Sunday, May 22, 2022

"I swear on GoD."



 


     We are hit by such a barrage of scams, come-ons, grifts, ploys and frauds of all kinds, you'd think we'd be more discerning by now. Yet those who bat away the pleas of Nigerian princes fall 100 percent and forever to the oily entreaties of lying leaders. It's very worrisome.
     While I have no problem ignoring the hammering of crooks, commercial or political, at my various electronic doors, there is my playful side, and sometimes I just can't help screwing with them a little bit. Yes, I know I'm not matching wits with Lex Luthor, but merely causing a flash of puzzlement of someone in a basement boiler room in Burkina Faso. If that. But I occasionally do it anyway, for my own amusement.


     I don't owe anything to the grifters, and they approached me, so I'm free to respond as I please. There is no rule that I must stay on script. Besides, I figure every second they parley with me, who is never sending them a dime, is a second they can't use to squeeze the retirement fund out of some gullible elderly couple in Idaho. So I am actually doing some small amount of good. Besides, I can be bored sometimes, and it's interesting to see how they handle it. Usually by fading away.
      Although it was a little disconcerting to see Facebook friends this week posting the amounts they received back from their Facebook settlements, because those of course were real, I think, although they followed the scam pattern. I do wonder what the fraudsters I respond to make of our exchanges.



         But eventually I get bored, and move on. An important skill in social media, one that many never seem to master.





2 comments:

  1. Hilarious! I'm too scared of them to respond. I block every time.

    I have known 2 seniors who've gotten majorly ripped off. One via a FB Messenger scam pretty recently, and the other a phone call that yielded heavy bags of coins to be delivered to an old man whose savings was greatly depleted. I was able to help him get his money back since things were much less sophisticated 20 years ago when he was scammed old school.

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  2. So many scammers, so little time. I go through my mailboxes and send most of them the foulest, most obscene replies imaginable, mostly because I despise what they are doing to the elderly, the confused, the mentally challenged, and the gullible. It obviously works for them, or they would not still be around. Naturally, there are always more of them tomorrow, but cussing them out makes me feel better, and at my age, that's what counts the most.

    The most annoying messages I receive regularly are the endless daily scam calls from overseas, at “spoofed” phone numbers with local area codes, but mostly Asian in origin. I yell at them and swear at them, and deliver obscene suggestions, many of which are anatomically impossible, Lately I’ve begun to let the voice mail tell them “You know what you can do.” Which, in their case, can mean either "Hang up!" or "Go screw yourself..."

    I also keep an Acme Thunderer (the world's best whistle, made in the UK and used by NFL referees) next to my phone. When I’m feeling especially pissed-off, I blow it into the mouthpiece, hoping for the worst. If their eardrums are damaged, they will soon be fired, and maybe they'll starve on the mean streets of Mumbai or Manila. I figure it's exactly what they deserve...because I truly hate all the fraudsters, flim-flammers, charlatans, and those who serve them. Especially the ones who operate on the premise that Americans are all stupid, rich, and easy pickings for the vultures out there..

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