I got a text from a young woman wanting to play golf, or so it seemed. Nah. Scammer.
TIS THE SEASON…..to be scammed.
Over the years I have written about various scams and con jobs from the complex to the simple. Now it seems the holidays have become a time to beware of.
The other day I got a text from someone saying we needed to get together to play some golf. I know several folks who might have asked me to play golf, but I didn’t recognize the number. I checked the area code and it was Florida. So, asked who it was.
It was Ava and she wanted to know if I was Lina. Nope. And I told her I was in PA and it was cold so golf was not on the agenda.
She emailed back and apologized and proceeded to tell me she loved PA and traveled her on work and wanted to meet me, buy me coffee to apologize for intruding. Red flag.
She sent another text wanting me to know my name so she’d know what to call me when we met. Two red flags. Then she said she was in New York, not Florida.
I told her to shove off. She became indignant.
The warning signs were all there, of course. I played it a bit to see where it would go.
I googled “text scams involving golf” and there it was. The end game would be getting me to guy into a rich uncle’s fabulous crypto scheme.
SCAMS ARE EVERYWHERE. Another big one this time of year is scammers who go into stores and using scanners hijack gift cards on the rack so when they are bought and used the money goes into their accounts. The end user of the card finds it’s been emptied. Some stores have started using a system where the buyer does not get the key code until checkout.
Not much has changed when it comes to recognizing a scam. The oldest and best is “is it too good to be true?” In the case of “AVA” I knew as soon as she said she wanted to buy me coffee that it was. A young woman coming all the way to West Chester to have coffee with sorry old me?
The other tip-off is simple. Do you have any idea who is on the other end of whatever outreach you just got? That’s quickly followed by “what do they want?” Legit businesses do not ask you for personal info such as passwords, user IDs, bank account numbers, your Social Security.
Anyone in their right mind should be able to detect a scam. But, as W.C. Fields once said “you can’t cheat an honest man.” What he meant was that anyone who falls for a scam is looking for something for nothing.
There is an exception, and that is the elderly. More and more scams are targeting the elderly and if you have a senior citizen entering into dementia they are particularly vulnerable.
So, here we are. It’s scam season. Be alert.
Rich Heiland is a retired journalist and semi-retired consultant, trainer and public speaker. During his journalism career he was a reporter, editor, publisher, college instructor, part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year honoree. He also writes the intodementia.com blog about his family’s experience with dementia. He lives in West Chester, PA and can be reached at [email protected].