Often I get LinkedIn strangers asking to be friends. I had one today.
It showed a picture of an attractive blonde woman with almost nothing on her profile. A scam. I told her that I’d be happy to be friends but before I add people to my network I like to verify them first with a short phone call. Silence from her or him.
Why would I allow someone access to my network that I suspect may be a scammer? My community is valuable and if someone wants to be friends then they can act like one. If a phone call between friends isn’t possible, I wouldn’t call that friendship, would you?
The way I deal with scammers is to act as if it could be true. Could this person want to be my friend? It’s possible. It is more likely possible that they are a fraud and I am not going to help criminals. Everyone verifies someone. If you don’t want to be verified you don’t get the benefit.
Let me give you an example. Remember how I shared earlier that a company wanted to know my high school GPA with proof? I said something else to answer it. They turned me down for an interview which is fine. I would have turned them down. What is more interesting is that they sent me a request to give them feedback on their interview process. I think my answer gave them all the feedback they needed. If companies don’t want to give someone an interview, it is their loss, not mine.
Everyone has to prove that dealing with them has a benefit for themselves. There was no benefit that the person was offering me. Do I need more friends? No. Was she offering any hint that she was legitimate? No. An easy solution is to delete the message. I doubt she will respond again.