Lie, cheat, steal? Sounds exhausting

Jan. 22—It seems a life of lying and cheating would be more work than it's worth.

I'm not talking about the relatively common lies and cheats normal people might employ now and then because it simply makes some things easier.

I'm thinking of those who lie for a living, using deception to make money. Or people who, for whatever reason, seem to deceive even when there's no reason to.

U.S. Rep. George Santos, the recently elected congressman from New York, falls into the latter category.

If you haven't followed the story, shortly after he was elected media outlets started uncovering lies he had made. Then they found more and more and more.

He said he was Jewish but isn't. Said he was a star volleyball player at college but didn't go to the college or play volleyball. Said he worked at major Wall Street firms but didn't. Santos said that the 9/11 attacks claimed his mother's life, though she died in 2016 and there is no evidence of a connection.

This is just a small sampling of the lies that have been uncovered. Pretty much anything he's publicly said has been proven as a lie.

His party hasn't yet had the backbone to say he needs to resign his seat. And no doubt many voters have been so besieged with whopper lies that they just throw up their hands but don't get worked up enough to demand accountability.

But the latest misdeed uncovered about Santos might do him in.

A disabled veteran came to Santos to help him fundraise to give the vet's dog a life-saving surgery. Santos helped raise thousands of dollars for the dog's surgery — and then allegedly stole it. The dog died.

The public will put up with quite a lot from misbehaving politicians and celebrities. Lie about your mom's death? Whatever. Lie about going to college? Yawn.

But do something that kills a dog? Hang him high.

There have always been liars, crooks and scammers, but our saturation of technology has opened every one of us up to a daily barrage of attempts to separate us from our money. In the past, most scams were done face-to-face — the guy in the bar selling a pyramid scheme or someone pitching a fraudulent investment.

Now, everyone with a smartphone or laptop has to be untrusting of everything all the time.

If you're aware of the basic things to avoid, you can catch most rackets before getting in trouble, like not clicking on any link in an email unless you're sure who it's from and that it looks legit. There are the threatening calls or emails allegedly from the IRS or law enforcement, emails warning your account needs to be verified or it will be suspended, the email asking you to confirm an $800 order coming from "Amazon" or someone else.

But scammers are like viruses, mutating and changing to stay ahead of us as scams are exposed. And the creeps are good at what they do.

I posted something to sell on Facebook recently and quickly got a "Is this still available" message. I responded yes and soon got a message saying they wanted the item but wanted to make sure I "was for real" by sending a code to my cell phone.

I did a quick Google search and found one of the newer scams. By responding to the "Is this still available" request, which is sent out by scammers' automated systems, they know you are communicating and a candidate for fraud. The "code" they send along to your cell number apparently allows them to set up a fake account with your information to steal your identity.

We understandably worry a lot about elderly relatives or friends getting scammed. But it turns out tech-savvy teens are increasingly falling victim.

Seniors remain the most victimized group, but money lost by victims younger than age 20 grew by more than 1,000% in the last few years. Teens are on track to outpace their grandparents in online victimization. Part of the reason is a majority of parents don't regularly monitor their kids' online activity.

But the main reason is that those of us who've been around a while have made plenty of mistakes by trusting someone we thought was trustworthy but wasn't.

Those who profit from lying, cheating and deceiving may make money. Maybe many of them sleep well.

But it seems like an unrewarding life. And an unusually stressful and tiring way of making a living.

Tim Krohn can be contacted at tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com or 507-3 44-6383.