My grandfather called me for the second time yesterday, to ask me if I was in Canada.
A few weeks back, he had called me with the same question. Someone, pretending to be me on the phone, had called their house and frantically asked for a good amount of money to be sent via Western Union to a location in Canada.
The story they were told was that I had rented a car and gone on a business meeting just over the American border up north. There had been a bad accident and I was involved. When my grandfather (who had now been given the phone by my grandmother because she was so upset) asked the caller (impostor me) why my voice sounded so strange, the impostor quickly replied that my nose had been broken in the crash, and my face was in bandages. My grandparents, being sharp people, didn’t fall for the trick. They called me right away on my cell phone to find out what was going on.
The strangest thing is this: when my grandmother answered the phone call from the impostor, the voice on the other end greeted her with “Hi Oma”.
You see, my grandparents are first generation German immigrants. In Germany, “Oma” is the common word for grandma, as is “Opa” for grandpa. It’s been a tradition in my family to carry on the German names for grandparents for three generations now. But unless you know me really well, you probably didn’t know that.
I was dumbfounded. The scam artist had somehow figured out a very minute personal detail of my life, and used it as leverage in a attempted scam. And then I began thinking about my Internet Presence and personal brand online.
I had mentioned my Opa in a blog post once. One time. That was it. On my Facebook profile under the Info tab, you can find a quote from my Oma that’s special to me. I keep it there to remind me of what it means, and let you in as to what shapes my values. But that was it. One mention in a blog post and one tiny snippet on Facebook.
Social Media Makes Digging Easy
Good scam artists know to do serious homework on their targets. They make a dishonest living by knowing the information it takes to get inside the head of their victims and create an emotion. Emotions impact decisions. In persuasion, Pathos is often more powerful than Logos.
Now, consider that we’re living in an era where putting our lives online in some form of searchable, indexable and consumable media is all the rave. For some people who make a living out of taking advantage of other human beings, the social media landscape is a green field of user-generated clues ready for harvest.
Scary to think about, huh?
So What?
Here are the options that are on the table in terms of your personal information and the social web:
- Just unplug. Delete your profiles. Don’t use the Internet. Don’t use a mobile device. It will help protect you. But if you already have any type of digital foot print or internet presence, well, you’re kind of screwed. Turning off your digital footprint will be like trying to stop a rush of water from running down steep a hill.
- Lock up. Close off all your profiles and networks and blogs to ONLY those you already know and trust. No more networking across geographic locations. No more expanding your social graph. Family, close friends and maybe a neighbor or two will have access to your life online.
- Let the media live in cyberspace (wow, that’s an old term huh) and find ways to protect yourself and your loved ones in the real world where it really counts.
This is a two-part conversation. In the tomorrow’s post, I’ll list out some ideas on offline habits you begin to form that will help prevent not-so-honest people from taking advantage of you through your digital presence on the social web.
Sound good?
Funny Ending
My Oma has never taken shit from anyone. She’s one of the strongest ladies I know. When the second scam artist called, my Oma was home to answer the phone. The voice started down the storyline of “Oma! This is Nathan. I’ve been in a car accident!” My Oma laughed, and quickly responded in her heavy German accent with, “Good! I hope you die from the injuries.” As I imagine it threw him for quite a loop, the caller immediately hung up.
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