From November till the first of the year my email inbox and text folder was swamped by scammers, hackers, cons, crooks and thieves.

I had never been so deluged with n’er do wells trying to get ahold of my money.

For seven consecutive days I received an email from someone calling themselves a bank telling me that my account was being pillaged by maruaders.

I called the bank in question, which is the bank I have dealt with for years, to find out whether or not I was suddenly broke. The Customer Service representative was courteous and helpful and after checking out my account activity reassured me that all was OK. My money was still safe.

Whew! When I asked the representative what was going on with all the emails that were supposedly being sent by the bank, the rep told me that many of the bank’s clients had called and complained about the same thing. For some reason it wasn’t very comforting knowing that I wasn’t the only one being invaded.

When I asked the rep what to do the response was basically, “Don’t open any emails you suspect. It could lead to unleashing all sorts of digital creatures on your bank records.”

Jeez. Then the rep said, “Same thing with texts. Don’t open up any if you are unsure where they came from. Your phone could be put in jeopardy.”

Terrifiic. Since no one actually answers their phones anymore when you call, we are at the mercy of emails and texts to communicate. Take those away and what are we left with? Back to two tin cans and a piece of twine between them?

Now every time I open up my email I automatically delete any email whose source I don’t recognize or have the slightest suspicion about who at the other end sent it. The same goes for texts.

So if you’re trying to get in touch with me, or attempting to market a product or service I could actually use and you’re using email or text as marketing media all I can say is, “Good luck.”

If you want to talk to me just give me a call or try the good old magazine or TV commercial approach. You might be a great business or company but if I don’t know your name I’ll never get to see your message.