We all like to think we are smart, independent, in full control of our lives, and there is no way any of us would fall for a financial scam, like those lonely old seniors do, because “that happens to them, not to me, because I am smart.”
But the truth is, even smart people fall for it, people with master degrees, people who work in academia, people running large business… Even I could fall for this.
And how did you learn to recognize it?
My dad l, who worked in tech / IT his whole life (retired now) l, had a problem with his ISP. Called to report it and the next day they called him back, got him to install ‘remote support software’, etc. He eventually saw what they were up to and pulled the plug. Turned out 2 guys at the ISP were selling support tickets to the scammers.
So the expectation was there—who knows how many people they got before they were found.
I’m not even sure I’d qualify that as a scam as much as it is outright theft. Almost like if your bank just started taking money from you. While the scammers weren’t from the ISP, if they were sent the info there is no real way to differentiate.
Exactly—could easily have been much worse, and anyone without at least a little IT knowledge might not have realised. Kind of shows the lengths they’ll go to now, getting employed at targets etc.