Comment by silisili
6 months ago
This was the line that got me also. Did he not realize how stupid the words coming out of his mouth sounded?
I've heard that scam victims often double down and put on blinders, because the alternative would mean they were being scammed and they don't want to accept that. But man, those are a huge pair of blinders.
And even at the end, he thought that he could have got it back if he hadn't been arrested at that time.
It scares me a bit: I think I'm smart enough, and not greedy, to fall for this kind of scam. But I suppose many people that fall for scams also think they're smart (I wonder if they think about whether they are greedy?). Often they are hit at a time in their life when they are vulnerable. So can I really be sure of myself?
Likewise, I think of my elderly parents - I tell them how to look out for these scams, and all the warning signs, and they understand, but maybe there's a moment where the scam might work on them long enough.
I think the common case in a lot of these scams is that people operate by themselves at the beginning (that's a vulnerability the scammers exploit). So a good defence is to have a trusted family member to share all money matters with.
That's true, it's always easier to be caught up in a scam than you think it would be.
I haven't been scammed, but I've been tricked by the cops into saying something in a certain situatoin I shoudln't have, even though i was a long-time ACLU member who thought I was an expert in your rights and best practices not to talk to cops! they're just really good at tricking people, they've been trained in it. As of course have scammers.
Still... this one seems especially wild. What banker could think any legitimate financial instrument required you send to millions more to "activate"? Although I guess once you're in for $10 millionn, your incentive to avoid admitting you've been scammed is even higher? And I guess maybe "cryptocurrency" is something nobody actually understands but just seemed like magic money -- but what is a BANKER doing investing millions in a financial product he doesn't understand at all? It's pretty embaressing.
And of course that's without even talking about the greed and complete abuse of money that wasn't his in a small town where literally knows the people he's stealing from of course. But just the sheer stupidity about financies from a banker. Like I wouldn't be shocked other people would fall for this, but a banker believes that this can possibly be a legitimate financial instrument and not a scam?? Maybe those scammers were really really good.
It's one thing to get involved in a scam and another to steal people's money for your own ends. This guy stole from his family, church, and community. He's scum.