When It's Too Good To Be True...

I heard the news yesterday highlighting yet another scam scheme, one that robs trusting, innocent individuals of thousands of dollars. As I listened to the victim speak in almost inaudible sound, I couldn't help but reflect on the similarities to my own painful experience.

Ponzi schemes and crypto scams share some very clear patterns:

• Communication is often through WhatsApp or other informal chat platforms.

• Unknown individuals present themselves with titles like "Senior Manager" or "Regional Manager", yet only ever reveal first names.

• You are asked to invest money with promises of high returns.

• Funds are transferred via crypto exchanges, bank transfer or cash app. Once the money leaves your hands, it is impossible to trace or recover.

• The task or assignment appears simple, flexible and accessible from anywhere, anytime, which appeals to hard-working, time-limiting, trusting folks, young and old.

• Psychological manipulation is constant: you are trained, logged in daily, and pressured into executing tasks, creating a "pressure cooker" environment.

• Proofs of profits are fabricated - internal chat groups, endorsement by celebrities or politicians, or early stage gains luring you further in.

• Friends and family are often brought into the fold, spreading the illusion.

• When it comes time to withdraw your "rightfully earned" money, tactics of delay, explanation, or deflection are deployed, and the money never comes.

• The last-ditch effort often involves requests for "certification fee" or "guarantee fee", supposedly required to release funds - the Final Trap.

• Eventually, the system goes blank, and the communication goes silent. Desperation and fear set in... You realize you have been scammed.

It's often everyday people who fall victim; hardworking individuals, careful savers, people planning for a child's education, retirement securities for elders, home mortgage fund, future capital, etc. They are driven by trust and hope, and these qualities are exploited by predators who are nameless, faceless, and location-less.

It made me wonder about the heart and mind of these bad actors - How does it feel to cajole, coach, and manipulate others for personal gain, and then go silent once they've achieved their goal? What drives them to participate in such dark, calculated games? How do they reconcile the human cost of their actions? And if they ever think about their victims...

Being scammed is a hollow disorienting experience. You berate yourself for being naive, careless, or stupid. In my case, what struck me most was how I became insulated in the mental world created by the bad actors - even though warning signs were there, and even though some close friends spoke the truths that might have saved me. The piercing knowledge that I was heading toward the lion's den willingly and stubbornly is a deep realization - a lesson I will carry forever.

It seems to me that half the world is out to cheat the other half. We must heighten our awareness, heed the warning signs, and trust our instincts. If something seems too good to be true - it almost always is.