You pride yourself on the fact that you’re a good person. You really try to see the good in everyone. You believe everybody’s like you and knows right from wrong, and you honestly believe that most people tell the truth, or at least, they do know when they’re lying. When in doubt, you always give people the benefit of the doubt, and you don’t always listen to your gut, particularly when it’s telling you something isn’t kosher.
So, how’s that kind of thinking worked out for you, so far?
For me, not always so great. I’ve lived long enough to see more than my share of shady characters, and over the last few decades, I’ve sadly observed the digital revolution usher in a new breed of scam artists and slimeballs adept at exploiting the good people of the world.
For instance: Try job hunting in the 21st Century. So many of my clients tell me varying scenarios that basically boil down to this: They saw an online ad for a job. Like any diligent job hunter, they immediately called the phone number listed, and then emailed a resume chock-full of personal info. Next, they set up an in-person job interview. When they saw the place, something seemed really off. Their gut was telling them to get the hell out of there, but they were out of work, desperate for a job, and so they stayed and filled out an employment application, divulging even more personal information, including their Social Security number. During the interview, they soon learned that the job they thought that they were applying for doesn’t exist. It isn’t a PR job or Personal Assistant or whatever they thought it was, but it’s more like a cold-calling-factory panhandling some scam products. They leave feeling used and abused, and really pissed off that they just wasted their time going on a wild goose chase; but the worst case scenario was yet to come. A few weeks later they find themselves the victim of identity theft, and they’re pretty sure it had something to do with that bogus job interview and all the personal information they so readily handed over.
Or…how about using online dating sites? I’m sure many of you could write a book about all the catfishers, scam artists, commitment-phobes, sex addicts, married people, and psychos that you’ve inevitably encountered.
Oh, and let’s not forget about all the phone scams and text message scammers out there. You know the ones telling you that the IRS is after you, or that your grandchild is in trouble. Cell phone technology has opened up a whole new arena for scammers. Now these cyber-criminals send out mass bogus text messages informing you that your bank account has been suspended. You, being the conscientious, take-care-of-trouble kind of person that you are, call the 1-800 number they tell you to and end up telling a bunch of crooks your bank account number and other vitals, giving these unarmed bank robbers carte blanche to rip you off and steal your identity in record time.
The list of scam artists and their bag of tricks is endless, so throwing away your rose-colored glasses is paramount, if you’re to protect yourself from cyber-bandits, cyber-snakes, and cyber-scammers.
How can a good person protect themselves from all the slime bags populating the modern-high- tech world?
1)You can first and foremost stop second guessing your gut. If your gut tells you that there’s something rotten in Denmark, then follow the stench, and it will reveal the ugly truth of the situation.
2) You can always Google the person, the scam, or company, or even the phone number and see
what comes up. Usually this research will pan out.
3) You can report scams, so that other unsuspecting people don’t get ripped off. Since there are so many different types of scams and frauds out there, each will have to be reported differently. You can start by first reporting it to your local police department. You can Google the type of scam you’ve been a victim of, and it will usually show up. From there you can see who you should report this particularly type of fraud to. It could be to your local consumer protection office, the Federal Communications Commission, or to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, just to name a few agencies that handle these kinds of crime.
4) You can utilize background check sites, such as: checkmate, BeenVerified, Truthfinder, or Intellius to gain some valuable insight about someone you’ve just met or are about to meet.
5) To check a phone number that seems a little fishy to you, you can try a new, free iPhone and ipad app called CallerSmart, which can have you outsmarting unwanted callers and scam artists. With this app, you can even block these callers permanently. Using this app to double check a phone number of someone you’ve met on a dating app or dating site is a another smart thing to do. You can even check the phone number of a shady sounding job opportunity to see what comes up. Since CallerSmart is community based, you can also report an annoying phone number yourself. Users can download the app via the App Store, and here is the link to it in iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/callersmart-reverse-lookup/id771926122?mt=8.
Cindi Sansone-Braff, The Romance Whisperer, talks to the dead to show you how to live well and love better. She is an award-winning playwright and has a BFA in theatre from the University of Connecticut. She is the author of Grant Me a Higher Love and Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships. You can learn more about her by visiting her web site: www.grantmeahigherlove.com.