I got scammed

So this is kind of humiliating, but I have a confession:

A few weeks ago I got scammed … and it ended up costing me $5,000.

The toughest part to swallow?

It was kind of my own fault.

See, I have a longstanding rule of never reading anything that’s written about me. I don’t Google myself. I’m almost never on social media. Heck, I don’t even manage to read all my emails (luckily I have my long-suffering editor to help go through them).

In other words, I was a sitting duck just waiting to get scammed.

Here’s what happened:

A bloke set up a Barefoot Investor beginners Facebook group – that I knew nothing about – and it quickly grew to almost 100,000 people.

This group served as his primary marketing database.

Then he set up a website called Barefoot Budgets that looked and felt like my own Barefoot website.

He charged people $120 a year to access it.

Yet, more worryingly, he was recommending that his ‘Barefoot Beginners’ speculate on risky crypto and foreign exchange apps, because he was getting kickbacks from them.

Shockingly, this was going on for a couple of YEARS.

So, while old Scotty Boy was happily bouncing along on the tractor slashing grass, this dude was making hay while the sun shined!

The first I heard about it was when someone told me they wanted a refund.

“For what?!” I grunted.

Then I Googled ‘Barefoot Budgets’.

What the slash?!

The first thing I did was pay for a membership to Barefoot Budgets. (When the sign-up form asked me “How did you hear about Barefoot Investor?” I replied, “Because I bloody wrote it!”).

The second thing I did was call my lawyer.

Here’s you: “Okay, Barefoot, it sucks to be you, but surely this doesn’t really apply to me.”

Here’s me: “Oh yes it does.”

If you’re reading this you are, statistically, one of the wealthiest people on the planet … and to 90% of the world you’re rich, and a juicy target.

That explains why self-reported losses from cybercrime hit more than $33 billion last year. And also why calls to the Government’s Australian Cyber Security Hotline (1300 292 371) surged 300% last year.

So, here’s what you should do:

First, turn on ‘multi-factor authentication’ for all your accounts. (Google it.)

Second, use a password manager. (I use Dashlane to securely store my passwords.)

Third, pay for a virtual private network (VPN). (I use ExpressVPN — for $100 a year it’s good insurance.)

Finally, learn the lesson from me: keep your eyes open, especially when it comes to your identity. And if someone is pitching you an investment opportunity online claiming to be me … it’s not me.

The wash-up was that it cost me $5,000 in legal fees to put a ‘cease and desist’ on this guy.

Or, as I like to think of it, the cost of a good tractor slasher.

Tread Your Own Path!