Lie To Me, Make Your Own Bed, And Lie In That, Too

I work at a company that specializes in security, and among the things we’re known for is teaching companies how to thwart social engineering attacks.

A coworker has been getting phone calls all morning. Eventually, my boss, who has a very common name (let’s say it’s Smith), overhears:

Coworker: “I’m sorry, Mr. Smith left the building again already.”

Boss: *After the call ends* “What was that? Who wants to talk to me?”

Coworker: “A scammer.”

Boss: “How do you know he’s a scammer?”

Coworker: “Because he told me he’s a friend of ‘Mr. Smith’, and I asked him whether he wanted to talk to Mr. Herbert Smith or Mr. Peter Smith. He guessed Herbert.”

The boss’s name is Thomas, and we have neither a Herbert Smith nor a Peter Smith in the company. (All names have been changed to protect the people laughing their rears off, of course.)

Boss: “For how long has this been going?”

Coworker: “Since about 8:00. It’s now 11:00, and I want to see how long I can send him around in circles.”

Boss: *In the best fake-indignant tone he can muster* “I should tell you to stop that immediately. You do know very well that we sell training on how to stall and frustrate scammers, and you’re giving that lesson to that guy for free. No, wait, keep going, but take notes; we’ll use that in the next customer training.”

It took the scammer until 2:00 pm, with increasingly ridiculous excuses for why Herb Smith had juuuuuust left the office again, before he stopped calling.