Zero Trust - uninitiated digital contact

In Edgar Allen Poes short story “The system of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” , in 1845, “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half of what you see”. Today in 2025, I will add, as a distant relative, “And absolutely nothing that shows up unsolicited in your inbox or on your cell phone”.

These days, if an email looks too real to be fake, or the timing of a phone call seems right, it might be AI doing its best impersonation of someone or some company you trust. No matter how real it appears

Heres a simple three step process to avoid issues: 

✅ Don’t click.

✅ Don’t call.

✅ Don’t reply.

Just consider any contact as a potential reminder to log into your accounts directly through official channels—the ones you already know and trust and verify whatever seems to be the urgent action of the day, whether it is renewing a magazine subscription, or reviewing your cell phone bill. I never respond to Verizon reminders to review my bill. I just log into my account and check it myself. No harm, no foul.

In this era of synthetic communication, AI Agents, and corrupt governments, the best security policy is simple:

Only trust what you initiate. Your phone calls, your emails and your own web access to your accounts.

Stay sharp out there.

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