You’re playing online with friends. Different games, different tactics, sometimes different people. It’s distracting, it’s loud, fast, and exciting. Then it arrives: the hidden scam message.
Yet it doesn’t come waving a red flag and shouting “I’m a scam.” No, it’s a lot more subtle, more refined, more private, more direct, less direct. It’s perhaps only to you, but then it’s also to everyone.
Hidden in the message, however kind, friendly or trusting is the desire to find out who you are, how you can be scammed and how your private and banking details can be captured. If the scam message is the door, the best way to keep it closed, is to keep it securely locked.
Keeping the door locked, means using the key we all have. It’s the ability to pause and think about what is happening. Asking questions like; is this message real, is it really to me, is it offering something that’s not possible, do I trust the person sending it and what will happen if I act on the offer, request or invite?
Thinking about the situation can sometimes be difficult. Online games are fast, exciting, loud, and competitive with everyone trying to win. The battles are fierce, but the decisions you make to protect yourself are far more important.
That’s why taking a moment to think about what is happening can help you to make the right decision. A decision that can protect you, your family, and friends from someone horrible hiding behind a friendly, caring, and exciting online profile or kind message, invite or amazing offer.
They may all appear great, sound exciting, appealing and give you a better chance of winning, but knowing the consequences of what could happen is the best way of keeping the scammer out.
The next time you are contacted by a stranger, without warning, without ever asking; listen to the voice inside your head. Is it saying something doesn’t feel right?
To help, always remember to Pause – Think – Decide every single time. You’re in control. So, always do all you can to stop the criminal from making you just another victim.
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After a scam, what next?
What we think you could consider … if you’re the victim of a scam or fraud.
