The Three Questions
One test for anything that reaches you: a call, a text, an email, a knock at the door. Print it for the fridge, keep it on your phone, and send it to someone you'd rather not see caught out.
Before you do anything
- 1.Did I start this?
- 2.Is it pushing me to hurry — or to keep it quiet?
- 3.Does it want money, codes, or access?
One yes is enough. You are not trying to work out whether it is genuine. You are trying to leave. Say it:
“I don't do this on the phone. I'll call the number on my card.”
Then call the number printed on your card or statement, never one they give you.
Why questions, not a list of scams
Lists of scams are out of date before they are printed. Underneath, every one has the same shape: something reaches you that you didn't start, it hurries you or asks you to keep quiet, and it wants money, a code or a way in. The three questions test for the shape, so they work on the ones nobody has named yet.
People who get caught are not careless. The people doing this are professionals who have had the same conversation hundreds of times. The questions are for the moment you are busy, tired or worried about someone.
Email me the card
So it's on your phone when you need it. After that, now and then, a short note with one idea in it. Unsubscribe any time.
The rest of it
And a place to write it down
The Safety Record is the book this card comes from: what eight everyday approaches sound like and the sentence that ends each one, about three hours of one-time settings that take most of this off the table, what to do in the first hour if it already happened, and thirteen pages to fill in with your own real numbers before you need them.
See The Safety RecordWant printed cards for a library, credit union, senior centre or funeral home? Get in touch.
