Marty’s phone rang—an unknown number. Marty grimaced, but ignored the call. Several weeks ago, Marty accidentally replied to a text asking whether he wanted to convert his American money into Bitcoin. Instead of replying “STOP,” he accidentally texted “YES.” His phone rang immediately after, and the calls had been nonstop ever since. Marty quickly realized it was a scam, but he could not get the calls to stop.
Marty took a breath and returned to staring out the window.
The phone rang a second time. The calls were relentless, Marty thought helplessly. If only he could get them to stop. Marty ignored the call.
The phone rang a third time. That’s strange, Marty thought. Maybe this wasn’t a scam? Was there a chance this call was important? Was there a chance this was an emergency? He tried to think of any possible emergencies, but he couldn’t think of any.
The phone stopped ringing.
Marty waited. What could be worth three phone calls?
The phone rang and Marty immediately answered. “Hello, Marty speaking.”
Silence on the other end and then a slight click.
“Hello, are you interested in turning your American money into Bitcoin?”