[Short #67] Mom Gets Involved
Asking for help in Web3
For those that missed yesterday’s post: I’m assembling an all-star team of Web3 Writers. If that’s you, hit me up! If you know someone that’d be a great fit, hit me up! If you are neither, keep this ask in your back pocket.
Ok, I had too much fun with that one. Anyway…
I’m telling Mom
There’s a lot of great work being done in Web3, but as we all know, there are also a lot of scams and nefarious activity too.
I came across this tweet thread a couple days ago.
Threads exposing scammers is becoming a common Twitter topic. But one involving the scammer’s mom? Now that’s juicy 🍑
So what happened?
There was a user making trades in the Gutter Cat Gang (NFT project) Discord server and scamming people by paying 1ETH as upfront payment first, and getting the NFT, then ghosting the other party.
The scammer kept changing their user name to cover their tracks. However, someone found that one of these aliases won a raffle in a different server and the sleuths started to triangulate the scammer’s IP address and location.
The server that held the raffle withheld the prize until the scammer returned the stolen NFTs. It seemed to work but the scammer disappeared again.
As the saga continued, another community member reached out saying that they had traded with the scammer before and had their Cash App handle. That info combined with their location data helped the group to find the scammer’s social media accounts.
The victim put the clues together and contacted the scammer’s family and friends. What really gained traction was the conversation with the scammer’s Mom. The Mom and the victim actually got on a call and she paid him back (in turn, the scammer paid his mom back).
WOW. To put this in a visual…
This won’t turn into a Netflix documentary, but it’s pretty remarkable what teamwork can do. In @Shaman4646’s words:
As I’ve spent the past few months active in Web3,
I’ve met people from a variety of backgrounds. It’s been such a pleasure hearing about everyone’s work experiences, skill sets, and stories of how they ended up in the world of Web3.
And as someone that went through the typical path of college —> corporate/tech job —> more corporate/tech jobs…my network has been pretty strong but to be honest, a little stale. (I love you all! But that’s sort of the truth. It’s not you, it’s me.)
However, I’ve met and am continuing to meet so many interesting folks. Other marketers, artists, lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs, you name it. ‘How did you get into this space?’ is a cliche question, but always entertaining because there’s so many common threads and at the same time unique anecdotes.
And as I’m building out the Web3 Writers Collective, I’m meeting people who are _________, and writers. For example, many of you probably just think of me as a writer. That’s totally fair — I’ve only crawled out of my digital presence shell after I decided enter this space in earnest.
AND…I’m a Growth/Marketing leader that has worked on pretty much all digital marketing channels (paid, social, organic, growth product, etc.) at Web2 tech companies large and small, and still understands that world intimately. If I didn’t have a decade of this experience, this newsletter would be your ho hum ‘what’s going on crypto space’ with some links. And I would have 3 subscribers instead of the 10 I have now. Thank you, all 10 of you, for reading this. I’ll be sending you 1ETH each later today for your support.
When it comes to asking for help, it’s been great to dig into this newfound network for help. Most people in this space:
Are willing to help. And if they can’t help, they’ll point you in the right direction to other people or resources.
Understand the importance of long term relationships. You might be helping someone and not expect something in return. Down the road, you might need their help in the future and they’d gladly return the favor. Or maybe they’ll bring you in on a future business opportunity.
Are open to being mentors. There is an art to finding and asking others to be a mentor (tip: don’t say the word mentor), but if there is a healthy connection, people would be more than happy to say yes!
Have an entrepreneurial mindset, even if they aren’t builders themselves. No one will feed you with a silver spoon in Web3. But if you seize this window opportunity and put in some (blood,) sweat, (and tears), you’ll be duly rewarded.
I hope I never get scammed, but I know if I do, there will be a group of online (and some I’ve met IRL) friends who have my back. I have theirs too.
See you next week. Don’t forget to check your back pocket every now and then 😉
You have my axe
I’ll be sending you 1ETH each later today for your support.
Thanks, where do I submit my address?