Hey. It’s me, Jess. It’s been a minute since I posted a meta story but this is important, so stick with me.
About a year ago, maybe more, some bad guys got hold of a list of Daily Kos staffers’ cell numbers. Don’t ask me how, because nobody has figured it out yet. Every so often they spoof numbers from The Powers That Be—the top, top, top folks on the org chart—and attempt to engage. If they get far enough with it (typically before an all-staff warning goes out), they’ll ask said staffer to get a bunch of gift cards, for Amazon, Apple, Outback Steakhouse, Fortnite, whatever, to help them out with a client. We, and pretty much anyone reading this, know that’s The Big No-No Red Flag. It’s as ubiquitous as the prince you’ve never heard of leaving you a 10-figure inheritance—so long as you just send your bank account info first.
Ever heard of The Grandparents Scam? My ex-boyfriend’s PawPaw almost fell for it nearly a decade ago. A cop called him and claimed my then-guy had been arrested near our home in California—but since this here cop was a good guy and didn’t want to ruin his life, he’d let him go for the small price of $5,000 in Walmart gift cards—just don’t call your grandson, okay? Or his parents, or his siblings. Sweet PawPaw, who doesn’t have a cell phone and lives in the Appalachian part of our home state of Ohio, was on his way out the door when Meemaw expressed doubt, based on a story she’d seen on the news.
“He didn’t say you couldn’t call Jessica,” Meemaw wisely advised.
And so we were able to nip it in the bud. When Pawpaw called me, his very much un-arrested grandson had just left the house for work, right after we’d enjoyed a nice breakfast together.
Why am I telling you all this? Because on Monday, staffers reported yet another phishing scam, and a companywide announcement went out. But late Tuesday, a member of the Daily Kos Community informed me they were targeted—and this person didn’t get the companywide memo, so it went a bit further than any of us would’ve liked before said Community member’s spidey senses gave it the “hell no-block number” one-two punch.
So I just need to say this, and not much more, y’all: Daily Kos Staff will never, ever, EVER reach out to you via an unsolicited text. And we will never ask you to get gift cards for anyone. Full fucking stop.
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