Scammer Warnings

I know this is a bit different from my usual kinds of posts but I feel compelled to write about scams and frauds you may or may not have heard about. There are so many scammers around and they are becoming more devious and believable. The top and bottom of it is: do not give money, details, passwords, PC access or anything else to anyone, just because an email or phone call asks you to do so.

There are thousands of scammers out there, raking in millions a year from people whom they scare into giving them money and other things. They are sociopaths; you cannot reason with them, they don’t feel guilt or remorse and they even think they have the right to your money to the point of getting extremely angry if they don’t get it. Whether you are young, old, sick, disabled, dying…they do not care, they just want your money. Literally the only way to get to them is to NOT give them anything! They may ask for Bitcoin, gift cards, cash delivered in boxes, and they do not want you to tell anybody what they are asking you to do! They may threaten arrest or other legal action if you do not do exactly as they say.

Even if you know they are trying to scam you, do NOT interact with them in any way. If you receive a phone call from someone you don’t know, pick up the phone and let them speak first. If you suspect a scam, do not speak, just hang up. It only takes around 3 seconds of your voice for them to use AI to replicate it. They could then use ‘your’ voice to scam your family and friends.

A now common one is the so-called ‘refund scam’. Someone calls or emails you pretending to be from Norton, Microsoft, McAfee or other company. They tell you that your subscription for their services is about to renew and you are entitled to a refund if you do not want to continue their services. They then tell you that they have given you a refund of too much and need that money back. So many people fall for this. They may even edit the webpage in your browser to make it look as though they have paid you too much. Simply reloading the page will show you whether or not this is the case. They will tell you not to do this and will probably have a meltdown if you do! 😀

There’s a channel on YouTube that tries to help people to not fall for these scams, as once these people have your money, it’s gone forever:

https://www.youtube.com/@ScammerPayback

Please take care. Do not download anything, give out anything, or click a link in any email that you are not expecting. Particularly when it comes to financial websites such as Paypal or your bank, always to go your browser and type in the website yourself to be on the safe side.