Attemted Bank Fraud?

Wow, not sure about this one. But, thought I would share, just in case.

We received an automated call saying it was from Washington Mutual about a possibly fraudulent charge on my mom's debit card. This was confusing since my mom doesn't have a card.
After pressing 5 (if you wish to dispute this charge or are not sure), we were connected to an operator (first clue).
The operator asked for my mom's card # or account #. Since she didn't have a card, I was confused and asked the operator to provide that information.
She could not, she asked for account info and social so she could verify the account.
I hung up on her. I don't like to give out such info when the call was originated from outside. So, I got the number off my statement and called in to Wamu. They looked up my mom's account and there was no history of a charge card for her, as I suspected. I asked the operator if the call we received could have been attempted fraud. She said it might have been, and that I did the right thing.
1. If it is an incoming call, don't give out account information. Make them provide it. If they can't, there is a reason.
2. Call your bank at the number listed on your statement or on the back of your card (if you have one).
3. Verify everything is OK.

In the end, the customer service rep. let me know there is not much they can do if the attempted phone fraud failed. There is more they can do if it is web related.
She said that in phone fraud, there is little they can do unless your account was actually compromised. Since our account was not, it's pretty much over.

So, I posted this as a reminder. Don't give out information to anyone who calls you! Thank them for the alert and call your bank at a number you know is correct, not one the caller gives you.

Good luck, and safe banking.

Facebook hell

Well, I signed up for facebook at the urging of a friend a while back and now I have several friends. And with that, I get a constant stream of emails asking me to compare my friends or become a knight in a friend's realm or send them some karma points. Wow, when do these people sleep? I mean, WTF? I work, workout, spend time with my wife, mom, sisters, practice some programming, then I get to watch a show or listen to an audio book and by that time I only have a few hours to sleep.. I am not even counting in chores like dishes, shopping and taking out the trash!.
What ever happened to good old fashioned email? I mean, it's sad to think that email was a more personal and intimate form of communication than the norm.
I miss it. I wonder if there was ever a more personal form of bonding than email?
I seem to remember a day when I actually got together with friends for pizza and beer. Or, was that just a facebook game I played?
There is a bright side to facebook, however. A couple long lost friends, that I have not seen in a long long time, tracked me down on fb. I now know if they are married, have kids, what kind of music they are listening to and how they are doing in mob wars.
I may even get an email from one of them some day. Well, at least they posted photos.
Cheers.