theme, on a new day, with a new judge and new celebs (and I’m sure there were more of them this time…)

Some things have stayed the same – Pip Schofield is still shouting at every opportunity, along with his fellow shouty presenter Holly Willoughby (whose amazing boobs™ have started to sag, I’m sorry to report). Also, whenever Pip’s voiceover says “Mandy (or whoever) started well in training, fearless and gutsy,” you know she’s going to fall and have a bad accident. Likewise, when a celeb says, “I’m really not sure if I’m going to be able to pull off that lift!” You know they will on the night.

Always great to see Torvill and Dean back on our screens and skating (although I’m really not sure about Jayne’s hair extensions).

So what did we learn from the first programme?
– That Greg Rusedski is a patronising, attention seeking, annoyingly competitive knob. And he can’t dance. (Of course, he has to be to as one of the best tennis players in the world ever ™)
– That older people should not be trussed up in Lycra and lugged around the ice (Aggie off Kim ’n’ Aggie especially). Sorry, but seeing her front wedgy just wasn’t nice.
– That Pip Schofield has aged better than Sarah Green (and Mike Smith).
– That whoever put the celebs together with the skaters made a sterling choice in putting Hollyoaks’ Justin Burton with Chav Skater (who actually looks a lot like co-star Jacqui McQueen. Great stuff.
– That Hollyoaks’ Justin Burton will do anything for telly (wasn’t he in one of those celebs-do-singing shows?)
– That having a large following of mindless fruitcakes will get you through to the next round (GMTV’s Michael Underwood, How Clean Is Your House’s Aggie). Being a good skater but being unpopular won’t necessarily (Samantha Mumba).
– That elocution lessons have a lot to answer for (Hear-Say’s Darren Day’s Ex – I’m sure she was northern…).
– That Linda Lusardi’s cheek implants scare the crap out of me.

Dancing on Ice, the most tricky of the celebrity talent show (in that it’s Dancing. On Ice!), returned over the weekend with a slightly new theme, on a new day, with a new judge and new celebs (and I’m sure there were more of them this time…)

Some things have stayed the same – Pip Schofield is still shouting at every opportunity, along with his fellow shouty presenter Holly Willoughby (whose amazing boobs™ have started to sag, I’m sorry to report). Also, whenever Pip’s voiceover says “Mandy (or whoever) started well in training, fearless and gutsy,” you know she’s going to fall and have a bad accident. Likewise, when a celeb says, “I’m really not sure if I’m going to be able to pull off that lift!” You know they will on the night.

Always great to see Torvill and Dean back on our screens and skating (although I’m really not sure about Jayne’s hair extensions).

So what did we learn from the first programme?
– That Greg Rusedski is a patronising, attention seeking, annoyingly competitive knob. And he can’t dance. (Of course, he has to be to as one of the best tennis players in the world ever ™)
– That older people should not be trussed up in Lycra and lugged around the ice (Aggie off Kim ’n’ Aggie especially). Sorry, but seeing her front wedgy just wasn’t nice.
– That Pip Schofield has aged better than Sarah Green (and Mike Smith).
– That whoever put the celebs together with the skaters made a sterling choice in putting Hollyoaks’ Justin Burton with Chav Skater (who actually looks a lot like co-star Jacqui McQueen. Great stuff.
– That Hollyoaks’ Justin Burton will do anything for telly (wasn’t he in one of those celebs-do-singing shows?)
– That having a large following of mindless fruitcakes will get you through to the next round (GMTV’s Michael Underwood, How Clean Is Your House’s Aggie). Being a good skater but being unpopular won’t necessarily (Samantha Mumba).
– That elocution lessons have a lot to answer for (Hear-Say’s Darren Day’s Ex – I’m sure she was northern…).
– That Linda Lusardi’s cheek implants scare the crap out of me.

I occasionally enjoy a good prank. It gets better when you involve others in setting up and scheming and elaborate plot. It’s all about getting the right mix of people who will keep it a secret and work towards maximum effectiveness of the joke.

Trouble is, eventually there’s always one who either doesn’t get the spirit of the joke, or is too goofy to keep it secret, who ends up involuntarily sabotaging the whole prank.

Sometimes this person is not even a part of the planning, they just overheard your scheme and decided to try a much clumsier and obvious one themselves- thus exposing your sophisticated and cunning scheme.

Then it’s game over for everyone.