Bad News: You’re in Debt. Worse News: You’re in Phony Debt

Bad News: You’re in Debt. Worse News: You’re in Phony Debt
A demand letter from a debt recovery firm in London, on Dec. 14, 2008. Oli Scarff/Getty Images
John F. Wasik
RealClearInvestigations
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The email from “Norton Protection” said I owed $999.99, which was “charged successfully and it will appear on your bank statement in 24 to 48 hours.” Although I have an account with a leading cybersecurity company, I’ve never paid that much for its products. To “cancel” the charge, I was instructed to call a number, conveniently highlighted in yellow.

All it took to bird-dog my fake debt email was a simple search-engine query of the invoice’s telephone number. It was based in Hawaii. Unfortunately, perhaps, for the real employees of Norton’s help desk, they are likely not stationed in the Aloha State.

John F. Wasik is a RealClearInvestigations reporter writing about innovation, investor protection, retirement, money management, history, and social issues. He also contributes to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other global publications, and has appeared on CNN, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, and radio stations from Australia to Israel.
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