The biggest and most important life skill that we all need to develop in today's world is the ability to not get conned and avoid becoming a target. Young and old, irrespective of which age group we belong to, getting conned has become a very common occurrence. Especially with the young who are very social media savvy, which itself is a double-edged sword as it is making them susceptible to different cons.
Recently, a 16 year-old-girl was conned of Rs 16 lakh when she tried to sell her kidney online and another man was conned of the same amount and was blackmailed. Forget others, if you check my Instagram account you'll see that I have pinned a couple of posts marking it as FAKE PROFILE ALERT. Why? I'll explain below, as its the first step to avoid getting conned.
Verify. Check, double check and triple check
Conmen, conwomen and scamsters have evolved over the years and have become quite smart. Take my impersonator for example. All he or she has done is very slyly added a "_" (UNDERSCORE) after my original Instagram username and has messaged all my friends to send money citing an emergency. @abthecoach is my real profile but if one gets a follow or message request from @abthecoach, one really wouldn't think twice.
So always check for minute details and verify to ensure that you're indeed interacting with the intended recipient. In other cases, ensure that you get some sort of validation or carry out a background check. Ask for a government ID and even if you feel the slightest discomfort or smell something fishy, immediately disengage, block the person and refrain from interacting with any one else who suddenly initiates any form of communication. The reason I say this is because most of these scamsters have multiple BACKUP accounts, which they use to re-initiate the process of conning as soon as one of their accounts has been blocked by us.
If its too good to be TRUE, it definitely is!
GREED has always been an innate character of humanity per se that has led to most of us being manipulated, exploited, cheated and simply put... getting conned. If there's anything that looks too easy, highly profitable and so on, it's definitely a con. Never give into FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as this is the psychological factor on which most cons are based. Nothing is easy in life and if these schemes worked, we would've managed to eradicate poverty by now, don't you think?
Be aware and beware. Be smart and street smart
Always remember to ask for more information and probe deep. Ask for even the minutest of detail and then use your knowledge to verify the information. Ask people who are experts in this field or consult with someone you might know in law enforcement, media or if nothing... talk to a tech savvy friend or family member.
Trust your intution and if your intuitive 'spidey sense' starts tingling immediately, supplement it with the information or knowledge required and then take a call. Be aware of why this person has specifically approached you and beware of any new person who approaches you.
Pro Tip: Restrict divulging your personal information to the bare minimum and also be wary of what you post. There's a whole discipline of hacking known as social engineering which relies on creating a pattern of our behvaiour based on our online activity. It's horrifying when you see it in action. Check videos on the same topic online, you'll understand where I'm coming from.
As I sign off, I just want to reiterate the fact that social media is definitely a double-edged sword and because of the same, we're vulnerable without our knowledge. Be safe, be aware and be happy.
With Regards,
Adarsh Benakappa Basavaraj
"Your Coach"
