When I was younger, my parents refused to let me use the internet because they were frighted I’d fall prey to a scammer. Back in the internet’s infancy, a lot of scams involved pop-ups that proudly declared you had won a large amount of cash for doing absolutely nothing.
However, thanks to ad blockers, the vast majority of scams that we encounter online these days come in the form of emails. They range from pharmaceutical companies trying to sell you viagra or random people on the other side of the world trying to steal your identity. Which, is exactly what happened to this journalist…
I’ve had the same email account for almost a decade, and I have to empty my spam folder on a daily basis. Contrary to what my parents thought when I was 13, scammers are ridiculously easy to spot if you’re Internet savvy, and little about their emails is convincing…
When American politician journalist Josh Billinson received an email from a scammer trying to steal his identity, he decided to troll them in the most epic way possible…
The scammer requested a picture of Billinson’s passport. But, no fool, the journalist chose to respond with one of the most iconic passport pages of all time – that of the fictional assassin extraordinaire, Jason Bourne. What happened next not only won the Internet…
I’ve jokingly replied to scammers in the past, but never got a reply. However, it was clear that scammer, Richard Hummel was not going to let Billinson’s tomfoolery slide. Instead Richard tried to maintain a professional tone by replying in all caps and declaring that he did not trust Josh with “the business”.
But, rather than leave it be, Billinson was ready with his response…
As you can tell, Josh’s posts had garnered a lot of attention, and those who had been following the story as it developed began to suggest different identities that he could sent to Richard to help their “friendship” blossom. The suggestions were hilarious…
But the story doesn’t end there. Richard took Josh’s offer of friendship seriously and changed his mind about doing “the business” with him.
He begins his opposition by asking, “Are you going to send the application letter to the bank or not?”
Incredibly, Richard replied, seemingly unaware that he was now the butt of a viral joke. You have to admire his sheer determination.
Scammers are the worst people on the Internet, and unfortunately those who do not spent a lot of time online are vulnerable to them. What’s more is that some scamming companies have decided to up their game and create emails from reputable companies that look extremely convincing even to those who are used to receiving emails from scammers.
This story is light-hearted, but it’s an important reminder that you should never share personal information online unless it is on a reputable website!
But, it isn’t just online that you need to be careful. Scammers are also reaching out via the telephone. This man takes the ultimate revenge on telephone scammers, and it is truly epic…
