Scammers are working overtime to take advantage of COVID-19 vaccine worries. While it's a new context, the three golden rules still work as well as ever.

Covid-19 vaccines are the 100-year-opportunity for scammers

Slow downVaccine rollout is being handled by state agencies. No legitimate agency will offer you the ability to "jump the line." Spot checkRefer to websites like the <a>CDC </a>and <a>HHS </a>for the most up-to-date information about Covid-19 vaccine distribution and developments.Stop! Don’t send $$You won't need to worry about the cost of the vaccine for COVID-19. If you're asked to pay, especially ahead of time, don't. If you get a bill in error, call your provider. Refer to <a>HHS </a>

But the art of the scam hasn't changed. These three questions can help you spot scammers. 

Slow it down — Scammers often create a sense of urgency so that they can bypass your better instincts. Take your time and ask questions to avoid being rushed (...) .Spot check — (...) Double check the details you’re getting. If you get an unexpected phone call, hang up. Then look up the bank, agency or organization (...) and get in touch directly.Stop! Don't send — No reputable person or agency will ever demand payment on the spot. (...) if you think the payment feels fishy, it probably is.

Use the rules whether for questions about Covid-19 or you get a hot deal for merchandise. Keep these where you can check yourself often. 

https://scamspotter.org/quiz/

Here's a fun quiz to test how well you can use the three tools. 

Scams don‘t happen In a vacuum. If your emotions are I charge of your reasoning, you become more susceptible. https://bit.ly/3dFVqmeKnowing how we become susceptible to scammers can give you the edge. Nothing teaches humility than being scammed. Even educated and smart people become susceptible, sometimes.https://nyti.ms/39IO8Nqhttps://bit.ly/31R44ZHhttps://bit.ly/3rU94r0https://bit.ly/3upmCg6https://bit.ly/3wtb515

Now the bad news... No one is scam proof

https://www.acfe.com/publications.aspx

You can find a ton of info on this site. They recommend these publications to learn more about fraud from the experts.

To learn more about the psychology of getting scammed, go here:

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Types of Scams | Scam Spotter

War is one of the most persistent aspects of humanity. There's nearly always a war somewhere. War seems to have built us into a species adapted for its perpetuation. It requires flexible thinking, acute visual perception and close family groups to train and continue conducting war. We need war like colleges need sports teams. It brings people together, it gives us a purpose and we work together toward a common goal. Maybe sports aren't enough to substitute for war.

We might be stuck with war

We desire that feeling that comes over us in life and death situations. War can bring us closer to the people around us. War makes us think in life and death terms. It helps us to understand what we believe and what we want. War causes us to avoid the future and we make choices based on the moment.

War changes us in the short and long term

As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: “It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.” Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies—corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.

books

Books

General George S. Patton famously said, "Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God, I do love it so!" Though Patton was a notoriously single-minded general, it is nonetheless a sad fact that war gives meaning to many lives, a fact with which we have become familiar now that America is once again engaged in a military conflict. War is an enticing elixir. It gives us purpose, resolve, a cause. It allows us to be noble. Chris Hedges of The New York Times has seen war up close -- in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central America -- and he has been troubled by what he has seen: friends, enemies, colleagues, and strangers intoxicated and even addicted to war's heady brew. In War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, he tackles the ugly truths about humanity's love affair with war, offering a sophisticated, nuanced, intelligent meditation on the subject that is also gritty, powerful, and unforgettable.

Types of Scams | Scam Spotter

War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

Sharienne Weidner