If there is oe thing truly disgusting about the computer age — and there are actually numerous things — it’s how easy it has made trying to cheat people.
When I opened the text message directory on my mobile phone today, I saw a message telling me my Amazon account had been locked because of someone making repeated attempts to sign on.
I hit two keys.
Delete.
And Enter.
So much for that.
The odds were maybe 99-1 that it was a scam, someone “phishing” to get me to give out information they could use to attack me financially.
And if it was that one in a hundred and my Amazon account was really locked …
Adios, Amazon. I can live without you.
I actually got my lesson nearly 30 years ago when I first started using America Online. One day I was online and I got a message that looked official saying I needed to give my password to prove I was me. I gave it and someone used my account to send out all sorts of spam.
AOL suspended me, but I got the account back when I told them what had happened.
Never again.
Of course these days, it isn’t always about cheating people. At least not technically.
The idea of phone solicitors trying to get people to buy extended warranties for car repairs has become almost a joke, but people call again and again and again. Just saying no and asking them not to call again doesn’t work.
The problem — which I have written about before — is that it’s too easy for them to call. If people had to sit at a phone and dial numbers, that would be one thing. But when it’s a computer dialing number after number and a real live person answering only when someone answers, it’s way too easy.
It has reached the point where I get 15-20 calls a day on my mobile that are clearly labeled as Spam Risk. I block the numbers every time, but they come back again and again with one or two digits different. I would just as soon not accept any incoming calls, but there are some I have to take.
Even if they’re not dishonest, nearly all of those calls are people wanting money from me.
And from you too.
I can’t tell you not to spend money or donate money, but I will tell you to be careful. It’s just too easy to get conned these days.
That’s not right.