I got a message from a mysterious Instagram account asking,
My gut immediately sent up the fishy delete this is suspect alert. And I as I wrote yesterday, I’m trying to get better at listening to those signals.
But I decided to experiment. I told the mystery person I did write, and they said Oh! Would I please write a little personalized bday song for their son turning 4?
I let them know I didn’t have time to do said project, but I knew folks who could.
They weren’t listening.
Somehow once I’ve engaged in a conversation I’m unable just to tap “delete.”
I mean, maybe I can knock out a silly song about Tiger and his puppy in half an hour, slap it on a video and send it to this mystery person for hundreds of dollars.
When I continued the experiment, I said, “Sure, I’ll send you a credit card payment link — you can pay the first half now and the rest when I send you the song.”
Then all this back-and-forth ensued about, “Oh, I can’t do Venmo, and I have to send you a mobile check because I have a domiciliary account (had to look that up)….. “
This whole send you a check from strangers thing is super phishy, and I don’t even understand how these fake check folks net a profit from all this particular grift.
I just told them they’d need a credit card and reported them to IG — I’m sure Meta’s right on it.
But it got me to thinking — the intellectual, emotional (?), and SOUL resources humans all over the globe expend to steal from other folks.
In this case it’s super gross because this person is hunting unsuspecting songwriters on the interwebs and luring them to spend creative energy writing a birthday song for a fictional child.
Maybe targeted songwriter could use some help knocking out that rent this month, so their need for cash might cut off their better BS instincts.
Insta-scam’s gonna take their money, their creative resource, and their time.
Made me ask myself a question, though, and oof:
How do I scam myself on time?
How do I dupe myself into thinking I’m investing my time well when I’m really spinning my wheels and telling myself I’m going somewhere?
The question annoys me and makes me a little angry, so that means it’s one worth asking.
I’ll keep you posted.
