The past two weeks have been as busy as possible without some tragedy befalling, but we were very near tragedy. We fell for a phishing scam. My friends, it’s not fun.
My wife took the call and fell under the spell of the man on the phone. She believed what he told her and did what he asked. I was furious; she didn’t believe me or do what I asked until our third date. This guy on the phone hadn’t even bought her dinner.
Here’s how it works:
They call you and present themselves as security representatives of a bank or some company. They’re trying to stop someone from stealing from you.
They ask you to enter a password at the company website, and send you a text message with a link to the login page. They may say they’ve reset the password to protect you, or they may ask you to login and reset the password.
Once you’ve done that, you’re on the hook, and they reel you in.
Phishing is Like Fiction
What I respect about the scam artist is that a phishing attack is like telling a good story and telling it well. You hook the listener with an exciting claim. You hold their attention with enough detail to convince them of your authority, then you string them along and tell them the story. It’s the perfect formula for any movie or novel.
I mentioned we’ve been busy, traveling, enjoying summer with friends and family, and dealing with issues at work, the house, and the yard. my writing has suffered noticeably, but I’ve also enjoyed the storyteller’s favorite reward.
I’ve blathered on lately about the current novel, and had a breakthrough about the narrator. It’s shaped up the novel nicely. The ending, however, felt incomplete. There was something missing and I couldn’t quite figure it out. Maybe that’s what slowed my progress. Why hurry to finish something if you know the ending stinks?
The other day, as I puttered about the kitchen preparing a meal, the perfect ending came to my mind. A spark of excitement surged throughout my body as I realized how right was the idea. It would complete the story arc of the narrator, and would put a nice bookend on the novel by matching the action at the end with the action at the beginning.
It has reinvigorated my writing of this novel. I can see the ending and want to hurry up and write it.
So What Happened with the Phishing?
As the scammer pressed for my wife to complete the password change, I overheard the word “password” and my spidey sense tingled. Rushing into the room, I got her to hang up.
It was surreal as the spell was broken. We’re all vulnerable to a good story told with a commanding voice. We want to help, and we want to help catch bad guys. You just have to watch out for when the bad guys are asking you to help.
We spent the next three hours investigating possible damage, checking accounts, and changing passwords. It was exhausting.
What saved us was the confirmation code sent by the company to confirm that we intended to make the change. We hung up in the nick of time and interrupted the process. This is what we concluded after those three hours of checking things, changing passwords, and imagining the worst.
There’s never a cop around when you need one, and a cop probably couldn’t have helped, anyway. We dodged a bullet.
Meanwhile, at My Writing Desk…
What little time I’ve had to write the past two weeks has been on the novel. What I’ve been telling myself is that my time situation is actually better than last year when the tornado system came through early in June, knocking down trees and my fence in three places, followed by another tornado system in July that knocked down more trees.
That was a busy couple of months.
A week from today I go under the knife for my prostate cancer, so wish me well. On the bright side, being unable to do much else, I plan on reading, watching television, and writing. It’ll be like I’m back in college.
Maybe You’d Like
This Picayune I’ve joined a book promotion called Dog Days of Summer Giveaway. Give it a click and see if there are any books that catch your fancy.
https://storyoriginapp.com/to/ZP3XoDO
Recommended Reading
Returning from New York by car a couple of weeks ago, I listened to A Horse Walks Into a Bar, which was a fun novel about a stand-up comic with cancer trying to make sense of his life, who reaches out to a long-ago friend to help him understand himself. Nearly the entire story is advanced by jokes, which is no small feat.
It was a hoot.
Next Picayune
The next time you read the Picayune, I hope to have the current novel out with beta readers, the next novel started, and to have the cancer thing figured out. Until then, go see your doctor, visit your local bookseller, and help get out the vote for November.
Thanks for reading the Mickey Picayune! All the best,
Mickey
P.S. “Why the long face?”