The Scam That Almost Fooled Me — And the Leadership Framework That Saved Me
A sophisticated scam call revealed how easily urgency and authority can short-circuit judgment—and why modern leaders need signal literacy to navigate complexity.
One morning last week, I received the most convincing scam call of my life.
I’m not naïve. I’m not careless. But this one was engineered with psychological precision.
It began with rapid-fire calls from different numbers. When I finally answered, the caller claimed to be a JPMorgan fraud investigator. He had a case number, an employee ID, a plausible incident, and a narrative designed to hit emotional circuitry fast:
a credit card opened in my name, and nearly $3,000 in firearms purchased.
He even gave me a credit card number, which I would soon find out used a set of numbers that is commonly used by scammers.
After asking me to write his information down, he transferred me to an “NYPD officer” who provided her name, precinct, and badge ID. She then offered to take my recorded statement. And she made one thing very clear:
It had to be one-on-one. No one else present. No verification calls. No second opinion.
That was a big tell.
Then she asked me to connect with her on a video call at an outlook.com address.
When I pressed for clarification, the urgency escalated. The emotional pressure sharpened.
"Are you telling me that you are a police officer and that you will not provide me with your NYPD email?"
"Yes, that is correct," she said.
I hung up and called the real NYPD—using the number on their actual website. They confirmed calmly and quickly: “A scam. We get these constantly.”
But that wasn’t the end of the story. The real insight came after.
Urgency Is a System. And It Works.
Scams today rarely begin with “send us money.”
They begin with:
- manufactured responsibility
- implied danger
- false urgency
- isolation as a tactic
They weaponize your desire to do the right thing. They compress your decision tree until you stop thinking critically.
This is about more than just about fraud prevention: It’s about the way modern systems — corporate, political, digital — create noise that overwhelms signal.
People don’t fall for scams because they’re unintelligent. They fall for scams because the context is engineered to suspend judgment.
The Core Problem: The Illusion of Legitimacy Is Evolving
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
People didn’t get worse. The scams got better. The environment changed.
Signals that used to reliably indicate legitimacy — case numbers, badge IDs, specific details — are now trivially easy to fake. Scammers know:
- urgency overwhelms deliberation
- authority tones suppress questioning
- isolation collapses optionality
- complexity creates compliance
In leadership, the same dynamics show up in different clothing.
- manufactured urgency
- unverifiable claims
- unclear authority
- pressure to decide without daylight
- environments that discourage second opinions
The mechanics are identical.
The stakes are just different.
Field Story: The Turning Point
For me, the moment that broke the spell wasn’t the firearms claim.
It wasn’t the badge number.
It wasn’t the NYPD transfer.
It was the email address.
A personal Outlook account.
That tiny inconsistency snapped the frame. And once the frame breaks, clarity floods in.
And when I began asking questions, the scammer became increasingly frustrated and angry.
In fact, when I spoke with a real NYPD officer, she confirmed that not only is it illegal for NYCPD officers to use personal email addresses for police work, but that scammers will go as far as actually pretend to have your information and read it back incorrectly - even sensitive information like SSNs - to trick pepole into giving them real information.
That’s the power of signal literacy.
The Framework: Signal Literacy for Modern Leaders
I didn’t avoid this scam because I’m clever. I avoided it because I subconsciously followed a set of diagnostic moves I rely on in high-noise organizational environments.
Move 1 — Anchor to Verified Sources
Scammers (and dysfunctional systems) demand you use their communication channel. But you have a right and obligation to make sure that you trust the channel.
If they contact you, assume it’s fake until proven otherwise.
Move 2 — Evaluate the Emotional Tone
Pressure is data.
Urgency is data.
Isolation is data.
Trustworthy individuals and institutions encourage genuine verification.
Manipulators do not.
Move 3 — Break the Frame
When you feel the walls closing in, step out of the channel entirely.
Hang up.
Call the institution’s real number.
Reintroduce optionality.
Practical Application
Here’s the exact framework I teach my family — and frankly, senior leaders as well:
- If they initiate the contact, treat it as unverified.
- Real institutions never demand secrecy or isolation.
- Verify using an external channel you control.
- Urgency is a tactic—slow the tempo deliberately.
- Trusted systems encourage a second opinion.
Before / After
| Situation | Low-Signal Reaction | High-Signal Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Caller provides badge ID | Accept as proof | Verify externally |
| Caller pressures immediacy | Respond quickly | Slow the tempo |
| Caller discourages verification | Comply | Hang up / change channel |
| Caller claims danger | React emotionally | Re-anchor to facts |
This applies just as cleanly to decision escalations, executive communication, stakeholder misalignment, vendor pressure, and crisis leadership.
Signal literacy scales.
Key Takeaways
- Clarity is a defensive system. It protects judgment when urgency tries to collapse it. But we must protect it.
- Verification is a leadership habit. Not a sign of distrust, but of professionalism.
- Isolation is a manipulation tactic. Trustworthy systems never require it.
- Pressure is a signal, not a command. Treat it as data, not direction.
- Real authority tolerates scrutiny. Untrustworthy authority demands obedience.
If this resonates — or if you want to build decision systems that make your organization scam-proof in the metaphorical sense — let’s talk →.