ABOUT THAT VIRAL $50,000 SCAM STORY: I Have Questions.

• Why was Cowles chosen as a target in the first place? Normally, scammers hook a person first, and then get that person to provide their details to them. But the scammers seem to have known a lot about Cowles from the start — including that she had a small child. How? And why choose her? She’s a financial journalist. Wouldn’t she be the worst person in the worldto do this to? The scammers seemed relatively sophisticated. Why did they select someone who presumably has a bunch of high-level contacts?

• Why would the scammers be so keen to get physically near to Cowles? Scammers usually hope to stay as far away from their marks as possible. Had Cowles called the police and had them set up a sting, the game would have been up when the scammer’s car pulled up and accepted the cash. Why take that risk?

It is possible — likely, in fact — that the ultimate answer to all of these questions is that Cowles is profoundly stupid. Or, to invert Cowles’s own words: It is possible that she got scammed because she is, in fact, “hysterical, or a rube.” If so, she has no business being a financial-advice columnist, whose sole professional role is to advise others about money. And if not? Well, then she’s giving Jussie Smollett a run for his money.

Otherwise, the story places Cowles in an even worse light:

When people say “experts say” they mean a person like this https://t.co/eEydpIHjFO

— Daniel (@growing_daniel) February 16, 2024

Responding to Cowles’ debacle, Jim Treacher asks: Maybe Our Elites Aren’t So Elite?