From the editor’s desk: Hacker tries his luck
Scams can come in many forms, but all are designed to get hold of your money.
Apparently I have been a naughty girl, well, that is according to a guy named Garry Scott, or also known as Adams Peter, based on the name he used when he sent the email.
According to this person, he has ‘hacked my device’ (this would be my work computer) and has ‘successfully’ watched me for a few weeks and now has complete control.
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According to him, I have been scrolling through some adult sites and he even saw me doing the ‘naughty-naughty’. According to him, there are children involved as well. He demands a payment of R5 000 to be paid at various local shops where money transfers are accepted before last week Friday or else I will have to face the embarrassment of him releasing the photos he supposedly took.
Being the curious person that I am, I thought I should respond, after all the effort he put into his email, it’s the right thing to do, right?
My response was something like this: “Oh no, what a travesty! How will I ever survive this embarrassment? But, seriously though, do people still fall for this scam? I suppose they would if they are ‘guilty’. How much money do you make? Where do you get the email addresses from? I hope you respond, please do.”
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Garry Scott, or Adams Peter, actually took the time to write back, I’m very impressed by his PR skills. He said I must pay the money (R5 000) or face the embarrassment. He wrote another email to say I must give him the four digit pin number after payment.
By this time, I am really invested to find out how many people fall for this kind of scam. So, I replied. “So you know this is not going to happen right? For someone who is clever enough to figure out an elaborate scam like this, you should know that I am not paying. What I would like to do, however, is to get some more info from you.” I proceeded to ask the same questions.
To my disappointment, all communication stopped. Either he was clever enough to know that I won’t pay, or he figured that I’m not worth the hassle. I’m deeply hurt. I also haven’t seen any of the ‘photos’ he took. There goes my five seconds of fame of being a reality star.
Either way, please be careful out there people, the stupid walk among us.
Until next week, take care of one another.
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