Pig Butchering Scam Part 2

They don’t need to “hack” your computer to drain your life savings, they just need you to believe a story for long enough. I walk through the stage of the pig butchering scam where the fake trading dashboard shows incredible returns, the relationship feels real, and the only mistake seems to be not investing more. That’s the moment trust turns into urgency, and urgency turns into bigger transfers from savings, retirement accounts, and even loans.

Then the trap snaps shut at withdrawal. I explain the fake fee ladder that shows up right when you try to take money out: taxes, security verification, anti-money laundering deposits, processing charges, and one more requirement after another. We talk about the psychology that keeps victims paying, including FOMO, confirmation bias, the commitment effect, and the sunk cost fallacy, plus why warning signs are so easy to “explain away” when months of manufactured proof sit in front of you.

After the disappearance, I cover what to do next: stop sending money, don’t pay “release” fees, contact your bank, preserve messages and screenshots, report the fraud, and talk to someone you trust. I also dig into the recovery scam, where a so-called blockchain recovery specialist or investigator promises to retrieve stolen crypto for an upfront payment, and why the rule is simple: never send money to recover money.

If you want practical scam prevention, I share five questions to ask before you invest and five rules to keep your decisions slow, grounded, and verifiable. Subscribe to Technology Tap, leave a review, and share this with someone you care about so they don’t learn these lessons the hard way.

Transcript

Welcome And Setup

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And welcome to Technology Times. I'm Professor J. Robbie. In this episode, eight Blue Twee scam part two. Let's happen. If

Trust, FOMO, And Bigger Deposits

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you went through me, you've been with me through the first part of last week's episode, you probably noticed something interesting. The scam hasn't relied on sophisticated hacking. No one has guessed the password. No one has installed malware on your computer. No one has broken into your bank account. Instead, every step has been built on one thing: trust. Trust built over weeks, sometimes months. Now we're entering the most heartbreaking stage of the pig butchering scam. This is where the victims stop investing a few hundred dollars and begin risking their life savings. This is the point where scam transforms into financial catastrophe. Imagine you've been using fake trading platform for two months. Your account shows incredible returns. Maybe your original $500 has grown to $900, then $2,000, then $8,000. Eventually, your dashboard says you have $25,000. You log in every morning. The numbers continue rising. Everything appears normal. Customer supports responds professionally, and the website looks legitimate. Your online friend continues encouraging you. At this point, your biggest regret isn't investing. Your biggest regret is that you didn't invest more. That single thought changes everything. The scammer never says, Give me all your money. Instead, the conversation becomes subtle. They might say, I wish I had invested more when I started. Or this opportunity may not last forever. Or the market is favorable this month. Notice what's happening? They're creating urgency without sounding desperate. They're planning ideas, and your own imagination fills the rest. Let's talk about something psychologists called F O FOMO, right? F O M O. The fear of missing out. Imagine watching your investment supposedly growing every single day. Begin thinking, if I leave my money where it is, I'll make a little, but if I invest more, I can retire early. I could pay off my mortgage. I can help my children. I can finally travel. Suddenly, not investing feels like losing money. This is one of the most powerful emotions shifts in the scam. The victim no longer fears losing money. They fear missing the opportunity. So the investment was first $500. Now maybe it's $5,000. A week later, $15,000. Then $30,000. Each transfer feels easier because every previous transfer appears successful. Remember, the fake accounts still show profit. The victims believe they're making excellent financial decisions from their perspective, they're becoming wealthier every day. Eventually, the victim runs out of cash. That's when the scam comes even more becomes even more devastating. Some victims begin moving money from savings accounts, retirement accounts, CDs, investment portfolios, college savings plans. Others take even bigger risks. They refinance their homes, open home equity lines of credit, borrow against future retirement. Some even sell family property. Why? Because they generally believe they're making an investment, not sending money to criminals. One reason victims continue investing is because they believe they're in control. Think about it. They aren't emailing cash to strangers, they're logging into a professional-looking investment platform. They're making deposits, they're watching graphs, reading charts, tracking profits. Everything feels organized, legitimate, and transparent. This creates a dangerous illusion. The victim believes they're making independent financial decisions. In reality, every number they're seeing hasn't been manufac has been manufactured. At this stage, something interesting often happens. Friends begin noticing changes. Maybe somebody says, You've been talking a lot about investments. A spot may ask, why are you transferring so much money? An adult child noticed unusual bank activity. Unfortunately, the victim often becomes defensive. Not because they're stubborn, because they honestly believe they discovered something wonderful. Imagine if somebody told you your legitimate retirement account was fake. You probably disagree. The victim's confidence isn't irrational. It's based on months of carefully manufactured evidence. Let's discuss another psychological principle. It's called confirmation bias. Once people believe something, they naturally search for evidence that supports that belief. And they often ignore the evidence that challenges it. For example, suppose the victim searches online, they find one positive comment about the investment platform that confirms their beliefs, but the 10 warning signs, those are dismissed. They're probably fake reviews, they don't understand investing. They must have made a mistake. Confirmation bias affects all of us. Not just scam victims. That's why it's so powerful. Some victims describe the scammers as closest friend, my mentor, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, my business partner. Think about it. The relationship has evolved far beyond casual conversations. The scammers know your birthday, family members, favorite foods, career goals, future dreams. When someone knows that much about us, questioning them becomes emotionally difficult. Maybe the website experienced a brief oulige. The scammer says, Oh, they're performing maintenance. Makes sense. Perhaps a withdrawal takes longer than expected. The explanation, the market is busy today. Seems reasonable. Maybe customer service asks for additional verification. Again, nothing feels unusual. Every small warning has an explanation. And because trusts already exist, the explanations are accepted. Here's another psychological concept the sunk cost fallacy. Imagine you already invested $50,000. Now something feels wrong. Do you stop? Many people don't. Instead, they think, I'm I already invested too much to quit now. Ironically, the more money people lose, the harder it becomes to walk away. Because walking away means admitting something painful. Maybe this wasn't real after all. That's emotionally devastating. So instead, they invest even more, hoping everything will work out. During this stage, victims often experience incredible emotional highs. They imagine financial freedom, debt disappearing, retirement arriving early, helping family members, buying your dream house. Your future looks bright, you gotta have shades. Unfortunately, none of it's real. The only real money involved is the money leaving the victim's account. Everything's still perfect. The account balance continues growing. The scammer remains supportive. Customer service remains professional. Nothing suggests disasters, but beneath the surface, the criminals are waiting. They're waiting for one specific moment. The moment the victim decides to withdraw a large amount of money. That's when the entire scam changes. That's when the relationship disappears. That's when the excuses begin. And that's exactly where we're headed to next. We learn how scammers encourage increasingly larger investments, exploit the fear of missing out, create an illusion of financial success, benefit from confirmation bias, and use the sunk cost facily to keep the victims invested. Turn trust into a financial commitment. By the end of this stage, many victims have invested not just money, but their hopes, their dreams, sometimes their entire future. For weeks, maybe months, the victim believed they're becoming wealthier. The investment account keeps growing. The scammers celebrate every success. The website, again, looks professional. And customer service always responds. Life was exciting. Hope was growing. But eventually, every investor wants to do one thing. They want to withdraw their money. And that's when the illusion begins to fall apart. Imagine

Withdrawal Traps And Fake Fees

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you invested $100,000 and your account shows a balance of $325,000. You watch the balance grow for months and even made one small withdrawal early in the relationship. Everything seems legit. Now you're ready. You click the withdrawal button, you're ready managing what you're going to do with the money, pay off your mortgage, take that dream vacation, help your children retire. The website processes your request, then nothing happens. Hours pass, a day passes, maybe two. Finally, you receive a message. Congratulations. Oddly enough, the message starts with good news. Congratulations on your successful investment. That sounds encouraging. Then comes the next sentence. Before your funds can be released, a tax payment is required. A tax payment. Most people pause. But remember, by this point, the victim already trusts the platform. The request feels unusual, but not impossible. After all, taxes are normal, right? The criminals know exactly how to make unreasonable requests, sounds routine. The explanation varies. Sometimes it's taxes, sometimes it's a security verification fee, sometimes it's an anti-money laundering deposit, sometimes it's a processing fee. Whatever the wording, the message always sounds official, professional, urgent, and temporary. The victim thinks once I pay this, everything will be fine. Let's stop for a moment. If you withdraw money from a legitimate investment account, do you usually pay taxes before receiving your money? Generally, no. Taxes, if applicable, are handled according to the laws of where you live and the type of account you have. A legitimate financial institution doesn't typically ask you to wire money separately just to release your own funds. So why do victims believe it? Well, it's because contacts matters. They already watched the investment grow, they already trusted the platform for months. One unusual request doesn't erase months of positive experience. Instead, the victim explains it away. Imagine the fee is $10,000. Painful, but the account supposedly contains $325,000. Paying $10,000 to receive over $300,000 seems reasonable. So the victim sends the money. They wait. Another day passes. Customer support replies. Thank you for your payment. And then another message. One more requirement. This time it's different. Your account has been flagged for additional verification. Maybe another payment is required, maybe $15,000 or a refundable security deposit. The victim becomes frustrated. But remember, they already invested $110,000. What's another payment if it unlocks everything? This is where the sunk cost facility becomes incredibly powerful. People think I've come this far, I can't stop now. And every time the victim satisfies one requirement, another appears. Identification verification, international transfer fee, currency conversion, compliance review, government clearance, insurance deposit. Each explanation just sounds believable enough that the scammers are buying more time. More importantly, they're extracting every remaining dollar. At this point, some victims no longer have cash. They already invested everything because criminals don't stop. Instead, they ask questions Do you have family that can help out? Can you take out a loan? Can you use your credit card? Maybe borrow against your home. Think about how devastating this becomes. The victim isn't borrowing money because they're desperate. They're borrowing because they generally believe they're about to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars. From their perspective, the loan is temporary. In reality, the money's gone forever. During this stage, family members often become suspicious. They ask, Why are you sending more money? The victim responds, You don't understand, and they're right. Because they experienced six months of emotional manipulation to the victim. The scammer has constantly been supportive, kind, encouraging, and trustworthy. The family member is questioning someone they now consider a close friend or even a romantic partner. That's why many victims defend the scammer, not because they are rational, because their emotional reality has become carefully engineered. Eventually something changes. Maybe customer service stops responding as quickly, maybe the scammer becomes less available. Maybe another fee appears that simply doesn't make any sense. The victim starts asking questions. The answers become vague. For the first time, the victims feel something they haven't felt in months. Doubt. And doubt is dangerous for the scammer. Then one morning, everything is gone. The website won't load, customer service disappears, the message account is deleted, phone numbers stop working, emails bounce back. The person who said good morning every day has vanished. Months of friendship disappear in a single day. That's often the moment the victim realized there was never an investment. There was never a future together. There was never any profit. There was only manipulation. Most people assume victims immediately become angry. Some do, but many express something else first. Shock. Complete disbelief. They log into the website, refresh the browser, restart the computer, all that. Surely this must be a technical problem. This can't be real. The brain struggles to accept that months of experience of experiences were carefully orchestra lies. This question haunts many victims. How can I be so stupid? The answer is you wasn't. You were manipulated by professionals. Imagine blaming someone for losing a chess match against a grandmaster after learning the rules yesterday. These criminal organizations practice deception every single day. Many victims have never encountered anything remotely similar. This wasn't an equal contest. One of the saddest parts of the scam is what happened next. Many victims tell no one, not their spouse, children, police, not even their bank. They're embarrassed, ashamed, afraid of being judged, but silence protects only one group, the criminals. Every victim who reports the crime helps investigators understand how these scams operate. Reporting may not always recover lost money, but it can contribute to broader effects to disrupt the criminal networks and warn others. If

The Disappearance And What To Do

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you or someone you know believes they become a victim, stop sending money immediately. Do not pay additional release fees. Contact your bank or financial institution as soon as possible. Report the furrow to the appropriate law enforcement or customer protection agency in your country. Preserve messages, emails, receipts, and screenshots. And more and most importantly, talk to someone you trust. Victims deserve support, not judgments. We learn how victims have been tempted to withdraw money, face fake tax and fabricated fees, continued paying because of some costs, and borrowed additional money and watched scammers disappear. This is the point where the victims realize their investment never existed. But the story doesn't end there. Many

Recovery Scams After The Loss

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victims who lose money become targets again through what is known as recovery scam. A second fraud designed to exploit people who already suffered, devastating loss. If you've been listening, we follow the victim through every stage of the pig butchery scam. Random message, growing friendship, month of trust, fake investment, fake trading platform, and a growing count balance. And finally, the devastating realization that every dollar is gone. And most people assume that's where the story ends. Unfortunately, for many victims, it's only the beginning because after losing everything, many become target of an entirely new scam. It's called a recovery scam. And in many ways, it's more cruel than the original fraud. Let's think about it from a criminal's perspective. Who would be the easiest person to scam? Someone who's never invested? Maybe. Someone unfamiliar with technology? Possible. But criminals have discovered something even more vulnerable. A person who's already lost a significant amount of money and desperately want it back. That person isn't foolish. They're grieving, they're scared, they're embarrassed, and they're looking for hope. Scammers know that hope can be exploited just as easily as fear. One question people often ask is how do we cover scammers? No, I was scammed. There are several possibilities. Sometimes the same criminal organization simply contacts the victim again using a different identity. Other times, the victim information may be shared or sold among criminal groups. And sometimes victim posts online asking for help, unknowingly revealing that they already lost money. Whatever the source, the recovery scam already knows one important fact: you desperately want your money back. Imagine this: it's been three weeks since you realized the investment platform was fake. You barely slept, you told your spouse, your children know, your retirement savings are gone. And then an email arrives or a phone call. The person introduces themselves as a cybersecurity investigator or blockchain recovery specialist, a government consultant, a financial investigator. Maybe they even claim to work with an International Law Enforcement Agency. Right? They sound professional, confident, sympathetic, and they say something that you've been longing to hear. We believe we can help you recover your funds. Hope returns. Think about that emotional impact of those words. For weeks you believe everything was lost. Now, someone says they still meet they still may be hope. Your heart races, your mind starts imagining impossible possibilities. Maybe this nightmare isn't over. Maybe the money can still be recovered. Maybe everything will be okay. This emotional shift makes people vulnerable because hope can be just as blinding as fear. One thing surprises many victims. The recovery scammer often knows details. They mentioned the fake investment platform, they know the approximate amount loss, they know the cryptocurrency was involved. The victim thinks this person must be legit. Not necessarily. Criminals contain information in many different ways. Never assume someone is trustworthy simply because they know the details about your case. The recovery specialist begins explaining the process. They use impressive language, blockchain analysis, digital forensics, asset tracing, etc. etc. Many of the technical terms are real. The problem isn't the vocabulary, the problem is the promise. Soon comes the message: good news, we located your cryptocurrency or retraced the funds to another exchange. The victim feels incredible, incredible relief. Then comes one more sentence. Before we can release the recovery funds, if you listen to today's episode, you already know what's coming. Another fee. The explanation varies. Administrative costs, legal filing fees, court processing, government taxes, etc. Every excuse sounds official. The payment is described as temporary, refundable, necessary. Sounds familiar? Because it's exactly the same strategy used during the original pig butchering scam. Only now the victim has experienced a normal emotional trauma. People often ask, how can someone fall for another scam after losing so much? That's an understandable question. But consider this. Imagine somebody tells you they found your stolen car. Wouldn't you be willing to pay a towing fee? Of course. The problem is there was never a recovered car. The recovery scam isn't asking victims to buy something new, it's asking them to retrieve something they believe already belongs to them. Psychologically, that's a huge difference. Some recovery scammers create incredible convincing identities: fake FBI credentials, fake financial regulators, fake attorneys, etc. etc. Victims often search online and the websites appear legitimate. Again, appearance is not proved, verification is. Let's discuss cryptocurrency. Many legitimate blockchain analysis companies do exist. Law enforcement agencies around the world also investigate cryptocurrency-related crimes. However, no legitimate investigator can guarantee that recover stolen money. Recovery depends on many factors, including whether funds move, whatever exchanges cooperate, or whatever assets can be traced or frozen. Be extremely cautious of anybody promising guaranteed recovery, especially if they ask for a payment up front. Recovery scammers are patient too. They don't always ask for money immediately. Sometimes they spend weeks building confidence, providing updates, sharing progress reports, sending official-looking documents. Eventually, the fee request feels reasonable. Another financial loss has occurred. Here's the heartbreaking part. Some victims experience this process multiple times. Investment scam, recovery scam, and then second recovery scam. Another fake investigator, another fake lawyer, another payment. The cycle continues until the victim finally realized no one is actually helping them. So how do we stop it? Rule number one. If someone contacts you unexpectedly claiming they could recover stolen funds, slow down. Rule number two, never send money to recover money. Legitimate professionals explain their services clearly and don't promise guaranteed results. Rule number three, verify independently. Contact organizations using phone numbers and websites you located yourself, not the contact information provided by the person reaching out. There's nothing to be ashamed of. If you're listening today and this story sounds familiar, I want you to hear something. You are not alone. People from every profession, every income level, every educational background have experienced sophisticated financial scams. Seeking help isn't a sign of weakness. Reporting fraud isn't embarrassing. Talking with family isn't failure. Protects the criminals. Speaking up helps protect the others. Over the past two weeks, we've talked about the pig butchering scam from beginning to end. We've seen

Why Intelligent People Get Fooled

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how strangers become trusted friends, how fake investment platforms convince people they're making money, and how investments and victims invest larger and larger amounts. Now I like to step back from the mechanics of the scam and focus on something even more important. How does it work? Why do intelligent people, successful, educated, people who are careful with money still become victims? Because if we understand why, we can protect ourselves and the people we care about. Let's start by challenging one of the biggest myths about fraud. You may have heard something like only gullible people fall for scams, or I will never let that happen to me. The evidence tells a different story. Scam victims include physicians, attorneys, engineers, teachers, military veterans, college professors, right? Education doesn't make someone immune to manipulation. In fact, sometimes people with more experience become overconfident. They believe they can spot every scam. That confidence can lead them to lower their guard. Scammers don't rely on ignorance, they rely on being human. And every one of us is human. Your brain was built for trust. Let's think about it everyday life. Imagine if you trusted no one. You wouldn't shop online, you wouldn't eat at restaurants, you wouldn't use ride share, you wouldn't build friendships. Society depends on trust. Our brains are designed to assume that most people are telling the truth most of the time. That's not a weakness. It's one of the reasons civilizations function. Unfortunately, criminals exploit that natural tendency. The pig butchering scam doesn't create trust out of thin air. It hijacks a healthy human instinct. One of the strongest human needs is connection. We all want to be feel seen, heard, appreciated, understood. The scammer provides exactly that. They remember your birthday, they ask about your family, they celebrate your success. They comfort you when you're having a difficult day. Many victims later say they seem to care about me more than anybody else. Imagine hearing that. It tells us something important. Sometimes the financial loss isn't the greatest tragedy. Sometimes it's realizing that a relationship you valued never truly existed. People often assume that these scams only affect people who live alone. That's not true. You could be surrounded by family, have dozens of friends, work with hundreds of people, and still experience loneliness. Loneliness isn't measured by how many people are around you, it's measured about how connected you feel. Scammers understand this. They don't ask, are you alone? They ask, how can I become emotionally important to you? Psychologists have long observed that people like to behave consistently. If you trust someone for three months, it's uncomfortable to suddenly believe they're a criminal. Your brain naturally looks for explanations that preserve the relationship. Maybe the website is just having technical issues. Maybe customer service is overwhelmed. Maybe the delay is temporary. Each explanation protects the belief you're already built. That's why scams often continue long after the warning signs appear. Remember the first investment? Maybe it was 200 or 500. The first decision matters because of something called the commitment effect. Once we've committed to the idea, we're most likely to stay committed. Think about assembling a complicated piece of furniture. After spending three hours of putting it together, you're likely to throw it away because one part doesn't fit. You already invested too much time. Money works the same way. The more we invest, the harder it becomes to walk away. Let's talk about another powerful mental shortcut confirmation bias. Suppose you believe an investment platform is legit. Every profitable trade confirms that belief. Every friendly conversation confirms that belief. Every successful login. But the warning signs, those get split, those get splained away. Not because you're rational, because your brain prefers information that supports what you already believe. We're all doing this, not just scam victims. And it's the same way as we see in this country with people who have different political views. Right? I saw this great TikTok about a guy who said, you know, people believe what they want to believe as far as politics is concerned. It's like having your a favorite team, right? My favorite team is the Yankees. Right? You can say anything bad about the Yankees, I'm still gonna be a Yankee fan. Right? This is all kind of like the same thing. It's all psychological that they use. Right? As much as we don't want to think about it that way, that's exactly how it is. Early in the series, we talked about fear, but hope can be even more powerful. Hope says this could change my life. Hope says I can finally retire. Hope says I can pay off my debt. Hope isn't dangerous by itself. Hope inspires innovation, hard work, dreams. But when hope becomes disconnected from evidence, it becomes tools that criminals can exploit. Have you ever heard, have you ever met someone who was attractive, well-spoken, successful, and automatic and automatically through they were trustworthy? I know somebody exactly like this. That's called the Hallow effect. One positive characteristic influences how we judge everything else. Scammers use this intentionally. Luxury cars, beautiful homes, designer clothing, professional photos, these aren't random. They're creating a positive first impression that influences every later decision. Perhaps the most tragic psychological effect comes after scam ends. Victims often ask, how can I believe this? Then they stop talking. They don't tell their family, their friends, they don't report it. Shame becomes another weapon used by the criminals because silence prevents others from listening. If you remember, one thing, remember this. Being manipulated doesn't mean you're unintelligent. It means somebody deliberately studies human psychology and uses it against you. So what do we do with all this?

Five Questions To Protect Yourself

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First, accept that anybody can be manipulated under the right circumstances. That realization doesn't make you weaker, it makes you cautious. Second, recognize emotional decision making. Whenever an opportunity makes you feel excited, afraid, rushed, special, or desperate. Pause. Strong emotions deserve slower decisions. Third, invite another perspective. One of the simple ways to avoid becoming a victim is to ask someone you trust, what do you think? Fresh eyes often notice things emotional eyes miss. Here's five questions you can ask yourself. When someone whenever someone online introduced an investment opportunity, ask yourself this. Question one, how do I actually know this person? Have we met in real life? Have I independently verified their identity? Or am I trusting a profile in a series of messages? Question two, if somebody else presented the same opportunity, but I believe them, or am I trusting it because of who introduced it? Question three, am I making this decision based on evidence or based on how this person makes me feel? Question four. What independent proof do I have that this investment is legitimate? Not screenshots, not testimonials, independent verifications. Question five, if my son, daughter, spouse, or my best friend describe this exact situation, what advice should I give them? Sometimes we're much better at protecting others than protecting ourselves. The pig butchering scam teaches us a powerful lesson. Technology changes, artificial intelligence changes, cryptocurrency, social media, that changes. But human psychology remains remarkably consistent. Scammers understand people. Our best defense is understanding ourselves. When we recognize our trust forms, our emotional influence decisions, and how our cognitive biases affect our judgment, we become much harder targets. Not because we're smarter, because we're more aware. So today we explore the psychological psychology behind one of the world's fastest growing financial scams. We discuss why the intelligence doesn't prevent victimization, why trust naturally develops, the importance of human connection, confirmation bias, commitment and consistency, the halo effect, hope versus evidence, why Shane keeps victims silence, and five practical questions that everyone should be asking before investing. Before we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with one final thought. Scammers aren't slowing down. Every day they're developing new tactics using artificial intelligence, creating more convincing fake websites, cloning voices, and finding new ways to exploit our trust. But here's the good news education is still the most powerful defense we have. The more you understand how these scams work, the harder you become to fool. Knowledge doesn't eliminate risk, but it dramatically improves your ability to recognize danger before it's too late. So here's my challenge to you. Don't let today's episode end here. Share what you learned. Talk to your parents, grandparents, spouse, children, friends, and neighbors. One conversation about scams today could prevent someone from losing thousands of dollars tomorrow.

Resources, Rules, And Closing

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If you found today's episode helpful and you would like to continue learning, I've created several resources to help you stay informed. My book, Scam Proof for Seniors, dives deeper into today's most common scams, how criminals think, and practical strategies to protect yourself, finances, and your family. If you have parents or grandparents or older relatives, this book is a guide specifically designed to help older adults recognize and avoid scams that targets them. It uses straightforward language, real-world examples, and practical advice that's easy to follow and makes it an excellent source with the people you can trust the most. I also put several free resources to help you become more scam awareness on my Linktree. You'll find your free scam prevention guides, cybersecurity resources, education downloads. Whenever you're beginning to learn about online safety or you want to stay current with the latest scam tactics, there's something there for everyone. You can find all these resources by visiting the link in the podcast description or going to my Linktree, it's Linktree slash Professor Jrod, J R O D. And if you enjoyed today's episode, I really appreciate your support. Please subscribe to Technology Tap whenever you listen to podcasts. Leave a review if you found today's discussion valuable, and share this episode with someone you care. Every share helps spread awareness, and awareness is one of the strongest tools we have against scammers. Before I go, I want you to remember these five simple rules. Slow down. Scammers want you to act quickly. Verify independently. Don't rely solely on what someone tells you. Be skeptical of guaranteed profits or urgent requests. Never send money to someone you only met online. And when in doubt, ask someone you trust before making financial decisions. And if you remember those five rules, you'll already be far better prepared than most people. Thank you for spending time with me today. Follow me on Linktree at Linktree slash Professor Jrod. Also on TikTok and Instagram at Professor Jrod. I truly appreciate every listener who joins me on this journey to make technology safer and easier to understand. I'm Professor J Rod. Until next time, stay informed, stay curious, protect yourself and your family, and most importantly, stay scampooed. Thanks for listening, and as always, keep tapping into technology. This has been a presentation of Little Cha Cha Productions, art by Sarah, music by Joe Kim. We're now part of the Pod Match Network. You can follow me at TikTok at Professor Jrod at JROD, or you can email me at Professor JrodjR O D at Gmail dot com.