You have probably all had similar experiences. As you are active online on numerous types of social media, someone gets in touch with you with strange hookup attempts.
How Do You Deal With This?
I admit I am a born skeptic. I was raised to be kind, but scammers try to take advantage of this type of good upbringing. There could, of course, be legitimate reasons for people to get in touch with me, but all attempts I have seen so far have been futile in the sense that they were scammers, and therefore a complete waste of time.
Trust Your Gut Feeling
People wouldn’t normally get in touch with you unless you had mutual friends or were specifically recommended to get in touch with you. Be quick to ask the relevant questions so you avoid wasting time on people who will only hurt you.
If people are honest, they will understand this initial check of their background. They will see you don’t want to waste energy on people who aren’t worth your time and effort, and you should rely fully on your gut feeling from the beginning.
Legitimate Contacts Will Initiate Contact Professionally
Legitimate contact attempts should begin something like this: “Hi, this is James. I was referred by our mutual friend, Sam Johnson, who recommended you in connection with [subject]”
You can thereby quickly identify that the person trying to get in touch with you knows one of your friends, Sam, and if you already know Sam to be the kind of guy who refers clients to you, it will be less of a surprise.
In Conclusion
There are many scammers out there, so it’s a good idea to be alert. It’s a good thing to be available towards people. A stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet. However, maintaining a much too open identity can also make you susceptible to scams, and this is why I advise people to be cautious towards things looking too good to be true.
You want to save your energy for people who deserve it, so maintaining a very clear attitude towards unknown people will save you a lot of heartache. Don’t be the next victim of a scam attempt when you know you should implement the advice you have been given in this article. You can never be too careful, so make sure you only welcome people who are worth your time and energy.