simon43

Well not 'remote' (as in the North Pole). Think rural, in a village.

Same here. All my mates are dead from alcoholism, cancer, motorbike accidents, diabetes and suicide! [quote] ..and get vaccinated against pneumonia [/quote] Since returning to the UK and registering with the NHS I have been offered a free colon cancer test (waiting for the result), free Covid booster, free flu shot and free pneumonia shot ???? [quote] I guess your future health lies in the hands of your health insurance company. [/quote] Well I thought it did, but my health insurance company had other ideas...!

I forgot - diabetes is also a major cause of death...

Some will have read my post about my ongoing prostate cancer diagnosis and possible treatment. This situation has really made me think long and hard about where I live in the future (ie in a city or rural location, regardless of the country), and what actions I can take to ensure that I am unlikely to suffer a major illness or accident. I checked the data about what illnesses or causes of death are the most common for men aged 60+. (This also depends on what country you live in, lifestyle etc etc) Heart attack Stroke Cancer Lung diseases Diabetes Pneumonia Kidney disease Alzheimer's disease Accidents/suicide etc Out of these ailments only heart attack, stroke and accidents are sudden-onset ailments, (well, suicide as well, but unless you're suffering from severe depression or mental illness, then I'll discount this as a likely cause of death). So if one is living in a rural area, far from a decent hospital, all the other ailments may give you time to travel to a suitable hospital for treatment etc. I'm thinking how one can avoid sudden-onset, life-threatening illnesses or accidents. Add into the pot detached retinas, appendicitus as urgent ailments that need one to quickly travel to a suitable hospital. So apart from accidents (slip in the shower, have a motorbike accident, cut your leg off with the power saw in the garden etc), it looks like only stroke and heart attacks are the likely sudden-onset illnesses, (unless you know better - please comment!) I took an online survey as to the likelyhood of me having a stroke or HA, based on my lifestyle and my risk was minimal ???? I have no idea what causes appendicitus (blockage?), so I'm not sure how to be proactive to avoid that. Accidents? Hold onto things in the bathroom, avoid slippery tiled floors, wear a crash helmet when riding a motorbike (and maybe in the bathroom as well!!), don't ride drunk, don't pick fights with anyone etc You can't protect yourself from all the health risks in life, but what other actions can one take? I ask because I need to consider whether living in remote locations is a sensible option for me in the future, or whether I should ;lve within striking distance of a decent hospital. Please feel free to add your own advice and any other (realistic) health risks that might befall the older person.

I've also never heard of this word ???? But I can't understand why a life-scare (cancer) should cause you to shun 'toxic' people. IMHO, you should be shunning such people anyway regardless of a sudden health care.

They can't access my Wise account - I have 2-step authorisation in place and the mobile phone is always in my possession.

Just ask for 'dork boon' (actually 'bpoon'), which means drill bit for concrete. Or 'dork sawan boon' ) (power drill bit for concrete).

Update: Wise has notified Mastercard/Visa of these fraudulent transactions and has fully refunded my funds ???? They have offered to send a new card by a more secure means (DHL), but I'll wait to see if the thief can be identified (if it's the slimy youth at my hotel, then he will no doubt sign for the DHL package etc). But I can certainly freeze the card before it is sent so that no online transactions can be made.

Nope, I think it's true, judging by how most other people are paying! I've been away for so many years that I had to ask the Sainsbury staff to show me how to use the self-scanning check-out tills....

Er ... I pay cash for everything! (I use ATM cards in the UK/Thailand) to withdraw cash to pay for whatever. I never use these cards to buy anything except for plane tickets etc.

Update: Now the plot thickens! Checking into the details of this new physical ATM card, I see that Wise has sent it to my brother's address, not to my UK address (I forgot to update my postal address). WAIT! No they didn't!! I just checked again! My Wise account still has my brother's address, but Wise shipped the card to my UK address in Blackpool that I entered into the Wise website after requesting the card. In other words, Wise were happy to post this card to an address that wasn't yet associated with my Wise account! (Duh...) My brother hasn't yet received the card, which is likely so if the expected delivery date is by March 19th. Now looking at the actual Uber Eats purchases, it says that the actual authorisation method was 'online'. The Wise website says that one can actually use the card for purchases online before the actual card arrives. So how did the defrauder get hold of my ATM card details to make the purchases? (I wish I knew where the Uber Eats order was made).

2 points: The Wise ATM card is a debit card, not a credit card. Secondly, I recently opened a bank account with Halifax Bank. As expected, they sent me an inactive ATM debit card and then the PIN number by separate post. For this Wise card, I was asked to choose a 4-digit PIN on their website and then they confirmed that the card would be sent to me, (which apparently it was, but someone stole it before I received it). Naturally, I considered that maybe my Wise account had been hacked. Unfortunately, I see no way of requesting a log of log-in attempts to my account. In any case, every log-in has to be confirmed by my mobile phone, which is with me at all times. I scanned my laptop for viruses and keyloggers, but nothing was found. I only access the Wise website from my laptop, never from my mobile phone, and I always have to enter the URL and confirm the log-in using my mobile phone. So I'm still perplexed how this scam was committed! Interestingly, the email from Wise after I requested/signed up for the card says that it has to be activated before use (it doesn't say how), AND that it would arrive by 19th March. Well, it was used on 9th March, 10 days before I should have received it!

In fact I normally add funds to Wise from my Payoneer account (I am paid by iTalki that way), and then I send those funds immediately to Bangkok Bank. But on this occasion I kept some funds in my Wise a/c to send them to a USA bank account in payment for a power amplifier for my ham radio equipment. This problem only started when I ordered the ATM card, never had an issue using Wise previously.

I already have that and I use the 2-step authorisation process all the time. That is why I can't figure out why Wise was so lacking in sending out a 'live' ATM card by unregistered post and which can apparently be used without need to enter a PIN or 2-stage OTP when an item is purchased.

Because that was required on the Wise website. After I clicked to request the card it then asked me to enter a 4-digit PIN for the card. I did this and I then received an OTP on my mobile phone to confirm this PIN. This was not a phishing website - it was the real Wise website because I had just used it in the same session to send funds to my Bangkok bank account.

To confirm, I only access my Wise account using my laptop, not my phone. I have 2-step authorisation set up and have never had any security issues receiving/sending funds to/from Thailand etc. When I requested the ATM card on the Wise website it specifically asked me to choose a 4-digit PIN number, which I did. The website made no mention that the card would need to be activated upon receipt and there is nothing on the website under 'My cards' that mentions entering an activation code or whatever. I find that very strange.... Anyway, I'm waiting for the response from Wise.

Unfortunately no. The large transaction actually says 'Uber Eats Pending' which sounds to me that it isn't yet authorised. But below on the transaction details it says 'spent' which suggests that the purchase has been completed. At no time was any OTP or 'click to approve' push message sent to my mobile phone. I certainly will forgo the convenience of having this ATM card if the security is so lax that anyone can charge their big fat Uber meal to my account.....

Thanks - it would make sense that these fraudalent charges didn't require the PIN/OTP etc. In that case, either the postman stole the card or the slimy youth who is employed at this guesthouse where I'm staying - I suspect the latter.... I hope I get my money refunded from Wise.

I have an online account with Wise bank (UK), and this has operated just fine since I opened it last year. Since I am currently in the UK, I was eligible to get a Wise ATM 'real' card. I requested this on the Wise website a few days agoand selected a 4-digit PIN to use with the card, and confirmed this using the 2-step OTP to my mobile phone. The Wise website confirmed that the card was being sent to my UK address. Fast-forward to today, and no sign of the card in the post. But when I logged into my Wise account, I was horrified to see 3 separate transactions using that new card! The first was an Uber Taxi transaction for zero pounds, to check if the card was activated, the second was about 6 pounds from Uber Eats and the third was about 170 pounds (big meal!) from Uber Eats. Naturally, I notified Wise immediately, froze the ATM card and transferred the remaining balance in my Wise account to my bank account in Thailand. I hope that Wise refunds me for these fraudalent transactions. But how was it even possible to charge that card? Surely it needs the authorisation PIN? Surely Wise don't send a 'live' card by unregistered post? Perhaps someone who has a UK Wise ATM card can tell me if one needs to provide the PIN to buy Uber Eats etc...... I've checked my laptop for a keylogger, viruses etc, but nothing found.

AFAIK they are a bank, because I have an account with them with a UK banking sort code etc. They also issue a hard-copy ATM card. Recently, transfers to Thailand take about 24 hours, as opposed to 24 seconds.

OK I understand that you already had an orchiectomy. As you say, it helps to suppress cancer cell spread for a limited period of time. Good luck with whatever treatment you have. Sheryl can dertainly provide expert advice.

What I'm saying is that if hormone treatment is too expensive for you, a simple $50 operation achieves the same....

Sheryl will correct me here if I'm talking complete rubbish. I understand that chemo therapy and Lucrin etc are to reduce the testosterone hormone level in your body. Is not a far cheaper and simple solution to have an orchietomy (remove of testicles under local anaesthetic)? (I am undergoing prostate cancer diagnosis etc in the UK, and have spent several months researching my options at each stage, should the cancer return after prostatectomy, radiation treatment etc).

Lol, if you check in another thread, I had expensive private medical insurance for many years. When it came to make a claim, they accused me of trying to defraud them and cancelled my policy! This was because I had failed to declare slight BPH (verbally diagnosed many years previously, but never mentioned by any Thai doctors during my annual health checks subsequently). Even though the BPH was unrelated to my suspected prostate cancer, the insurance company said that I should have declared it..... Ho hum....

I moved back to the UK on February 7th with suspected prostate cancer. I registered with a local GP and was seen by a doctor at that surgery 3 days later who referred me to the local hospital for diagnosis. 1 week later I had my first consultation, then another 1 week later. I will have my biopsy in 3 days from now. I have been allocated a 'telephone buddy' who calls me regularly to remind me of my appointments and in case I have any concerns about my ailment and treatment. Having not been in the UK for 21 years, I had 'saved up' some other ailments for the doctors! I phoned my new GP to make an appointment and the call system put me at number 10 in the queue. After 10 minutes wait, I was allocated a doctor's appointment for 2 days later. At that appointment, I was allocated a walk-in anytime x-ray at the local hospital for this particular ailment. For another ailment (eyes), I was given a very detailed eye examination and test which identified the problem (Rutin failed miserably to identify any problem at all!). Prism prescription lenses in a decent frame for just 25 quid from Vision Express were provided. The only medical work done on the NHS which cost a bit was 80 pounds to have a dental bridge glued back in place... 5 minutes of work and thanks for your money!! Meanwhile, having registered on the 7th of February, the NHS 'system' sent me a colon cancer testing kit through the post, and letters to remind me to have a free Covid vaccination, free flu and free pneumonia vaccination if I needed them..... So far I'm pretty happy with the NHS response!