I am serious, it is funny how we grew up with a motherly chorus of simple, timeless wisdom. “Don’t talk to strangers,” “Don’t eat what strangers give you,” and the classic, “If you’re lost in a fair, stay where you are.” It was the holy trinity of survival in 90s, right up there with “Don’t sit too close to the TV, it will spoil your eyes” and “Oil your hair for growth.”
We all heard them. We all ignored them. One survived because strangers back then didn’t come equipped with high-speed internet, deepfake smiles, or SMSs offering “FREE credit card upgrades.” and anyway one deligently followed the ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ guidelines.
However, today, even the most educated, connected and self-proclaimed smartest generation of all time is falling face-first into phishing and other scams that even our grandmothers would’ve side-stepped with caution.
The same digital-savvy generation that cracked AI, decoded genomes and made billion-dollar startups can’t resist clicking on a random link promising a “Limited Time Offer: Gold Visa for 0% interest.” Really, what have they been smoking?
Welcome to the Digital Fairground
If you let your limited imagination work overtime, you can think of your phone as the new fairground. The shiny banners, the loud announcements, the too-good-to-be-true games. “Click here for cashback!” “Exclusive pre-approved offer just for YOU!” the tempting candies in front of a salivating toddlers who keep wandering off, ignoring Mom’s voice echoing in the background;- Beta, don’t trust, don’t go with strangers.
The warnings today are eerily familiar, just better worded and attached to official-looking notifications:
- Avoid downloading APK files from untrusted sources.
Translation: Don’t take food from strangers. - Don’t click on unknown links or offers promising unrealistic benefits.
Translation: Don’t go chasing candy trails. - Never share your OTP or password.
Translation: Don’t tell the nice uncle your home address. Don’t Talk to Strangers - Keep your device updated.
Translation: Comb your hair, brush your teeth, and stay hygienic.
And yet, despite this digital reincarnation of Mom’s wisdom, people still fall for scams. Why?
The Psychology of “I Know, But Still…”
It’s simple, deep down, we’re that overconfident kid who thinks, “Nothing will happen to me.”
Part of it is greed. We believe we’re smarter than the scammer. “I’ll just see what this is all about, and I won’t actually share my OTP.” Famous last words before the account balance takes a cliff dive.
Then there’s curiosity. The same instinct that made us press random buttons in childhood now makes us tap links that say “Check if you’ve won ₹5,000 cashback.”
And let’s not forget adrenaline. There’s a weird thrill in danger. It is a digital version of walking into a haunted house or playing the innocuous dare-or-truth game at a granny’s 80th birthday party. “Maybe this time it’s real.” The truth we only realise later – it’s not.
Oh, and trust. The soft, gullible kind. A stranger calls with perfect English and a polite tone, and suddenly your brain forgets that the person on the other end isn’t your “relationship manager” but someone managing a cybercrime syndicate from a rented flat in Jamtara. .
The Smart Idiots
What’s baffling is that we now have access to more knowledge than any generation before us. We have firewalls, antivirus software, cybersecurity webinars, and enough “scam alert” reels on Instagram to fill a short film festival.
Yet, when that one shiny message pops up with “Congratulations! You’ve won an iPhone 15 Pro!”, our evolved brains short-circuit. Logic takes a coffee break, and the inner fool takes the wheel.
We seem to have forgotten the Don’t Talk to Strangers guidelines. We don’t just talk to strangers, we invite them in, give them tea, offer our Aadhaar number, and hand over the OTP before asking, “Are you sure you’re from the bank?”
Mummy Was Right (Again)
It’s ironic. The same advice that once came from a mother in a faded cotton saree is now being blasted out by banks, cybersecurity experts, and tech giants. The message hasn’t changed; only the medium and the context have.
Back then, it was about avoiding physical danger. Now, it’s digital. The fairground has moved online, the candy is now cashback, and the stranger doesn’t have a creepy Mustache, maybe the stranger has a verified blue tick and possibly is a woman too.
The Tragic Comedy of Modern Intelligence
So why do we keep falling? Because technology evolves faster than wisdom. And perhaps, because deep down, every human secretly believes they can outsmart fate.
We scroll through cautionary tales of phishing scams with a smug laugh until one day it’s our turn. Suddenly, we’re the headline: “Marketing Professional Duped of ₹2.3 Lakh After Downloading Fake App.”
Mom warned us. The banks warned us. Even the phone warns us every time we install something new. Yet, the modern Homo sapiens armed with 5G, ChatGPT, and Google manages to lose to the oldest trick in the book: trusting strangers and believing in the existence of free lunch.
So maybe it’s time we admit it: we didn’t grow wiser with technology, we just discovered newer and fancier ways to demonstrate our stupidity.
Somewhere, a mom reading such an act of stupidity, gives a ‘I told you so’ smile and looks up to, muttering- why, why this?
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