I may be too quick to help. I almost fell for a fairly dumb scam this morning.

1am: I’m on facebook for a moment when Mike G. pops-up in chat. He quickly tells me that he is in London, and has been held up at gun point. He goes on to say that he needs to settle the hotel bill of $800. Naturally my always wanting to help and be a hero kicks in and I offer to send him the money. Long story short Western Union Online denies my transfer, basically setting in motion me NOT getting scammed.

It doesn’t end there, naturally, but let me first explaine why this scam worked (why I’m not a compete moron). Well first off, when a friend tells you that they just lost everything at gun point, you tend not to demand much detail. The other major factor was that “Mike” had conntacted me through FaceBook. This wasn’t some avatar that I knew as a “friend” this was the online reflection of a real person. I’ve played with this guys kid, I know his wife. We went to school with me for gosh sakes! So it felt real, even though there were things already that weren’t adding up. He didn’t seem to answer specific questions, like if he was there with his wife and kid. I’ll say he didn’t seem quite like himself, but in retrospect that seems true though I know at the time he WAS him, I made sure that the person I was talking to over the internets WAS Mike in my mind. All the unanswered questions, and quick jump to western union, how he knew just what to do. How he was online, what was with the poor grammer? I was able to write it off as “oh he must be sooo scared” etc. etc.

I was on the phone with Western Union for half an hour trying to get this money sent. For what ever reason they didn’t send it (which they don’t disclose) saved my ass! So I told “Mike” that I would wake up at 8:30 that morning and get the money to him! I wasn’t going to fail this mission. I was going to be the hero, saving Mike and wife and baby! I’m not naive in thinking that us humans operate in self-less ways. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do almost anything for friends, but every action is tainted with self interest. I wanted to be the hero who got out of bed at 8am after a restless nights sleep, body aching from the flu. Running to the bank and taking eight crisp hundred dollar bills to the Pay-O-Matic (which is a check cashing place, not some machine) and send them off to my buddy Mike! Which I guess I got. I got to be the hero, I sent the money, I worked hard, I over came a mild flu and woke up an hour earlier than normal. I felt good about myself.

Then I got home, booted up my computer and… There was a status update on the Facebook from Mike.

MY FACEBOOK GOT HACKED!!!! Do not respond to or accept anything from me until further notice. And to the hacker: May you drown on fire.

oh %(@! I just got had. Quick as I could I called Western Union and put a hold on the money. I had been in e-mail contact with “Mike” after the online transaction failed. Not 15 minutes later I get an e-mail saying that “he” couldn’t get the money, there was a hold. Why I put a hold on it, well there was still a shred of hope it could still not be a scam. So I e-mail him back asking him a simple question that Mike would know. Here is what I got back.

Are you verifying me!!!Have you ever had a gun pointed at you before..would you feel great after the whole mugging…Moreover if i wasn’t the one i wont ask you wire to my name as we both know i will need some kinda of identification before i get the cash picked up at the bank..Western union will need a valid identification before i get the cash..I’m really freak out and scared right now and i cant think straight..Hope you understand what am presently going through right now…I really appreciate your effort but you need to call western union and correct the country..Is United Kingdom..I’ll definitely refund it tomorrow…

Wow was I an idiot or what! That grammar, I mean I know Mike and I went to Art school, so I don’t expect much but geez! How could I be so blind. The rest of the morning was spent calling people to see if I could some how scam the scammer. I was in contact with him, he thought he had me, hell he DID have me!

I ended it with the scammer, I told him I knew he was full of shit. I gave a little rant about how he is stealing money from people who can’t afford to be stolen from. I’ve worked very hard for the past two years to be able to drop $800 at a moments notice. So this has been a good lesson. Next time someone needs something I need to ask them personal, private questions!

Also another lesson, your online identity isn’t going to be safe just because you don’t think you have nothing for someone to steal. I went around to all my important accounts online today and changed my password so that all of them were “strong”. Use numb3rs, letters, miX CaSE, and $ymbol$. Plus understand that your mind is fast to fill in any logical gaps when dealing with familiar things. I turned a rat scammer who barely had a grasp on English grammar into a personal friend I’ve known for 4 years! Like magic.