Gullible

I am usually pretty savvy when it comes to internet scams. Fool me once, and all that. But I got taken in on Monday. I feel like an idiot, because the warning signs were all there. So, I share this as a cautionary tale, in case you get phished.

This started as an email from my sister-in-law, asking if I had an AOL account. “She” was writing to me at my gmail account. It seemed odd, so I wrote her back separately from the original, using my AOL address, to see if it was actually her. The answer was yes. I thought, okay, and asked what was up. And here came the pitch:

Supposedly, a friend was diagnosed with stage-4 mesothelioma and needed transportation to her appointments. It was the friend’s birthday, and the writer claimed she had a problem with her credit card. Could I please order an Uber e-card via Amazon for her, and she’d pay me back? Of course, this had nothing to do with AOL. Duh.

Now, being that it’s the holidays, and I had a friend who died from mesothelioma, I wanted to help. I thought this was legit. I should have known when I got the follow-up email, with a link to click for Amazon and a request for four $100 Uber e-gift cards to send to an email address. It seemed like a lot of money.

But, like I said, I was in a holiday mood and went ahead and got the cards. Then I asked my supposed sister-in-law how she’d pay me back. Did she have Venmo?

I didn’t hear back right away. Within five minutes of completing this good deed, my stomach sank. I realized I’d been scammed. I tried calling my sister-in-law, but her line was busy. Then I sent her a text, which I should have done in the first place. Sure enough, she’d been bombarded by friends calling about the scam.

I called my credit card company and reported the fraud, so I will get my $400 charge canceled and a new credit card. I changed my passwords for my Amazon account and both of my email accounts. I removed my other payment methods from Amazon. I called my credit card company back to see if it was okay to just monitor those other cards, in case they got sucked up in the phishing attack. I’ll do that for a few weeks, but may well replace them, also. Then I left a message with my computer repair service to see if I need to scrub my iMac.

In the midst of all this, I got an email from the scammer saying, yes, I have Venmo. Thank goodness I had figured out what was up by then, or I could have compromised our bank account. And, of course, soon thereafter, I got another email asking for more money for the poor friend, who now needed seven $100 Uber e-cards. I wrote back that I knew it was a scam, then blocked the email and reported it to Google. I also texted my sister-in-law some contact info for how to change her password on her email account.

Good grief. I think I’ve covered all my bases. I got scammed several years ago and fell for it, and I’ve saved Al from several scams, since. I should have known better. Scammers prey on our best intentions. Don’t get fooled. May your holidays be joyful and scam-free!

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

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