Posted on 02/18/2024 2:23:09 PM PST by nickcarraway
Everyone thinks they’re too smart to fall for a scam until it happens to them.
Today, you might be making fun of the financial-advice writer who went viral for putting $50,000 in cash in a box and handing it to a stranger. Tomorrow, you or someone you love could be falling for a less dramatic scam. In her article for New York Magazine’s the Cut, journalist Charlotte Cowles describes in detail how she fell for an elaborate scam that used fear, technology and her data to convince her it was real. A caller posed as someone from Amazon, then transferred her to someone posing as a Federal Trade Commission liaison, then someone claiming to be from the CIA and finally the scammers convinced her to withdraw cash and hand it over to a stranger outside her home.
The end result sounds wild on its own, but broken down step by step the scam did include the kinds of convincing details that frequently trick people. Here’s what we can all learn from this scam.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
“I don’t know, but something seems a bit off to me.”
She might be trying to cover up the real reason she withdrew $50k from the bank.
You could always play the audio from a Joe Biden speech!
Installed a Ring doorbell before winter and my wife loves it because you can see who is there and choose whether or not to answer it or not. We live in Iowa and we were getting lots of canvassers wanting to push their particular candidate.
My son says “ I live in a tent in the middle of a field”. Works like a champ.
As children, the majority Americans born in the 1920 and 30s did not have telephones in their homes. Strangers might come to one's door, but they needed to do so formally and respectfully - especially if selling something.
After WWII, telephone adoption obviated the need for personal interaction, but the cultural norms of respect and proper behavior when presenting oneself at someone's home continued - for a while, at least.
My parents (and most Americans) would answer every telephone call, and treat the caller respectfully, expecting similar good faith.
By the end of their lives several years ago, my parents finally learned to hang-up on marketers, foreign voices, potential scammers and all kinds of "disrespectful visitors"
Now most young people simply do not answer their phones.
We have thus seen a full life-cycle of this communications format - and destruction of a social norm.
LOL. If its Fed.gov and you have done something needing their attention worth $50K, they show up at 6AM with an armada of vehicles, and kick in your door and windows.
THAT's how you will now know Government wants something from you.
Interesting. If I don’t see a name or recognize a number I don’t answer. If it’s legit, they can leave a voice mail.
We are so far out in the boonies that if someone is at our house it means they are lost—at least ten miles out of their way.
Lol.
(True story—years ago a young attractive very polite black woman—all dressed up including high heels—stopped at the end of the driveway and asked for directions. She was terrified—had not seen any signs for anything for miles. She was going to a wedding fifteen miles away.
I don’t think she had ever been to such a rural area in her life.)
LOL. It made me think of Grandpa Simpson Story About Onions
Indeed. Especially if you aren’t a Democrat.
Back when my grand daughters were very little and just started talking, I used to hand the phone to them whenever I got a nuisance call from a telemarketer or scammer..
“My parents (and most Americans) would answer every telephone call, and treat the caller respectfully, expecting similar good faith.”
My mom does this (she’s 99), and she’s exceedingly polite to every caller, no matter how many goofy calls she gets every day. We’ve trained her to NOT engage, though, and she’ll politely end the call
Killjoy.
When I grew up in the 1950s-60s, the phone didn’t ring very often. It was kind of an ‘occasion’ when it did; and was almost always a relative or other expected call.
My phone still almost never rings.
If you have to ask who is the mark, it is you.
Wow - don’t tell me it was a scam? I can hardly believe it ... A nice looking gal like that ...
I do the same thing, except my weapon is in my right hand.
Interesting read, what i got through before being bored. Good story about an idiot physicist , self absorbed, and no common sense.
But you can trust the science 🧬…..
“She might be trying to cover up the real reason she withdrew $50k from the bank.”
I have three ringtones for my phone.
My family or very close friends and if I hear that I know to answer it, if at all possible. At the very least, I check to see who is calling.
The other is for my general contact list. So if that goes off, I check and see who it is first to decide if I want to answer it.
The third is the carrier’s default ringtone and when I hear that, I just ignore it and figure if it’s important, they’ll leave a message. And on rare occasion they do.
But under no circumstances will I answer it from an 800 number or some oddball area code.
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