We all have our favorite ways to waste time; mine happens to be Words With Friends. I may have thirty or forty games of scrabble going at any one time. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be classified as an addiction soon, if it already isn’t.
This isn’t a new game for me, I’ve been playing for years. In the past it seemed a player might occasionally say hello and list where they’re playing from. I’ve played against people from UK, Ireland, and just about every state in the union. It’s not a real “chatty” game...but I’m not a chatty person so that’s always been a bonus for me. My husband, suspicious of all things technological in nature, has always been convinced I’m actually playing against death row prisoners without realizing it. Even though it goes against my grain to admit it, I’m beginning to think he may be on to something.
Sometime over the last year things have changed in the game of Words With Friends. Suddenly requests for games showed up with a “hello” message. If you politely respond with anything the real game is on.
Phishing has obviously moved into the gaming neighborhood, but the con-artists are far from creative. With few variations they seem to use the same script:
“Hi, my name is “whatever”. I’m from any state in the US, now working (stationed or assisting the population) in Iraq (or somewhere in the Middle East). I’m working as a support person in the medical field, or I’m working on an oil rig. I lost my precious wife (and she’s always precious) three years ago. I’m terribly lonely and I’m struggling to raise my (always) precious only daughter/son on my own. I was drawn to your picture and I want to be your very good friend. You seem so warm and real (interesting since we’ve exchanged six words max) I’d really like to get to know you better. What kind of media do you use for private chat? Please download “something I’ve never heard of” so that we can become better friends and share things. Please tell me everything about yourself. Are you married with children? Are you happily married? How was your night last night...I pray it was sweet.” Etc., etc., etc.
I don’t know what the rest of their nonsense might be cause this is where I always dump the game and block the player. I’ve got to be honest and tell you I’ve been SO tempted to follow one of these darned things just to see what comes next. Obviously they want money in quantities that would qualify you for a segment on the Doctor Phil Show, but I’m curious to see how they make the pitch. Do they present it as money needed for the precious son/daughters surgery? Are they still trying to pay off the precious wife’s funeral? Do they need money to get them back to the states or to pay for paperwork to get out of the country after a passport has been seized? Maybe they desperately need a thousand dollars in ITunes gift cards to keep them out of the hands of terrorists? I’d love to hear the whole crazy pitch...but even though we sit together and get a chuckle out of some of it he eventually digs in his heels and I chuck the game.
I have a handful of people with whom I’ve played for years and that keeps my scrabble addiction satisfied. Invariably the scammers show up as brand new players, so I don’t accept game requests from anyone who isn’t registered as playing for at least a year. Even trying to be careful I still ditch a half dozen of these creeps a week. I block them and report them, but I’m sure it just as effective as trying to block nuisance calls on my cell phone. Each one likely has hundreds of identities as they work from A Nigerian phone-tank room. It’s a con-artist tsunami that won’t stop till they identify greener pastures.
Talking with my son, another scrabble addict, he tells me he has the same problem. He shared with me the forums dedicated to sharing horror stories. I looked at them briefly and was saddened to see so many people being scammed financially and emotionally.
It’s just a sad fact of life, but as long as there are vulnerable people there will always be wolves. Be careful when you accept friend or player requests in any format and never, never, never give out any personal info! It’s hard to believe even nerdy types who love word games aren’t safe on the internet...but it’s true.
According to my husband everyone with internet access is suspect, and that “gated community” your new friend brags about more than likely comes fully equipped with guards and an orange jump suit.
Life is Good
