The 2A self-defense community often focuses on the need to protect themselves from random violent street crime.
But the likelihood that you will be a victim of street crime pales in comparison with the probability of being targeted by scammers of all variety. You know, that phone call you get every day from “Steve” with a thick Indian accent who claims to be from Windows IT or the Medicare Help Center.
Scam crimes are rarely investigated, rarely prosecuted and scammers almost never face jail time for their roles in organized crime that steal hundreds of millions of $$ from millions of Americans.
I think of scams as crimes committed by organized gangs of criminals operating without any risk of punishment for all practical purposes.
This web site from AARP includes not only a huge listing/description of scams but a map showing reported scams by zip code, city and county. America can track scam victims but lacks the will to investigate or prosecute scammers.
This will likely worsen as Elon Musk’s gang of wiz-kids (all under 25) using the latest AI toy to troll through government massive databases that contain every conceivable detail about every individual who has any dealings with government.
Think: social security/Medicare/Medicaid numbers, addresses, bank account #s and routing access codes so that the IRS can deposit tax refunds or COVID checks, address history, property deeds, background check information not only for mundane things like CCW permission slips and suppressor tax stamps, but security clearances and electronically submitted fingerprints and facial recognition files. Eventually, this information will be “leaked” to all manner of malicious actors who regularly troll the dark web and end up in India, North Korea, China, Russia, etc.
Just as individuals believe that it is prudent to carry a firearm to protect themselves, we have entered an age where ii is just as important to take steps to protect yourself and loved ones from organized criminal gangs of scammers who prey on Americans. Electronic self-defense.
Credit monitoring and lock downs, money transfer lock downs, 2 factor authentications for all financial accounts, identity theft coverage, faux credit card # for on-line transactions, VPNs to mask location.
