Thanks for all the concern.  Some people responded to the request, and found out that they were to buy a card, take a picture of it and send it with the pin number from the back of the card. That's how the hacker would be able to cash in the card. As far as I know at this time, no one actually fell for it. The instructions were so weird that no one who got that far believed it was a real request. And the specified store does not exist in my area.
Sorry for all the fuss. The main thing that came out of it was that I heard from some friends I hadn't talked to in ages. Now, back to lace. I'm trying to choose a new project to keep me busy for the next few months. Another lappet from the Herrmansberg book is tempting. And I'm trying to design a pattern for a small lampshade. I've been asked to attend the next Tatting Quarterly meeting to teach a lady bobbin lace since the tatters will be too busy to do it. (The Portland Lace Society tatters have formed a sub-group that meets quarterly to do advanced tatting techniques.) We don't want to turn down anyone who wants to learn. Alice in Oregon - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/