By ARTHUR VIDRO
On Consumerism
The 1990s was the dawn of the internet age. For the first time, the internet was reaching people’s private homes.
And the world would never be the same.
At the time, the internet was often called the Information Superhighway. Back then, it was data or words being transmitted. Not images. Contracts still had to be signed in person, not via computer.
There was a popular term then that I always refused to use: “surfing the internet.” Dumb term then, dumb term now.
But the “information superhighway” term, which also is now in the dustbins of history, resonates with me. It was apt then, and remains more apt now.
The internet is not merely in our homes now, but for most of us in our pockets. Wherever we go.
And that is why we are being victimized more than ever.
A Gallup poll in 2023 reports that 15% of Americans said a household member had been tricked into giving money or financial information to a scammer. These scammers rarely knock on your door. They reach out via email, text, or phone call.
Maybe a pop-up message appears on your computer, saying it has a virus. Trying to fix the alleged problem by hitting a link allows scammers to access your computer and all the information it holds.
A true computer doctor doesn’t seek you out. You must seek out the doctor.
Maybe your attempt to make a purchase online results in your being told your card number was rejected. So, you try a different card. It, too, gets rejected. Later the bill arrives and it turns out all those so-called failed attempts did cost you, and you don’t even get what you had tried to order, because you were on a counterfeit website.
You might hear from a stranger offering investment advice, such as to buy crypto currency. If you’re not dealing with a legitimate broker, then your money will disappear forever with nothing to show for you. How can you determine a legitimate broker from an illegitimate one? I don’t know, but if you want to go down the crypto road, then make sure you seek them out, not vice versa. (The only worthy Krypto I know of is Superboy’s dog.)
Maybe a celebrity you follow or a relative alerts you that they need money. Real celebrities will never ask you for money. (Plus, it’s idiotic to buy a product simply on the endorsement of a famous person.) As for that relative who needs money, well, open your wallet if you wish, but make sure you don’t do it electronically. Send a paper check. Or hand over paper currency. My own standby is to say, “I’ll send my cousin over with the money. What’s the address?” or “I’ll send my lawyer over to bail you out. What’s the address?” They invariably hang up.
Authentic job offers seldom arrive in your mailbox out of the blue. Unless there’s a reason you know of (i.e., you are registered with a professional agency for providing a certain service), be wary of anyone looking to hire you. And if you do wish to give them a try, do not — I repeat, DO NOT — give them access to your bank account. If they won’t pay you via check (or an electronic company with a track record of success, such as PayPal), then dismiss them from your mind.
A dozen or so years ago I tried to look online for jobs. Got flooded with so many scam artists that I eventually abandoned the email address.
Real people all around us believe what they’re told by folks impersonating computer-company workers, investment-company officers, even U.S. marshals. The story can be: Your investment account was hacked. To protect the rest of your money, transfer all your investment accounts into your bank account, then use those funds to buy gold, pack the gold into a shoebox, then hand it over when someone comes knocking.
And the blind fools obey! Even when a gold-store employee warns the victim this smells like a scam.
These victims ought to be considered accessories to the crimes against them.
Likewise victims of romance schemes. The scammer first gets the victim to fall in love — though they’ve never met — and then uses trumped-up excuses to pressure the victim into sending money, sometimes one’s entire life savings.
Isn’t it obvious you shouldn’t turn over your life savings to a person you’ve never met? That goes for investment brokers, too. Arrange to meet them before conveying money to them. It doesn’t prevent all possible frauds, but it helps.
Victims send wire transfers and — more embarrassing yet — gift card codes to folks they’ve never met, just because they’re being told to do so.
Stop following instructions blindly. Think for yourselves.
If the person in front of you in a store is buying thousands of dollars worth of gift cards, rest assured, they’re being scammed. You can even tell them so. It usually won’t do any good. For these folks are just blindly following the directives they receive via computer or smartphone.
Yes, the Information Superhighway began as a promising vast landscape, with the potential for much good.
But unlike a real superhighway, we have too many traveling it who never had to earn a driver’s license.
Maybe we should have an internet literacy test to license folks before they can use the internet. Or at least before using it to send money.
There are as many fools today as there ever were, but now — thanks to computers and smartphones — they’re far, far easier to reach.
