Last Monday, at 5:30 pm, I received a text stating that I had an overdue speeding ticket and had to appear in Provincial Court, next morning at 9:30 am. At 5:30 pm all offices are closed for the day.
I did have a speeding ticket from three months ago. This summons looked so authentic. I had a horrible night worrying about losing my driver’s licence – and all the consequences that could flow from such a loss.
At 9:30 am I was down at the court house. The clerk looked at the list of names for the day. Then she looked at me. “Your name is not on the list……you were scammed!”
Relief!
Everyone repeats so often, “You have to be so careful.” “Never open anything that you are not familiar with.”
In today’s world the scammer can reach into your life/business from the other side of the world. They want to build trust and have access to your banking information. We have horror stories (especially from the elderly) of the disaster of having their bank account wiped clean by these thieves. And the money moves within minutes to another country / banking institution where it cannot be retrieved.
What happens to our social fabric (the trust we must have in institutions and business people) when you become leary of any phone call or text message that you are not familiar with at the moment? What happens to a society if you are fearful of anyone that you do not know?
The people who are knowledgeable in the scamming business will always warn you, “Remember the scammer is always more intelligent that you are.”
Today, listen to the stories of people who have been scammed in many different ways. What cautions can we learn from them. And what do we need to be taught about our own way of doing things --- we may not be as smart or as secure as we think we are.
Bring this concern to your coffee friends. What are your learning from their experiences of being ripped off? How much money has been lost?
And how do we protect ourselves from these scammers?
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