{"id":12891,"date":"2024-03-03T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=12891"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:40:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T17:40:17","slug":"outsmarting-scammers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/outsmarting-scammers\/","title":{"rendered":"Outsmarting Scammers Takes Time and Effort"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was sitting at the courthouse waiting for my client\u2019s case to be called when my cell phone rang. The caller announced that he was an officer from a governmental agency. I had no current interactions with that agency. I hung up before he could ask me other questions, such as my social security number or a link to my bank account. The day before that I had received an email from an attorney\u2019s email address. It contained a link to download discovery documents. I did not know the attorney and had not asked for discovery documents from her or her law firm. I did not open the attachment, and immediately deleted the email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s <\/span>scammers<\/span><\/a> are merely two-bit thieves without class or imagination. They lack the finesse shown by the far more creative hustlers, flimflammers, chiselers, and grifters over the previous centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scams Throughout History<\/span><\/h2>\n

The earliest verified fraud case occurred in 300 BC, when two Greek merchants, Hegestratos and Zenosthemis, deliberately sank their ship so that they could collect on the insurance policy. Being either inept or very unlucky, they were caught in the act, leading to Hegestratos\u2019 untimely death and\u00a0 Zenosthemis\u2019 trial in the Athenian courts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there we went to plain old hustles \u2013 the Praetorian Guard auctioning off the Roman Empire to Julianus, con men selling the Eiffel Tower multiple times to tourists, serial marriers forgetting to divorce the current wife before marrying the rich widow, and flimflammers using marked cards in any number of card games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Things got a bit bigger from there. Rather than causing pain one victim at a time, mega fraudsters like Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff figured out how to cheat thousands of people by using the same scheme repeatedly. The perpetrators of the old days were evil, but their plans were audaciously brilliant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Present-Day Scams<\/span><\/h2>\n

That brings us to the present-day scammers who hunch over computers to dupe their victims. No razzle-dazzle for them. Just <\/span>phone calls, emails, and fake electronic readers<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to fall victim to a mere mundane thief, so put down your phone, close out your email, and read through this list.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Common Scams<\/span><\/h3>\n