Scams: An Article

Hey, everyone.

So, for my first article, I wanted to write about something that is near, but not dear, to my heart. That's right. You guessed it. The topic this time is on scams.

What is a scam, you might ask? Well, generally speaking, a scam is a crime where a criminal (often called a "scammer") steals money by using flat-out lies, tricks or deceit. The scammer will normally pretend to be someone they're not, gain the trust of their victims through various forms of mental manipulation, and get their victims to either send money to them or expose personal information which could then be used for illegal financial gain. Billions of dollars are lost every year because of scams. 

Scammers can be considered some of the most heinous, evil villains on the planet. They can even be considered murderers. No, some ARE flat-out murderers. Why? Because unfortunately, their actions have driven innocent people to such despair to the point of deciding to forfeit their lives. This is not a possibility. It is a historic fact that a simple internet search can verify. That is the extent to the damage that they can cause. 

There are as many different kinds of scams as there are stars in the sky. Scammers will pretend to be all sorts of real people or companies. There are scammers who pretend to work for Amazon, PayPal, or Microsoft to name but a few. Many scammers pretend to be police officers or members of the government to get victims to send them money or give away personal information that can be used to steal the money. Some even pretend to be possible lovers or online blind dates.

Scammers find victims through advertisements online, sending out emails with fake messages, even calling or texting people on the phone at random.

How exactly scammers get their potential victims' email or phone numbers is hard to say. What can be said, however, is that every single person on the planet probably got their information exposed or leaked. Lots of famous big companies and international corporations have had their systems hacked which exposed millions and millions of customer information to the whole wide world. Also, if you subscribe to anything, you put your information in the hands of data brokers, people who'll sell or trade that information to other people or companies to make a profit.

Scammers are also on social media and will use that too to find targets and potential victims. Going back to scammers pretending to be potential lovers, girlfriend/boyfriend, they can be found in all sorts of famous online matchmaking websites.

So, basically, it's not hard for scammers to find a target. And they can do it from the comfort and safety of their own homes in another country where the risk of consequences for their crimes is very, very low.

So how do you spot a scam or a scammer? How do you keep yourselves safe from them?

Well, I have my own personal recommendations on how to stay safe from scammers. Here's what I'd do:

If you get an email, text message or phone call from a company you know about a problem or question, don't answer their questions or follow their instructions right away. Instead, FIRST, contact the company using phone numbers, email addresses or websites you already know are legit and tell them what is going on. Better yet, if can, go to a branch store or office and speak to a worker face to face for guarantee no tricks.

An actual worker will know if the message or call you got is real or not and even help you handle the problem if it turns out to be real. This is especially true for most banks.

If you get a call or text from a complete stranger in what seems to be a case of wrong number, it's okay to let them know, but don't do or say anything that could give away your info. Assume the person on the other side might be a trickster with Sherlock Holmes level detective power. Use a fake name and pretend to represent a company with ties to government or law enforcement. If the stranger turns out to be a scammer, they're likely to pull a disappearing act and go away without a peep.

One thing to always remember: if anyone tells you to lie to your bank about the reason you need to take out money or send it to someone, CUT TIES WITH THEM IMMEDIATELY. THEY ARE SCAMMERS TRYING TO STEAL YOUR MONEY. NO LEGIT MEMBER OF A LEGIT COMPANY, ORGANIZATION, LAW ENFORCEMENT OR FEDERAL AGENCY WOULD EVER TELL PEOPLE TO LIE TO THE BANKER OR TELLER TO THEIR FACE LITERALLY WHEN DOING AN IN-PERSON TRANSACTION IN THE BANK.

Another thing to remember: if someone on the phone claiming to work for the government or law enforcement tell you the culprit of a crime you’re involved in is a worker at the bank, THEY ARE LYING SCAMMERS. HANG UP! DON’T EVER SPEAK TO THEM AGAIN! LEGIT POLICE OR GOVERNMENT AGENTS NEVER GIVE THAT SORT OF INFORMATION AWAY. IT WOULD COMPROMISE THE INVESTIGATION. ANY CRIME DRAMA CAN TELL YOU THAT! LEGIT POLICE OR GOVERNMENT AGENTS WOULD NEVER TRY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THE BANK IS THE ENEMY! A CUSTOMER SERVICE OR FRAUD DEPARTMENT REP FROM WHATEVER COMPANY CERTAINLY AIN’T GOT ANY BUSINESS TELLING YOU THE BANK’S FULL OF CRIMINALS TRYING TO STEAL YOUR MONEY.

One more thing: COPS AND FEDS DO NOT NEED TO KNOW YOUR DEBIT, CREDIT CARD OR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBERS. IF THEY ASK, THEY AIN’T COPS OR FEDS. THEY’RE SCAMMERS.

Finally, always educate yourselves about scams. You can learn a lot by talking to a worker at a bank. Or going on YouTube and watch scambaiting videos, which can be highly educational. I recommend the likes of Kitboga and Scammer Payback. 

Don't worry, they are not endorsing this article and blog. They don't even know I exist. Their videos are just my own recommendations to watch.

That's it for this first article by this millennial. If you got something to say, let me know in the comments. If you like my article, consider treating me to some coffee.

Stay safe. Don't get scammed. And happy reading y'all!