I have invented a new game. It’s called “Scam or No Scam”. The rules are simple, there are no winners and no losers (unless you count the scammers). It’s a game which turns annoyance into amusement.
At the moment, there are two regular players, plus an interchangeable cast of faceless extras, but I see potential for this to be much bigger, perhaps as an educational tool, or even a television game show.
The game consists of Player 1 sending a screenshot of an email or text message to Player 2 and asking them to declare whether it’s a “scam” or “no scam”.
Scam or No Scam?Credit:istock
Of course, they are always scams, and must only ever be screenshots, because we don’t want to pass on any nasty viruses. The game allows players to share their frustrations about scammers, be creative with responses, and have a laugh.
Take for example last night’s offering. I received the following WhatsApp message: “Hi, I’m Seonhee. Nice to meet you. Australia is a beautiful country and I want to find my soul mate here. I am 29 and single (don’t talk to me about sex or I will get angry). Add my WhatsApp … we can know each other better.”
I sent it to my friend and asked, “Scam or no scam?” The reply: “Not scam. I think Seonhee is the one for you. Walk away from that husband of yours and enjoy your new soulmate.”
Don’t worry husband. I’m not running off with Seonhee. Sounds like there might be some anger issues there. Smells catfishy.
It’s been seven years since my last public rant about scammers. In that time, the scams have grown, and so has my irritation. Despite being cautious about sharing my details, I get contacted by a scammer in some form (email, phone call, text), at least once a week.
While I’m occasionally impressed with their creativity, I’m more often offended at the lack of attention to detail displayed by these scammers, like the pretty young woman who sent a photo of “herself” with a message offering companionship but forgot that her WhatsApp profile picture appears at the top of the screen, showing a middle-aged man.