Blog 3708 – 01.05.2026

The Fool and His Money

As an older person I have seen and still receive many bogus communications where someone is trying fool me out of some or all of my money. Just yesterday I found in my mail box a very official looking letter regarding some property that I recently purchased. It said that I needed to send a check for $138 immediately to received deed and title documents on my recent purchase. The rub was that the address on the property was in Newton, Texas and not Bon Weir where my property is located.

I snapped a picture of the letter with my phone and texted it to my son right away and he texted me back, “Disregard it Dad. It is a scam!” Stings and scams work best when they appeal to the greed and larceny that lies within us all. Hence the scammers motto, “We only cheat the cheaters.” Two movies from my youth come to mind, The Flim Flam Man with George C. Scott and The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

We live in an age when the Con Man is King or should I say President. We the people of the United States have elected, not only once but twice, an undeniable grifter/con man who claims to be a successful businessman, but has perpetrated scheme after scheme to enrich himself at the expense of the countless people he has scammed.

Why are we so easily taken in, duped, conned, stung? The best con men and women know that they have an ally an accomplice, an inside man within us victims that admires those who have gotten rich quickly and desires to be one of them. It is greed more than anything else that disarms our natural skepticism about offers “too good to be true” like a deed to properly that we did not pay for. Really, if an offer sounds too good to be true it usually is. 

Promises and claims never meant to be fulfilled.

Why are we so easily fooled? The old adage goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

“A fool and his money are soon parted.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White

Lulu – Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby) (It’s Lulu 1969)

Lulu – Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby) (It’s Lulu 1969)