Your essay is a PSA, and a much needed one! Scams are becoming more prevalent, and eerily sophisticated. I get them frequently, and the ones that really do seem legit are run by my 28 year old son, because, you know, 28 years old! Hell, I could have asked him at 18, savvy as young people are these days. He is the soul of patience with me but sometimes answers with a sigh. "Mom. Yes. It's a scam. Never click a link!" I think only one time was he wrong. I work within the elderly population. My clients range in age from 70 to 101 . It angers and saddens me that they are usually the target demographic for scammers. Particularly heinous are the ones claiming that a loved one is "in trouble" ..basically a ransom demand. How I detest those who prey upon the trusting and vulnerable. How these vile greedy scammers extort money by means of our worst fears! I pray that scam detection ( or better yet, blocking!) technology becomes increasingly *intelligent*, even if artificially!
Yes, I hate that they prey upon the vulnerable! Many years ago my grandpa got a call from someone who pretended to be my cousin and said he was in trouble. If memory serves me, my grandpa wound up sending money to somebody. 😠
I’m glad you didn’t fall for it. The false sense of urgency and the extra person brought in to create credibility both feel like classic social engineering tactics.
Looks like you passed the test.
Great story, and I hope it gets a lot of reads so more people can spot this kind of scam before it works.
Your essay is a PSA, and a much needed one! Scams are becoming more prevalent, and eerily sophisticated. I get them frequently, and the ones that really do seem legit are run by my 28 year old son, because, you know, 28 years old! Hell, I could have asked him at 18, savvy as young people are these days. He is the soul of patience with me but sometimes answers with a sigh. "Mom. Yes. It's a scam. Never click a link!" I think only one time was he wrong. I work within the elderly population. My clients range in age from 70 to 101 . It angers and saddens me that they are usually the target demographic for scammers. Particularly heinous are the ones claiming that a loved one is "in trouble" ..basically a ransom demand. How I detest those who prey upon the trusting and vulnerable. How these vile greedy scammers extort money by means of our worst fears! I pray that scam detection ( or better yet, blocking!) technology becomes increasingly *intelligent*, even if artificially!
Yes, I hate that they prey upon the vulnerable! Many years ago my grandpa got a call from someone who pretended to be my cousin and said he was in trouble. If memory serves me, my grandpa wound up sending money to somebody. 😠
I hate how scams linger like trauma while you are try to tell yourself it was just a nuisance.
I’m glad you didn’t fall for it. The false sense of urgency and the extra person brought in to create credibility both feel like classic social engineering tactics.
Looks like you passed the test.
Great story, and I hope it gets a lot of reads so more people can spot this kind of scam before it works.