Continuing on the theme of Trust
I do technical support for several older family members. I shouldn’t really call it technical support because it’s really more like telling them to “Just Say No” when it comes to how they use the Internet and in a couple of cases landline phones. Bottom line? Don’t trust anyone or anything.
Does that sound overly paranoid? Perhaps. But let’s get real. Companies with big names like PayPal, Amazon, AT&T, T-Mobile and many others, have surrendered their identities and don’t care that spammers impersonate them in phishing emails and scam calls. There are no real government regulations to protect consumers in these cases regardless of the PR. The bet is that no one will pursue the bad guys, so the good guys they impersonate act with impunity.
Something changes when life is viewed through our large and small screens that seems to strip away gut instinct bullshit detection folks have in the face-to-face world. Maybe it’s lack of eye contact and other non-verbal clues. But I’ve seen folks who can smell a scam in real life too easily tempted by online and phone scams, regardless of the warnings.
This is not new news I’m talking about here. The lack of trust in just about every aspect of life is astonishing. Online, doctors, lawyers, politicians, the media, religious leaders… it’s a long list. Yet many continue to try and make their way through this world assuming some level of trust might still be out there.
We’re all just Charlie Brown and the world is full of Lucys.
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 