I know this sounds cold, but I feel like some of these scams are really just a stupidity tax. How do people operate in the outside world if they believe that the CEO would be hitting them up for gift cards?
We had a sales woman fall for it. The email said from our CEO that said he was at a conference and needed her to go out and buy 10 $100 Visa gift cards and send him the numbers bc he wanted to use them as giveaways.
The issue is that our CEO actually WAS at a conference on that day!
She actually went to the closest CVS and bought them and thankfully mentioned something about it to me when she got back. I paused for a moment and then was like wait a second how did you hear about this request? Email only? so I called our CEO to confirm. Was able to go back to CVS and get them all refunded and the scammer got nothing.
But, that being said, I can see how people fall for it. Employee and user training and awareness are key to prevent these types of things.
It is cold. And I think it's harmful to infer that the people that fall for these are stupid. It does nothing to help the situation.
If the prevailing thought is that you're stupid for falling for a scam, then the victim is less likely to share and inform, and then education does not spread. All it does is make them feel awful, which is not helpful and just even more hurtful.
I think we have to come at it from the angle of the scammers are tactical and that it's okay if you are a victim. It sucks, of course, but no blame necessary on the victim.
I know someone who got a similar message from her priest asking for gift cards. The scammer got a hold of the church directory and used that to send out messages. The person thought she was doing a favor for her priest and wanted to help; it is not her fault that the red flags weren't as strong as they should've been. Not everyone operates on suspicion mode.
I know another who was almost a victim of the the sobbing phone call: "Granpda, I'm in jail! Please send me bail. Also don't tell anyone!"
These types of scams target emotions and kindness. That's how these people operate in the real world. It's not that these people are stupid, it's more that they are unaware and not sensitive to the red flags.
I agree with you, but you might not be aware of some of the crap that happens in small companies with certain kinds of CEOs and salespeople. Others too, but the pubic-facing staff are always the problems.
The harried assistants and lower-level functionaries in those companies regularly field requests like "I'm in a sales meeting/airport terminal/Dunkin Donuts and need to demo something, and I need you do something stupid the wrong way".
So, it's a stupidity tax indeed, and even on the right people (CEO), but it's the assistants who get blamed and/or feel responsible.
Even at bigger and well-run companies, the assistants have stories that would shock you. CEO-speak can often tend toward illiterate and nonsensical, and their requests unreasonable -- even if they can be interpreted correctly. In contrast, COOs and CFOs are pretty reliable. And CTOs run the gamut, I'm sorry to say. :)
what are the consequences of what youre saying? is it better if these scams mostly affect stupid people? should we care less about whats happening to stupid people?
We had a sales woman fall for it. The email said from our CEO that said he was at a conference and needed her to go out and buy 10 $100 Visa gift cards and send him the numbers bc he wanted to use them as giveaways.
The issue is that our CEO actually WAS at a conference on that day!
She actually went to the closest CVS and bought them and thankfully mentioned something about it to me when she got back. I paused for a moment and then was like wait a second how did you hear about this request? Email only? so I called our CEO to confirm. Was able to go back to CVS and get them all refunded and the scammer got nothing.
But, that being said, I can see how people fall for it. Employee and user training and awareness are key to prevent these types of things.