So many gullible one had become victim of scam in so many ways. Here I just want to concentrate on the possibility of being victim via the internet.
My experience leads me to believe the exposure of our personal details or profile could be one of the sources. So far I have not been approached via this blog but on Facebook (FB) I have received numerous proposals with the intention of being partner in big business, friendship that could end in matrimony, and the girls from another country claiming to be daughters of Malaysian who passed away leaving them with their mothers wishing to be back to their father’s homeland.
I find the business proposals mind boggling. When somebody mentioned in term of investing millions of American dollars and British sterling, my initial reaction was why they don’t just dump their riches into some safe deposits, trust funds and the numerous money markets. Why should they want to share their good fortune which they claimed to have come from sheer hard work with someone staying so far away whom they don’t even know and trust.
Then there are the soldiers who found caches of American money on the battle front in countries where the American and allies have invaded. They want to get the money out and wanted my help. How are they going to do it over their side when the banking systems are topsy-turvy there. Being a curious person I just checked the FB address which I could not trust.
To me the intention of being on social network of FB was to be in touch with friends, relatives and acquaintances that we may not be in touch for a long time. Getting new friends is a bonus. I don’t mind friendship with sincere intention from overseas.
To be “friends” on FB all we need do is just to make a “request” to the intended person who has an FB account or likewise. This I consider genuine.
When it comes from the people mentioned above they don’t make any “request” to be friend neither do they accept to “add” me as a “friend”. All of them just write on FB “messages” detailing their sad past, intention and proposal. They request for my e-mail address and telephone number. The funny thing is that they don’t have any “friends” on their profile. My preference would be people who have many friends.
Initially I was quite taken up by the sob stories but when there was an influx of the same; my instinct just told me these were not right. I stopped responding through the FB “message”.
I put up on my wall and status on this as well as consulted friends, all of them advised me just to ignore. It seems later they will be asking for bank account details and other things. This could lead to untoward happening.
We have read this scam in the media where the “victim” lost a substantial amount and not much could be done to pacify.
Rather than be a victim, let us nip the scam in the bud.
You're right. Why would they want to share their "wealth" with total strangers? That alone should raise some suspicions but unfortunately some gullible (but I would say greedy) people still fall prey to this syndicate. What a pity, this world are inhabited by people of all kinds and species.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Why would they want to share their "wealth" with total strangers? That alone should raise some suspicions but unfortunately some gullible (but I would say greedy) people still fall prey to this syndicate. What a pity, this world are inhabited by people of all kinds and species.
ReplyDelete[Note: This comment is from me but due to accidental pressing of buttons this had been attributed to someone else]
Idris,
ReplyDeleteI hope more people are aware of the various scheming out there to avoid pitfalls.
Thank you for your observation.