Have Scams Become Ordinary Daily Events?

I make a habit of regularly checking my email junk and spam folders. Frankly, I have no choice as legitimate emails occasionally get caught in the junk folder.

In the past, I used to receive the odd, isolated scam email. Today, I get nearly 10 or more a day, often outnumbering legitimate emails. Of course, I ignore them and never open them. Some of the most persistently annoying ones claim:

My iCloud account is blocked

Urgent action is needed or my photos and videos will be lost

A cyber account payment has been declined

My cyber protection account requires attention

We all know to be cautious, don’t open attachments, don’t click links, and stay on alert. Beyond email, there is also a sharp rise in SMS and phone-related scams. Phew me wise, I now have unknown contacts to ring as silent without notifying me.

On top of all of that, I recently received a voice message that sounded entirely real, featuring a brief prompt: “Add me to WhatsApp to discuss a job opportunity.” It was just another scam attempting to bypass standard mobile monitoring and carrier security filters.

It’s disappointing to realise we live in times where people choose to make a living by preying on others. Their actions frequently cause real financial hardship, stress, and emotional suffering to many. ******s.

My family has experienced this firsthand. Recently, my uncle and I were on the receiving end of a spoofed phone number incident. It made it look like I was frantically trying to call him, which caused him a great deal of worry since he lives overseas.

Even if something looks or sounds genuine, avoid clicking any links. A quick web search using a phone number you look up yourself or navigating directly to an official URL will often reveal whether a contact is legitimate.

Just be careful. Not wanting to preach but just wishing to make sure no one falls for any of these tactics. I have now also decided to purchase a vpn to offer greater security and scam protection. I signed up with SurfShark, so do have a read of that that review here.

And lastly… Be careful of any postal scams. Fake “we missed you delivery cards” from Royal Mail with dodgy QR codes etc. And any QR codes in general, be careful.