07/15/2026
⚠️ Warning ⚠️
A family member of mine nearly fell victim to a scam recently. Basically, the criminal told them that there will be a warrant out for their arrest if they don’t pay a sum for missing jury duty. There were official looking documents and they were posing to be officials from the sheriff’s department. Fortunately, their method for collecting the funds did not work properly so no money was lost but the person was kept on the phone for several hours, threatening arrest if they hung up. Very scary!
These scams will only become more sophisticated as technology “improves”.
These criminals are not only masters in crime, but also in psychology. They will work on fear, when we are scared it is very difficult to think clearly. They are relying on our fight or flight response to give in to their scheme.
I have also been a victim in the past, luckily, they only got a small amount of money, but they caught me off guard and, in hind sight, I realized there were several things that should’ve clued me in to the scam.
Suggestions from my observations…
• Anytime somebody calls you requesting money or otherwise, go to the official website or find the actual number of the company who is requesting the money from you. Tell the person on the line that you are going to do this, if it is a scam, they will give you every excuse or reason not to call and that you have to stay on the line.
• Never call any phone number that somebody has given you in an email, or a voicemail, or from a text. Same, go to an official website.
• Pay close attention to the spelling of the website. I have seen very official looking websites pop up in Google Ads after a search and they are one character off from the official site. Once you log in, they immediately steal your info and then log into the actual site and empty your account.
• If someone is trying to get you to make a payment and it takes several hours, it’s likely a scam. When is the last time you were able to talk to a customer service representative for even 15 minutes?
• If somebody asks you to set up a new form of account with a special bank it is likely a scam
• If someone wants you to pay for something in crypto, Bitcoin, etc, it is likely a scam.
• Here is one of the scariest ones… someone could pose to be one of your loved ones. They could even appear to be calling from that person’s phone number, they could even mimic their voice. They will say they are in some kind of trouble and need money to get out of jail or whatever the case may be. Tell that person you will call them back. If they try to dissuade you, chances are it’s likely a scam. I have definitely received phone calls from people that are in my contact list in my phone, but it was not that person. Just be aware that it Is not difficult to send a false number to your caller ID.
• Follow your gut, The time I got scammed something just did not feel right, But they were very convincing and I fell for it anyway. Be aware that anyone who makes you feel scared for not following their rules, is likely not from any official organization.
• They may act really sympathetic to your situation. Indicating they’re sorry for the difficulty of the transaction.
• Keep in mind that, generally, anyone requesting payment right now is probably not legitimate.
Many of these seem obvious, but when you are on the line with a professional criminal they will f*ck with your head.
I have spoken with a member of the FBI about these matters. They said these are white collar crimes that are very difficult to track and they rarely catch anyone. Most of them are just looking for money grabs and are not dangerous.
Awareness is the key to staying safe. If there is some kind of money situation on the phone and the other person is making you feel very anxious or scared for not wanting to cooperate, hopefully that triggers your senses to realize something isn’t right. Empower yourself to say NO to these creeps. (I believe people aren’t born bad, just born into bad situations)
EDIT: I appreciate reading your stories 🤙
Stay safe friends,
Eric
💚🍌✌️
