By now, everyone has experienced a scam-or attempted scam-via internet. "Phishing" it's called. I've received emails from alleged banks telling me that I need to protect my account by creating a new password. I got one from "Amazon" about a month ago telling me that my account needed updating.... only it wasn't from Amazon. It had some URL link that spelled Amazon wrong. I'm forever getting heartrending pleas from people in pathetic situations from all over the globe. Our IT manager here at NCFR is expert at screening these out, so it's rare to happen at work. But my after hours accounts? Oh, boy. There's enough spam to feed a regiment.

Recently, however, I received a new species of phish on Facebook. Facebook has an instant chat feature whereby one can have a real time e-conversation with one's friends. I was working on something, but I'd left my Facebook page open. Up comes a chat entreaty from a former coworker. It was from her account and appeared exactly the way it would had she actually contacted me. The story was shocking. This "friend" said she was in London and had just been mugged at gunpoint. She sustained a head injury, but would be okay eventually. She had her wallet and passport taken and was unable to leave the country. She needed exactly $430. Her Facebook account had been hacked. A criminal hijacked the social capital she had with me, which is considerable, to try to fool me.

It took me about 60 seconds to realize what was going on. I asked myself, "How likely is it that she wouldn't have the resourcefulness to deal with this? Why would she contact me when we hadn't worked together for over 10 years?" But in the minute I was unsure of the identity theft, I thought my old friend was in dire straits. I felt sick and worried. There had been enough time for an adrenaline rush and I was very upset. The instantaneous contact affected me more than a written email would. Then it dawned on me.

I quickly called my friend at my old workplace and got the message to her that her account had been violated. She changed her password and all is well. What I can still remember though was the visceral reaction I had to a friend in trouble. Biochemistry had set off all my alarms, and I was agitated the rest of the day. She is one of my favorite coworkers of all time, and if she actually needed something, I would help her to the extent that I could.

The message here is obvious. If something sounds unbelievable, it's probably a con. Don't bite. Stay away from spam and phish.