I Fell For A Scam, What’s Next?
The art of practising what I know.
As the cost of living increases, scams are becoming more prevalent and I, a Gen Z hyper-reader with an ego the size of the moon (when it comes to media literacy at least) fell for a scam and feel depressed.
It is not surprising because more young people are the targets of scams, but I feel so foolish for falling for it.
Thankfully I did not lose any money but I did lose information, pivotal information, which feels worse.
How did it happen?
I got desperate. I did things I told myself I would not do deliberately because I knew they would lead to a poor mental state which makes me more susceptible to thieves and leeches.
I redownloaded TikTok which I was proud to be off a few days ago and then videos rolled back in. The “self-help”, “good vs bad CV” “How to get jobs before the year ends” videos. Seeing all of this put me back in the competitive mindset where I was falling behind and wasting my youth by not ‘grinding’. I started once again idealizing the 3 job, 5 am club aesthetic when the reality is back-breaking!
To top it all off, I fell into the LinkedIn rabbit hole. I thought, “How do I make myself better and more employable?” “What tips and tricks can I use?” All of these seem fine on the surface but the way I construe them makes it hard for me to perform. By perform I mean exist and live.
Do you also feel the weight of idealizing people’s constructed images even though you know they are a construct? I fell back into only talking about people’s employment status and money and all the things that make me cringe when I try to sleep at night.
Wait, what happened?
The scam I fell for was the ‘data assistant’ jobs on LinkedIn that have been posted by one company 15 times with the same basic information but with 1 change in the title: “Virtual data clerk” “Data clerk” “Virtual data assistant”. It is not something I would have fallen for if I wasn’t in a craven state, propelled by the endorsement of someone I did not know 2 scrolls ago.
The closeness we feel to people who are on our screens is so intense that it is no wonder people have used it to radicalize. I went as far as to their third-party dodgy website off LinkedIn and put in my CV, cover letter, references and contact details. I would have put in my security questions if asked! I sat waiting for them to send me an acknowledgement email, but of course, they did not because the place does not exist. Word of warning beloved, research the places you are giving your data to.
Okay, what’s next?
I know all the steps to get me out of this and I know they are more long-term than what I would want but there is no rest for the wicked. I need to:
1) Re-delete TikTok
2) Log out of my LinkedIn
3) Take a walk every morning
4) Join a club?
5) Be more discerning
Falling for the scam made me realize once again that I cannot be on social media. I unintentionally compete with every creator, influencer or not, that I see on my media. I wonder how they could have done it when I could not.
Now it is about putting into practice what I know and I am finding that the hardest of all.
The creator economy has turned it into Performers vs Spectators and is no longer a conversation between equals. I would be fine with my mindless scrolling if I did not wholeheartedly believe that I was a creator as well. That is possibly why I am failing at removing myself from social media, I think the more I consume, the closer I am to posting myself.
By writing on Medium, I hope that I am slowly untangling myself from the idea that I cannot do it, that no one will resonate with me and that I am foolish to even try.
The stress this is causing my body is unimaginable but I know I’ll be alright. Breathe in, Breathe out, stress kills.
Maybe I’ve missed something? Let me know. I am an eternal learner.
