TELEPHONE TAE KWON DO ©2021 HBM

CAUTION: This post is an effort to prevent scammers from victimizing any additional grandparents from loss of monies as a result of their love for their grandchildren.  It must not be seen as encouraging anyone to spar with scammers, as most likely, that will not end well.  If you believe that, at anytime, you are being scammed, you should hang up immediately.  If you insist that you want to err on the side of caution, for the sake of your grandchildren, then use a checklist for self defense.  However, you should be mindful of the 92,000 victims with losses sustained at over $1.7 Billion Dollars, as referenced by the FBI.

The scammer will attempt to separate you from your money when you are most vulnerable.  That is, most likely, early in the morning or late at night.  The scammer will attempt to heighten that disadvantage by attempting to  convince you that a loved one is in dire need of your assistance, in a life or death situation, that can readily and easily be remedied by a rapid transfusion of your money to them.

 You can easily turn the tables against them through the use of a checklist.  Please don’t believe that you would not have time to use a checklist under the foregoing stressful situation.  On the contrary, the use of a checklist is absolutely critical under those circumstances.  

No one would disagree that literally each and every second counts when  an emergency occurs on a commercial jetliner rocketing across the skies at 600 miles per hour, 42,000 feet above the earth, with hundreds of souls on board.  The first thing that the pilot does and I really do mean the very first thing that the pilot does is reach for the emergency checklist.  Each point on the checklist is examined and addressed in order to determine the problem and seek an immediate resolution.  Nothing is left to chance.  If the pilot has time to use the checklist, then so do you.

Since there is no one size fits all checklist in Telephone Tae Kwon Do, lets start by building your own.  

POINT NUMBER ONE is that you must know, with absolute certainty, with whom you are speaking.  Not probably, or most likely, or even beyond any reasonable doubt.  Again, it must be with absolute certainty.  You are more powerful than your adversary, the scammer,  as you most certainly know more about your grandchildren than the scammer ever will.  Overpower the scammer by making the scammer answer questions that only your grandchild would know the answers.  

Take some time to prepare these questions and, of course, write them down.  If the person on the other end of the line can’t answer them, then don’t go to POINT NUMBER TWO, just hang up.  This might be a little tricky, since people have a tendency to disclose extremely personal details, about themselves, on social media not realizing that it will be viewed by the immediate world.  A skilled scammer may be armed with some personal information gleaned though a simple internet search.  One suggestion to consider is remembering a really embarrassing, perhaps even a humiliating event in the life of your grandchild that they would certainly not want anyone to know about and would consequently not put on social media.  You get the idea.  Use your knowledge to overpower the scammer.

POINT NUMBER TWO, on your checklist, requires you to act as if you are a competent reporter.  Ask the Who, Where, What, When, and Why questions.  The more the merrier.   Remember, do not go on to POINT NUMBER TWO, unless you are absolutely certain, without any doubt whatsoever, that you are speaking with your grandchild.  POINT NUMBER TWO allows you to double check that opinion.  Scammers generally use a nonspecific storyline to attempt to hook their victims.  Force the person, you believe to be your grandchild, to provide details, details, and even more details.  The scammer does not want to disclose details because the more disclosed, the more the scammer becomes vulnerable to detection.

POINT NUMBER THREE is to act on the request.  Do not feel any pressure to do so immediately.  Remember, when you call your doctor or even a hospital or the police or other law enforce agency nonemergency number, the recorded message will tell you that if this is an emergency, hang up and call 911.  That is the very same advice, that you should give to your grandchildren.  If they say that they are in jail, get the name and telephone number of the jail and confirm their residency.  If they say they are in a hospital, get the name and the telephone number of the hospital to confirm that they are an inpatient.  You get idea.  If they say they are in legal trouble, get as many details as possible and then call a local attorney who can guide you through the process.

Most importantly you should control the situation and not the caller.  Even if you are absolutely certain that you are speaking with your grandchildren, own the conversation.

Be certain to keep a checklist next to your cellphone or landline telephone so that it will be at your fingertips should the need arise.