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...
