Scammers and your professional life

When I tangled with a scammer, one thing he had done was to threaten to send emails to people that I work with. I have since corresponded with several scam victims with similar experiences.

First of all, almost all of the time, these are idle threats. The scammer has no intention of doing anything, he just wants you to think he will. For me, my approach was to take matters into my own hands and prevent him from doing this.

- Most companies have a 'block email' list. If you request this (through HR, or possibly directly to the IT department), your scammer's email address can be added to the list of email addresses that are blocked by the company. You will, of course, need to give them justification. In my case, I had a conversation with my HR contact, and she took care of it.

- Most companies will take the position that whatever happens or happened with your scammer is a personal matter, and has no bearing your job. This is no different from other personal relationships outside of work.

The only questions that my HR person needed to know was whether I had done anything illegal (no), and whether any company resources were involved (no). Once we established those, she was fully supportive, and had good suggestions.

I am based in the US, but I have heard similar positions in other countries.

Let me state again that a scammer is very unlikely to contact anyone at your workplace. They only want you to think they will.

But it gave me peace of mind to 'head him off at the pass', and take steps to make sure he couldn't.
It did mean having to tell someone at work, and trust them. Depending on your situation, this might not be easy.

I posted this to describe what I did personally, and show others what options they may have.

The simplest is to drop your scammer, and ignore him.

This tactic of blackmailing victims is usually their last ditch effort to get money out of their victims.
Dropping them completely without a single word and not confronting or daring them to do it, is usually the best tactic. They cannot physically harm you so do not believe any threat like that either. If you do not talk to them, they cannot convince you to pay them. They might as well talk to a rock.

AB had some good reasons for going to her HR, but ultimately they were not needed in her case, She took control the way she approached it. For her situation and subsequent recovery efforts, it was the right course for her, but AB is not a typical victim. Thanks for your post, AB. There can be other options, but dropping them completely takes away their control and is usually a better option for most people.

If anyone needs particular advice, please ask an Admin or Mod for help.