The Psychology of Phishing: Why Smart People Fall for Scams

Over a back and fourth of vaguely brief emails asking if I could do a favor. He doesn’t have a working credit card and his cash is not useful getting a digital gift for a friend.

A hard luck friend (the dying kind) is having a birthday and asks if I could order a gift card of a generous amount (to cover part of something else she has always wanted.)

You know who the sucker is. Casually generous and asking little of others. I did reclaim my losses due to the fraud (consumertopia ain’t all bad) and learned a valuable lesson. These fraudsters hacked my friend’s gmail account and knew whatever that provides.