Greed💰

Why do they say money is the root of all evil? I can think of a treasure trove of other things that can lead to evil, but the common denominator in it all leads back to money. The green, dinero, bucks, cash, dead presidents, chips, cabbage, dough. The terms are endless. Money controls the world, can guide your fate, determines where you live, creates stability and is sought after like a crazed game of monopoly...

The way we personally handle money can be categorized in a few different ways...

Some people, like myself at times, are materialistic and waste money on things they don't really need. Some people hoard it because they believe it's their purpose to build and protect it, which can seem normal, unless they're unreasonably cautious about the cost of a candy bar. Some live paycheck to paycheck because it's the cards they were dealt in life. Others are born into it, and in some cases never really experienced the struggle to acquire it... And then there are the ones who seek it out with the intent to steal it. Desperation and Greed are the two words that comes to mind when asked why a person would do this. Con artists fall in this group and will stop at nothing until their plans have drained their victims accounts.

Greed is a personality flaw, well it's so much more than that. Greed is taking more than your share and can lead to violence. When you pair it with the root of all evil, greed becomes full of envy. I want what they have. How can they deserve it and I not? Once again, it all leads back to money.

It's obvious that money alleviates worry. But it's not the answer to all your problems. It's starts with your general outlook on life and how life works, but not everyone's outlook is the same. Some of us look past the morality aspect of being honest. Their logic becomes tainted with narcissist undertones. It's all about me and what I want in my life, and nothing will stop me. This is not a bad thing to say if it comes from the will and determination to succeed, knowing that it's you that has to make a living to survive. But, if it comes from greed, then the above statement can be a dangerous rabbit hole to venture down.

If you've never seen the TV show American Greed, then set a reminder to watch it. You'll learn a lot about one of the Seven Deadly Sins as well as how to recognize and protect yourself from scams.

One thing I learned is the personality trait of greed can easily turn into an addiction. Once you have successfully scammed someone, it's only the beginning. If I got away with it once, I could do it again. Who cares about the consequences of being caught or who they become in the eyes of the victims that trusted them, it doesn't matter. As long as they get what doesn't belong to them, their ego is temporarily satisfied. That is until greed reminds them they could have more. The ideas never leave the surface of their thoughts. It becomes a daily routine to entertain scenarios about who their next victim will be or what's a faster and easier way to con people.

Extreme greed never ends, even when scams fail and you've been caught, you continue to dream up ways to deceive others while rotting away in jail. Why? It's because, as mentioned earlier, it becomes an addiction. Until the correct way to help the con is understood by them, applied, and practiced, they won't really know how to stop themselves from the relentless cycle of destroying lives. Self-rehabilitating yourself of this condition is next to impossible. You need the skills from a pro to talk you off the ledge and really get deep within the thought patterns that controls your need to acquire wealth illegally.

I've never been scammed before but know people who have. The following are two true accounts of friends who have been scammed:

The first friend, who we will call Harry, fell for a telephone scam where the scammer called to inform him about a bill from eons ago. The debt was sold to a collection agency that he supposedly never paid. Harry remembered the bill and could have sworn he paid it, but it would have taken more time than he had to research it. The scammer portrayed a member of the court system and had all the terminology down to the T. It felt legit which made my friend sweat with anxiety. He was facing a certified letter being sent out if he didn't comply with the collector. The only way to avoid this was to cough up the 1100.oo they were asking to settle the debt. After being on the phone with them for over 20 minutes of going back and forth, he caved in and paid the hefty sum. It was a huge mistake. Once the illegitimate debt was settled and he hung up the phone, the incident didn't stray too far from his mind. A couple days later he decided to take a deep dive into this.

He found out that bill was from seven years prior to that day's phone call, and it did go into collections. He was able to pinpoint the name of the original collection agency which didn't match the agency of the caller, this was the first red flag. He contacted the original agency, and they were able to confirm that the bill was paid in full and what the date of the payment was. He tried to call the fictitious collector back, but the number went right into a recording that just played continuous music. He was successfully scammed for his dinero.

Another friend who we will call Jeff, fell for a more impassioned type of scam, a dating website scam. This happens all the time at the price of your feelings, as well as your wallet.

He thought he was hitting it off with a girl that he met from the states but recently moved to Thailand. They emailed, talked and chatted through the computer quite often. They were quickly becoming good friends. This girl, who had an American accent said she was moving back to the states to Texas in less than a year to be with her aging mother. This made Jeff happy. He didn't live that close to Texas, but it was a hell of a lot closer than Thailand. They began to share intimate details of each other's lives and traded pics. Then the time came when Jeff wanted to facetime, but the woman had an excuse. This was the first red flag. She made it clear to him that she wanted to date but dodged his attempts to communicate that way. Their interactions had been going on for at least 3 weeks, which is enough time for feelings for another to develop... The time had come for the real reason for her interest in him.

She told him about a business venture she was a part of. He understood it and supported her with good luck. But this was just an intro for her to ask the money question. She basically asked him to send (invest) 10,000 to help her secure a deal she was making for a startup company that makes beauty products. 2nd red flag. He didn't decide right away but told her he needed to think about it. Such an audacious request from someone who you barely know, right?

What Jeff did instead, saved him ten big ones. He found the IP address of the computer she was using and traced it to a user in California. His heart sunk to his stomach. He had invested so much time building a relationship with this person only to realize it was a colossal waste of time. He confronted her about it, and she let him in on what she was doing. It was clear that she had feelings for him too because she didn't have to answer to him at all. She told him that she was forced to try and scam him by a so-called pimp that ran the operation, she apologized, and they never spoke to each other again. He was depressed for a couple weeks but soon got over it.

Everyone has stories of greed to share. Unfortunately, the concept is here to stay. We can never rid the human condition of its free will choices to deceive others. The sad thing is they thoroughly know it's wrong but don't care. This clearly exemplifies the Power greed has to influence our decisions.

The following is a teaser intro to the full episode. If you have the time, you can find the full episode here. It's enlightening. https://youtu.be/a9j8dO80z6A