When you think about individuals who fall victim to email scams or those annoying “the IRS is on your tail” phone calls, you might picture an elderly relative still clinging to their AOL account or someone from the Boomer generation who confuses a tweet with bird chatter. But believe it or not, the actual person getting duped is me.
I’m a 43-year-old mom who knows her way around technology—capable of troubleshooting my kids’ Xbox issues and managing social media accounts. While I might not be the trendiest person out there, I’m aware that “cappa” is a no-go and “drippy” is a compliment. Yet, somehow, I still find myself falling for email scams.
Just last week, I received an email from my father-in-law with the subject line “birthday gift,” asking if we use Amazon. I thought it was sweet—he was gearing up for his grandson’s birthday and wanted to know if he should grab an Amazon gift card. Without a second thought, I replied, “Yes, absolutely.” Moments later, another email from him with the same subject line made my stomach drop. Oh no.
After changing my password and nursing my wounded pride (how could I fall for this again?!), I tried to brush it off. This is just who I am—I’m the person who gets caught up in email scams.
I wish I could claim this was a one-time incident, but I’ve seen a pattern emerging. A few years back, I panicked when I received a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, saying there was an issue with my tax return. I called my husband, worried we’d need legal help to sort it out. Ironically, both my husband and I are lawyers, yet here I was, in a frenzy. (For those who want a chuckle at my expense, I even won a tax writing competition in law school and still fell for this ridiculous IRS scam. Sigh.)
I’ve spent a lot of time pondering why I, someone who is generally tech-savvy and rational, continue to be fooled by these schemes. I know not to click on suspicious links. I recognize that quirky email addresses signal fraud. I understand that if a friend I haven’t spoken to in ages sends me a late-night email with “EXCITING NEWS,” it’s likely they’ve been hacked. Despite all this knowledge, I still get tricked. Perhaps you do too.
Here’s my theory: I’m innately trusting and struggle to comprehend why anyone would engage in such deceitful behavior. So, when I receive a strange email, I first assume it’s a relative trying to make an online purchase. When the not-IRS calls, my instinct is to believe I’ve made an innocent mistake on my taxes that needs correcting.
Deep down, I know that unscrupulous individuals exist. As a writer, I’ve received my fair share of hateful and violent messages online. Yet, my heart and subconscious can’t fully accept that people would go to such lengths to scam others. My gut instinct remains to trust people and believe in humanity’s goodness, and I won’t apologize for that.
Feel free to laugh at my expense for being fooled by email scams; I certainly do. But I refuse to let these blunders make me feel foolish. I’m not dumb; I’m just trusting. And for that, I won’t apologize. That said, I will make sure to change my passwords regularly.
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Summary:
Despite being a tech-savvy individual, I continually find myself falling victim to email scams. This article explores my experiences and thoughts on why trusting people can sometimes lead to being duped. I reflect on a recent scam involving a seemingly innocent email from a family member and share insights on maintaining a trusting yet cautious approach in a world full of deceit.