Wednesday, February 5

Of thieves and confidence scammers

Its coming up to nearly a year since I was scammed into revealing some of my bank details to a dubious individual in Nigeria . Yes , this is a modern tale of high tech woe and possibly worrying surveillance ?
  This story begins last Spring with the theft of several vehicles from our farm just before the busy lambing season . This has become very common in the countryside as the recession bites . Yes there is a recession , but you can call it stagnation if you prefer !
   Anyway I was stressed out at the time obviously so when my laptop broke also it was the bitter end , but then things got weird . While my laptop was being fixed at a reputable shop another I was using also started playing up . One day I received a phone call from someone claiming to work for Microsoft and he knew or got lucky when he said he could help with the problems I was having . How did he know about the broken laptop at the menders and the current problem I was having ? He talked me into buying some software and installed it remotely over the phone . Looking back it was stupid , but he was very good at suggestion , very good and I had other things on my mind as well  due to the thefts . No money was lost and only my pride was dented when the penny dropped I was being led on a merry dance .
   After the thefts and this con I really was angry at the tide of bile that life can direct at you and you will never see it coming ! This man I later found , like most conmen was based in Nigeria . He was well known and frighteningly I could hear a call centre full of people in the background which further vindicated that he was  in my minds eye legit as they say .
  Anyway all this was forgotten until this week when I again had laptop trouble and again I sent it to the same reputable shop to be fixed as I did last time . Guess what ? The phone calls started again , though this time I just hang up , and yes they sounded like a call centre . How did he or they know again my laptop was broken ? Well somehow they did and this is worrying . After last years thefts I sometimes think the world can turn on you and theres nothing you can do . There is a world of bad people out there and eventually they will get round to your neck of the woods . I was naive and distracted at the time which rattled me even more .
  Funnily a few days later by pure coincidence a youth knocked on our door saying he was from a young offenders institute and was offering to do jobs in our house for us . Of course I declined , but I even had to smile at the thought . What timing eh ?
  Oh and after all the news I watch im sure Africa is the cesspit of the world , but that's another story...

2 comments:

  1. Yes, sadly, it probably is the cesspit of the world. Sad, very sad. I have heard of scams operating in call type centre places now, it's rather frightening because they truly do sound legit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This man asked me questions then directed me to the answer he wanted . He must have practised this for a long while . The only thing that aroused my suspicions slightly was his annoyance when I didnt understand him . Of course its easy in hind sight to see these things .

    ReplyDelete