Kind and generous people have been the victim of scam since
the beginning of time. I recently fell for a story myself and so have a few
friends of mine. It’s easy to ignore the email suggesting you give personal
information for some guy who has lost their way in a foreign country, or
perhaps a person asking you to pay for their telephone call or bus ticket, but
it’s also easy to be susceptible to the true con artist – the young girl who
pretends she needs enough gas money just to get home, or the guy who pretends
his car was towed and gives you a detailed background story.
My point is, you never know when this kind of thing could
happen to you. These people literally build their days around scamming others.
Some even go into it professionally, singling out heads of large corporations
or public figures.
I recently read an article
on Forbes.com about why anyone can
become a victim. One of the most important points they wrote was about trust
and how a stranger can take advantage of a strong and genuine person: “The big
hurdle for the con artist is not to make you
trust them – it’s to convince you that they
trust you.” Trust is one of the most fundamental pieces of the human
relationship. It’s a connection between two people that softens your hard
exterior, breaking down a barrier and letting someone into your personal space.
It is also essential in the act of a scam. This is how even the most respected
and powerful people in the world can fall victim to a con artist.
If you’ve ever been conned, no matter how large or small the
amount, you may feel like you’ve lost more than money. Self-esteem is a large
player in the humiliation that can follow after a scam. The things you should
remember:
1)
You are the victim and the blame belongs
elsewhere. Someone has taken advantage of you and your generosity. It’s as
simple as that.
2)
Don’t continue to replay the words that were
shared during the scam. It’s not easy to understand a con artist’s thinking,
nor will it ease any of the pain that you’re going through. Make peace with it
and try to move on. It was a mistake, you’re human, and that’s life.
3)
Feeling humiliated is normal. Depending upon the
severity of the scam, it may take you days, months, or years to move on. In any
situation, you have lost part of your confidence and it depends on your
grieving period and getting over this loss.
I’m sorry for any of you who have had to experience a scam
and have been prey to a con artist. Although I didn’t lose a great deal of
money, I understand the greater damage it can do to someone’s person. The one
thing I like to urge people to remember is not to lose your faith in all of
humanity. Decency and morality still exist, no matter what happened to you.
Those of you with big hearts, it would be a shame to lose generous and pure people
like you in the world. You are the ones that help balance out the bad with the good.
