Several months ago I got scammed. It took hours out of my time, both in the original phone call and in cleaning up the mess. And a lot of stress. This is the story of that experience.

I hope that in telling you this story you will remember some things that will help you avoid a similar experience. Please do not underestimate how crafty these people are and how much they want your hard earned cash!

Vocabulary

thrown into a panic - idiom - to get panicked, to suddenly get worried about something

Plausible - something that is very believable and seems sensible and logical and absolutely possible.

Legit - shortened version of 'legitimate' common slang version, meaning something seems honest and true and the real thing.

to set off warning bells - idiom - to make you start to feel worried or concerned that something is wrong

late in the game - used to describe something that is happening at the end of an experience or something that seems to have been left for longer than we would expect

got my back up - idiom - something that made you upset or angry

groomed - 2 definitions: the first, just cleaning or brushing an animal to look good. The second, the purpose of preparing or training someone for a particular purpose or activity. More recently this second definition has a very negative connotation and refers to the process of a sinister person making an innocent person believe the sinister person is good and coercing the innocent person into actions they would otherwise not do. We can see this term often used in conversations about abuse, including domestic, sexual and child abuse. In this scenario I was using it to describe how the scammers prepared my brain, making me feel simultaneously stressed and cared for, so that I would not question them when they finally asked for my private information.

the last leg - idiom - similar to 'late in the game', 'the last leg' refers to the final part or step of something

Galling - to feel upset, annoyed and resentful

to add insult to injury - idiom - used to describe when something bad has already happened and then something worse happens. Especially used when someone has done something bad to you.

Crafty - good at achieving goals by indirect or deceitful methods