I’m going to share a story, and there will be a point to it.
I got scammed.
It happened because I was in a hurry. I was trying to jam in a few things before a call, and all I wanted to do was get through my to-do list. It really ticked me off to be honest. After 20+ years of working in finance, I got really really good at spotting anything not above board. I also have a healthy dose of skepticism. It takes something to earn my trust and I’m often pretty good at ferreting out BS.
However, if you’re not present to the world around you, all of your experience, intelligence and common sense doesn’t matter.
Here’s what happened – I needed to get a separate tax ID for my new company, so I just went online and googled ‘EIN Application’ and clicked on the first thing, figuring it would take me to the IRS website. It didn’t, because the IRS doesn’t pay to advertise, and google exists to make money. Mistake #1.
I went to the website and went through all of the questions to submit my application, oblivious of the fact that I was not on the IRS website. Mistake #2.
I got to the end and they asked for $295. Which I gladly paid, because I was in a hurry. Mistake #3. This was the brain fartiest of all brain farts in the history of online transactions. It doesn’t cost a dime to get an EIN – they are free and easy to get. They always have been and I expect that they always will be. Hell, they even accept requests by fax. I may as well have gone down to Target and bought them gift cards.
And in the middle of my call that I was trying so hard to be on time for, it hit me like a ton of bricks – I just got duped.
I called my credit card company – I could only dispute it once the transaction had gone through. I called the 800 number that showed on my credit card site, and of course it’s disconnected. Then I called the actual number from the website (remember, it’s the first thing that pops up, so it was easy to find). It went to voice mail. I sent a message via their website. I hoped that they were a legitimate company that would actually honor my request to kindly cancel my request. I expected that they are a bunch of crooks that have my credit card information and my SSN.
In the end, it ended up not being a big deal – I successfully disputed the charge, and eventually I got an email back from their customer service group acknowledging my request to cancel and that a refund is pending (though I’m still waiting). I have credit freezes all over the place because my social security number is already in the public domain, so I’m pretty well protected. And one day, I’ll get over the rampant stupidity that I exercised in doing all of this.
I’ll reiterate the point, because it’s important.
No amount of experience, intelligence or common sense matters if you’re not present to the world around you.
Slow down.