I’ve always been a trusting person, and some may say slightly gullible. But this week, I realized how important it is to be aware of bad people around us, and to be somewhat of a skeptic. I was scammed.

It all started when someone whom I thought was a friend’s father contacted me via Facebook messenger with picture and all on the profile. He asked me how I’m doing, and I started chatting and asked him how his daughter and son-in-law are, and he responded “great, they’re great.”

After that, things got a little weird but strangely I didn’t pick up on the signs. I mean, I kind of thought it was strange that his English was a little stilted and his grammar was poor. But I attributed that to auto-correct or Siri that he may have been using. Then, was the claim that he won a lot of money and he saw my name on the list so I should contact them. At first, I didn’t respond because it seemed crazy. And several days went by and I got busy.

Long story short, I was pulled into this terrible scam and shelled out some money – not a lot, thank G-d, and it could have been a lot worse. I realized after a short bit that this was all wrong and I called my bank and reported the fraud. I even went to the police station and they filled out a form.

What I should have done is not the purpose of this post. In fact, I’m aware that a simple google with “claim to win award from so-called friend” or something to that effect, would have yielded “scam, watch out,” etc etc. Hooray for the Internet. But you have to remember to use it. Not after the fact.

As I said, I am okay, I reported it all to the appropriate addresses, and filled out various online forms so that the bad guys get caught. Highly doubt they will get caught, but just for the small chance that they will….I had to do my share.

Everyone should get identity theft just in case, even if one is never scammed. And if you think it can’t happen to you, think again. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Here are some of the warning signs that the CEO of my work office sent out to the entire staff today (because scams are happening more and more these days). These are points we all are aware of but it is worth repeating here. I actually knew most of these points but somehow missed them.

1. If you receive an email or text that appears to be from your own employer, friend or acquaintance, a careful review of the email structure will alert you to something being off. Delete immediately.
2. Never open a link from someone you don’t know. It could cause a virus to your computer.
3. Consider if you were expecting the email/offer or is it a bit out of the blue?
4. If someone tells you something has to be done immediately, the answer should be no. Nothing is so urgent that it can’t wait a day or two. These people take advantage of people’s emotions.
5. Hover over the email address and note something different about the address, which may indicate you’re being hacked from someone who stole your email but changed a few things about it. Note any poor English which may indicate hackers from another country.
6. If you get something from someone you think you know, but the content is off, then trust your own gut. Ask. Call the real person to check if it’s true.
7. Avoid texting or email in these cases. Pick up the phone and call the person. Most likely, if it’s a scam, they won’t answer the phone. They’re out in India or some other country and they don’t want you tracing the call.
8. Lastly, these people prey on people who are a little older (like me!) because they think we are not sharp enough to catch it. Well, maybe they got me this time, but never again.

My employer told the staff that the latest phishing scam is an email purporting to be from Marriott hotels offering free stays at the hotel if you only click on the purported voucher link. Do not click on any link. Report and delete the email.

Here are some sites to report scams to:

1. Ftc.gov/complaint or ftc.gov/phishing or go to the site ftccomplaintassistant.gov and fill out an online form.
2. ic3.gov
3. forward emails to spam@uce.gov
4. report phishing to reportphishing@apwg.org

We learn from our mistakes and we move on. Thank G-d, we have many blessings from G-d in our lives and we can continue to enjoy those blessings and stay good and honest in our dealings.

Remember – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.