I used to wonder why people believed the outlandish schemes and scams in emails and phone calls. I had always thought that with all the information out there about cyber scams people are more vigilant as to who they divulge personal information.
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During my recent fortnightly grocery shopping ritual, going through the motions of scanning the aisles for the necessities and not so necessities after work, standing in line to pay for my shopping, there was this sweet, little elderly lady in front of me at the checkout.
She was clearly there with her helper who was assisting her load the items onto the conveyer belt and then into the shopping cart. Once all the items were scanned through totalling just over $300, she pulled out her little money pouch and began counting coins and notes out onto the counter.
Emptying her entire purse, she was only able to come up with an amount just under $150. She was very embarrassed, apologising to me and the 17-year-old boy behind the counter, that she would just pop down to the bank two shops away and withdraw some money.
So off she rode on her motorised scooter, leaving her helper behind to mind the bags. Carrying on with my business, I started loading my groceries onto the counter. In the mean time the helper with the groceries had managed to slip away from the counter and completely disappeared.
That was the most random scam I have ever seen, because the old lady and the man were working together.
If you have ever been a victim of a scam it’s not that surprising. The internet and the advent of fast-money sources such as paywave and debit cards have emboldened con men and women, who have used these tools to fatten their wallets. These are not new tricks, the classic con artists have just become more computer savvy.
The scams, especially those in which the con artist claims to be a debt or fine collector, or the bearer of good news notifying you of winning thousands of dollars, have cost Australians tens of millions of dollars.
So they will shamelessly lie, tempt us with something for nothing and the too good to be trues. Only recently I had a phone call about water quality in the Illawarra region, a survey I was most happy to take as long as they knew that I was no longer located there. “Yes ma'am” the foreigner asking the questions replied.
Three days later I received a phone call back from this survey notifying me that I had been one of five out of 3000 people lucky enough to have won my very own water purifier valued at over $500. All I had to do was purchase the first filter off their company, if I could just provide my credit card details.
Fortunately my brother was sitting next to me when I had exclaimed, “Oh my, I have never won anything before ... a water purifier you say?”
He turns to me and shakes his head telling me he was also told he had won a water purifier - “what a coincidence!” I told the man on the phone, “my brother was also one of the five winners”.
Disappointed, as I had already been making plans on where to put my water purifier and when I could use it, those dreams came crashing down.
Scams and fraudulent behaviour is becoming more and more commonplace, often by the times we discover that we have fallen for the blatant swindle of the con man it’s all too late and at times the victim is too ashamed to admit this shortfall.
It can be as easy as providing an email address and phone number.
To me the worst repercussion of these unscrupulous criminals is that they have created mistrust and uncertainty amongst the general public. Making it difficult for genuine organisations to get the support they need.
