” Immediately followed with a direct command, “I am going to direct you to three websites (he names them). Then the DISARMING of resistance combined with fast questions: Me, “I’d rather go in to Hacienda myself. Already, you’re engaged, saying they can come by at 9 a.m.
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What time is good for you? He will have an audio-visual explaining how to do these online receipts ” (DISTRACTION). ” Rapidly followed by, “We are sending someone to your house this Friday. You have to give clients official Hacienda receipts. Then, the LIES start: “ Hacienda is no longer receiving electronic receipts from private companies. This man’s commanding manner, and the fact that he was supposedly from Hacienda, immediately made me feel insecure, tense, scared. (Government agency, possible loss of this or loss of that - credit card, bank savings, etc.) Scammers may also use HOPE (to win something), but that is not what happened to me, and I can only share my own experience. In this short article, I attempt to break down the tactics that were used to do this.įirst tactic: FEAR. By the end, my thinking brain was completely hijacked. The commanding voice triggered some odd compliance in me. Just the fact that it was them already created a bit of fear in me. Perhaps this is why I was unprepared for the call from Hacienda (Costa Rican version of the IRS). I was in the middle of being investigated to receive credit to buy something. I tend to be a bit suspicious, hanging up immediately when I get a phone call from any kind of organization.īut on this day I was already vulnerable. I have lived here in Costa Rica for over 30 years. Smugly, I believed I was beyond the grasp of phone scammers. Editor’s Note: The Tico Times does not regularly publish anonymous submissions but waived that requirement because of the security concerns for the writer and the importance of this message for our reading public.īut of course I thought it never would.