Watch out for Scam Sites!
Today’s technology is so advanced that oftentimes it is becoming difficult to distinguish the real thing from the bogus. The reality of such a scam or bogusness is especially true on the World Wide Web. This harsh reality was faced by me when I went to a website that I thought, at the time, was GO8 ‘s website. At this website, I was asked to pay a small fee of $8. This fee I was told at the time, was utilized as a “processing fee” of sorts or rather, if you want to look at it this way a “membership fee”. In other words, this fee entitled you to be able to qualify for a small grant from the site to assist you with groceries, utility bills, or any other household expenses you might be incurring as a Section 8 housing resident. Well, I submitted my friend’s debit card and all of that to process it because I did not have enough in my account to cover it. The thought of a little grant to help me out was like….awesome news.
Life got busy with this and that. A few months later I attempted to get back to that website. I could not remember the URL entirely. I tried to type it out and was directed somewhere else. So, I decided to Google the words “Section 8”. This was when I was led to GO8. As I explored the website I began to notice that there were significant differences between sites. I thought that maybe some changes had just been made. So I tried to log in, and could not. Stumped, I sent an email off to GO8’s administration. As we passed a few emails back and forth, we realized a few things that had happened. I was faced with the harsh reality that I had been scammed at the other site. I began to be grateful that my friend’s credit card had not gone through anyway. I also felt deeply embarrassed because I had recommended the site to a couple of very close friends!!!!! Through our correspondence, my knowledge of Disability Advocacy, Housing rights/ advocacy as well as a love of writing and helping others began to shine through.
The moral of this story-always double-check, and even triple-check anything and everything in life. When in doubt, ask someone you trust to look it over for a second opinion, contact support as I did, or, best of all, just simply reject the questionable decision or object.
