When “I’m Careful” Was Not Enough
I’m sharing this not for sympathy, but for awareness. Honestly, I still cannot believe this happened to me. I am usually very careful. I double check names, numbers, and details before sending money. I am the type of person who pauses and verifies. But this time, I was busy. Distracted. Multitasking. And that was all it took. An online friend messaged me asking if I had a GCash balance. Let’s call her Friend A. I said yes. She told me she urgently needed to borrow money and promised to return it the next day. At that time, I was working, so my replies were delayed. But she kept following up, asking if I had already sent the money. What made it convincing was this: after some time, she started asking about work related topics. Exactly how we normally talk. The flow of conversation felt natural and familiar. There were no obvious red flags. In fact, just two hours before that, we were having a completely normal conversation. So I sent the money. She asked for a screenshot. I sent i...