Sideswipe: August 15: Free to good home

The empty box ... can you help?

Tap and go - it's the legends that are dodgy

On tap-and-go technology: "I think many of you are being fooled by urban legends and/or reading out of date and misinformed websites," suggests Tony. "The technology works only within 5cm or so of the terminal. It's not going to read it from your pocket when you're next in queue. Even if it was possible, this will be reversed by your bank. If a criminal snuck up behind you and swiped a machine next to your purse or wallet without you realising, they can't process a transaction directly this way, they have to be signed up and connected to a bank to process a payment. Anything over about $80 or something still needs a pin number anyway', most fraudsters aren't going to go to all that effort and risk (e.g. shop security cameras watching this) just for $80."

Oscar-winners in the carpark

"Your reader scammed by the 'desperate mother" in a Meadowbank car park was just another victim of many similar scams," writes Sonya. "I have had a young dad desperate to get to a family funeral up north, and a 'doctor' needed for urgent surgery who just locked his keys and wallet in a car ... Also had a 'chef' who was called in urgently to a Botany Downs pub on his day off and needed a cab fare. Shame there are not legitimate acting jobs for these liars and thieves."

Mystery at the station

A reader writes: "I saw a concerning scene outside the Britomart train station this morning. This cardboard box was sitting outside the station; it was soaked as it rained this morning, and it had 'free to good homes' written on the side. It was lined with newspaper and grass, suggesting it'd had little animals inside (although there was none in the box when I got there). I emailed these pictures to the SPCA, thinking it might want to look into it, but I doubt there's enough here for it to go on. If one of your readers saw the box, maybe they can tell us what was in it, and/or confirm that these creatures found a good home."

Does anyone else feel inadequate because they haven't vacuumed the footpath today?