Scams!

Scams!? We have all been hit with them in email and over the phone.? I deal with some companies IT-wise.? Just in one company, there are over 200,000 spam emails a month that are filtered out.? A handful make it through to the user to manually delete.? However, they get cleverer and more real-looking all the time.? Scammers use social media a great deal to learn personal things to get you to click on a link or buy into crypto, internet lotto, or publisher’s clearing house scams.? I often get friend requests for relatives these scammers copy.?

One of the most common ones I get frequently on Linkedin is the “pig butchering scam”.? It is usually a very pretty oriental woman with a long resume and history of owning a business and “she” wants to get to know you.? The scam gets the target to invest in crypto for a small amount like $10.? They double this person’s money and convince them to invest a little more till they feel they are making money.? Then the big amount is asked and that is when they are taken.

Another common one is the “romance scam”.? This is where the scammer poses as a middle-aged-looking catfish picture of a doctor and befriends women.? They tour through friends lists till they find women interested in chatting.? The target is typically bored housewives looking for a little excitement in life.? They will listen to the target gripe about their life and eventually the scammer will tell them they have a friend who is a lawyer and investigator and they would be glad to ask them to check up on their spouse.? They then come back that their spouse is cheating and in the distraught of the target, they gain the target’s trust, even alienating them from friends and family.? They convince the target that they are there to help them through the process of divorce and starting a new life.? When it is over the target has divorced their spouse, alienating most people they know, and ends up giving their money to the scammer that leaves them high and dry.

Another scam in like manner that targets men is the “mistreated young woman scam”.? The scammer will target usually men over 40 with a catfished picture of a woman in her 20s.? Sometimes they are in the military, sometimes not.? The scam goes that they were mistreated by their spouse/boyfriend who took everything they had.? Now they are left with nothing if not in the military, usually living with a sibling or aunt.? After gaining trust and building hope in the target that is enamored a young woman is interested in him, they will get the pitch.? The scammer will tell the target that they have an opportunity from a family member to invest in a business for them.? However, the problem is the ex has ruined their credit and bank accounts so the relative has no way to send money to them.? They will ask the target if the relative can send money to their bank account and they help the scammer with buying things for the biz.? Of course, once the scammer has verified that some money has reached the target, they will clean out the bank account altogether.

You are thinking, how could anyone fall for these?? It is simple actually.? Emotions always override reason.? Product companies spend billions to push people’s buttons with ads that drive emotions.? Even drug companies use clever animations and ads to drive your emotions to buy their pharmaceutical product despite the 15 seconds of horrible disclaimers.? It is the visuals that people focus on.? Scammer through communication and persistence paints a picture playing off what their target is wanting.? The internet gives a false sense of safety that scammers rely on.? They know what to say and the key things the target responds with.? When you catch a person in the right state emotionally, they will toy with the prospect and eat up the attention they get.? Once they are hooked, they feel they are in too deep to stop and no longer understand where they are at in the scam.? It is like a movie that you get into and no matter how bad it is, you feel the need to finish to see how it ends.?

I bring this up because as a writer there are tons of pitfalls in the writing industry.? A scam came across me and other authors lately.? A person emails the author stating they are a director/producer and want to buy the rights to make a movie from the author’s book.? This is a very exciting prospect.? The target is then directed to an agent or secretary that further states they work for a studio like Amazon and the target’s book is one of a handful suggested to produce into a movie.? As the process moves along they will be wanting the target to pay for this or that to get the project protected or moving forward.? They may even require them to invest funds to secure a percentage or show they are serious about the project.? You can tell what happens from there.?

Be careful, be watchful, verify everything!