Have you ever experienced the art of bullshit? Take a moment to think about it because it has happened to all of us at some point in our lives. It can often start in primary school when a group of classmates decides to create a story of lies to fool you just for the fun of it. They usually laugh at you and move on to the next candidate to be humiliated. One of the best memories of school was that it taught me how to recognise bullshit, but only after being tricked many times.
Being young, I learned to laugh about it too until I entered manhood and realised that it's no longer funny when the goal of some people is to trick you, fool you, or bullshit you just to take advantage of others. Most of us are aware of the games that telemarketers try to play on all of us, especially the elderly. They get our home phone or mobile phone numbers and keep calling to peddle their bullshit to rob you of your money or credit card information. A few years ago, I worked with an organisation as their education director and one of the trainings I conducted with colleagues was Senior Scams. We taught communities how to educate and create awareness around the types of bullshit being sold. It was an education for me. My own mother was a victim many times. When I asked her why she would talk to strangers on the phone, her response was because she was living alone and lonely and the telemarketers always checked on her several times per week and asked about her children, where we lived, and what we did for a living which she shared with them. Always near the end of the conversation, they would sell her something and she felt obligated since they had cheered her up. I was furious. So, I started to teach my mom about all the scams that existed. I told her not to talk to telemarketers, but to hang up or blow a whistle into the phone to avoid trickery. As a gift, I sent her a powerful whistle that could pop your eardrums. Several weeks later I called her and said, "hello mom, it's Mikael and I got the whistle in my ear. I kept calling and after 5 times I screamed mom don't blow the whistle and don't hang up it's your baby boy. She responded, "How do I know you are my son"and proceeded to ask me key questions that only a son would know. She went through her listing of questions that included:
How much did you weigh when you were born?
What time were you delivered?
What was your first, second, and third nickname as a boy?
What colour is your hair?
What was your 1st-grade teacher's name?
Who was your boy scouts troop leader?
I was exhausted from being taken thru this test. I was sweating with fear that I would get one of them wrong. Finally, she was satisfied and said hello little bean. All I could do was laugh because my mother learned to not trust telemarketers again and it taught me to always check on my elderly mother. As we all grow up and start living our lives, we often forget to check in as much or to listen to some of the issues they may try to share. It was a valuable lesson for me and helped me to perfect my future training on the topic.
Email scams are also on the rise to try to get credit card information, passwords, or other details. Most banks will never send you an email requesting that type of information, but people of all ages do provide their personal details. Do not share your personal information. Check with your bank to make sure they are trying to reach you. Or ask for their phone number, and tell them that you will call them back. Often, I ask for their home number and they usually hang up immediately without saying goodbye. Another good trick is to put them on hold and continue watching one of your favourite programs on the television or pretend you are having wild sex while screaming and moaning into the phone receiver.
An old scam use to be when we used credit cards in restaurants. Often the server would swipe the information from your credit card and use it to make purchases for themselves or others. Usually, the purchase can be removed once your bank has been notified. Most people use their mobile devices to pay for meals or services or use cash when accepted.
If you or a loved one has ever responded to sweepstakes or contests, their name might be added to the list sold to con artists. A sucker list contains the names of people who have been or are good candidates to be victims of fraud. People on the list may hear from crooks who claim they can help recover, for a fee, money lost to con artists. Don't believe any of it, it's all bullshit. The oldest and most well-known fraud is Nigerian letters that you may receive via email asking recipients to provide their bank account number to help them share in a big pot of money. Once you respond to these letters you will lose your money.
Contractor fraud continues to remain at the top of the list. Traveling contractors are rarely licensed or insured and often take a large cash payment upfront. Rest assured they will probably never return to complete the work. Many of my friends having remodelling done or decks rebuilt have discovered this practice. The next time you need a contractor for a home improvement job, get at least 3 estimates from reputable local contractors.
Caretaker crimes continue to be on the rise around the world. Be alert for caregivers who try to isolate the elderly from their friends and family, don't provide too much information about your will and other investments, and be aware of those who try to dominate or influence a parent or grandparent in hopes of getting into their will. Years ago, gold diggers would marry elderly men that were going thru dementia and rob them of everything without family members being aware of it.
Then we move into the grand schemes. The best part today is that many of the liars and bullshit artists are being caught in their own trap. Here are a few examples of some of them that you may remember.
The Woman Who Fooled the World: Belle Gibson’s Cancer Con, and the Darkness at the Heart of the Wellness Industry. She convinced the world she had healed herself of terminal brain cancer by eating a healthy diet. She built a global business based on her story. There was just one problem: she never had cancer in the first place. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth behind Gibson’s lies. This hero of the wellness world, with more than 200,000 followers, international book deals, and a best-selling mobile app, was a fraud. She had lied about having cancer--to her family and friends, to her business partners and publishers, and to the hundreds of thousands of people who were inspired by her, including real cancer survivors.
Do you remember Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos C.E.O. and Silicon Valley Star who persuaded high-profile investors to back her blood testing company? She promised that her company's new device would give every day Americans unlimited control over their health with a single finger prick. She claimed that her technology would detect a range of illnesses, from diabetes to cancer. She was featured on magazine covers and richest woman lists and in glowing articles. She has been charged with widespread fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission with widespread fraud, accusing her of exaggerating, and even lying about her technology while raising $700 million from investors. Her company was once estimated at $9 billion. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.
We have all heard about Anna Delvey, actually named Sorokin, who has made quite the name for herself, the subject of one of New York Magazine’s most read/viewed investigative profiles of all time. How did she do it? By posing as a German heiress, conning her way into New York City’s most elite circles, and acquiring as much money from the big banks as possible. As a cherry on top of this too-good-to-be-true scheme, Shonda Rhimes has gifted us with her Netflix series Inventing Anna, which depicts how everything unfolded in dramatic fashion.
Then there is Adam Neumann. He’s the billionaire who created WeWork with a vision to change the concept of the work environment forever. While promoting the venture, Neumann openly expressed his desire to become the world’s first trillionaire and his excitement to open a WeWork on Mars. Investors of the start-up quickly found themselves in a spiral of philosophy that had nothing to do with business. Hulu’s original documentary WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn explores the rise and fall of the coworking space empire, framing up how Neumann made bank without actually doing any of the work — ironic, no?
Every day we see the biggest fraud of all, Donald Trump who appears to be unable to decipher the truth from a lie since they all flow out of his mouth one after another while making absolutely no sense to anyone with half a brain. There lies the real problem, those that truly believe in him and trust him. Like many of the others, he should be in prison too.
What puzzles me is why so many people believe the lies and the bullshit that is tossed around to fool us with fake schemes, fake cures, and fake hope? What's missing from our lives that make us fool ourselves into believing these fake people whose pants really should be set on fire every time they open their mouths to allow more bullshit to flow. Yesterday, while having lunch in my city, there was a march being conducted by anti-vaxxers. Yep, they are still boycotting and screaming they don't want to be told what to do with their bodies. Seems a bit passé to me. They were screaming that the government created COVID and they are trying to kill all of us by providing vaccinations. Many of them looked normal, but I am not so sure anymore. I could think of a hundred other things I would rather be doing than marching up and down the streets peddling bullshit on the weekend. Frankly, anti-vaxxers can do whatever they want to do with their bodies, but just stay away from me and stop trying to convince me with their bullshit.
Have you ever fallen for any bullshit over the past few years?
Comments