Real scams, run through 25 years of cybersecurity instinct and a ghostwriter’s eye for a story. Each piece breaks down an actual con I was targeted by or watched unfold: how it worked, where the tell was, and why the same playbook keeps showing up in a new disguise. The $90K overpayment that fell apart over one phone call. The hacked friend who needed money for a flight she never booked. The con man who taught me more than the $3,000 he took. Less a warning list, more a field guide to how manipulation actually operates, and how to spot the next one before it costs you anything.
Scams and ConsFebruary 10, 2026
Tony stole $3,000 from me at 26, and twenty-five years later that con probably saved me thousands more when a Facebook scammer came calling. I thought I understood deception, I had worked in early computer security. Tony taught me otherwise.…
Scams and ConsFebruary 9, 2026
I have been scammed twice, once by a con who spent a month building trust before springing a $90K overpayment trap, once by a fake businessman harvesting content through paid samples. Both were sophisticated, and both exploited blind spots every…
Scams and ConsFebruary 9, 2026
The email looked perfect, professional, polished, a serious ghostwriting project worth $90,000. The scammer spent a full month building trust before the trap sprang: an overpayment scheme designed to leave me $4,000 in the hole. The longer these cons run,…
Scams and ConsMay 19, 2026
Three hours on a review for a fifty dollar prize I did not win. Three months of contests for one fifteen dollar win. The arithmetic on micro-income schemes is worse than it looks.
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