What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?
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My answer may sound strange.
It was the moment I clicked a scam link, entered the requested information, and even shared the OTP that arrived on my phone.
Yes, I did it.
And what makes the story even more embarrassing is that I am not someone unfamiliar with technology or online fraud. I have considerable knowledge of cybersecurity. I know about phishing links, fraudulent messages, fake prizes, suspicious websites, OTP theft and social engineering. I have probably advised others many times: Never share your OTP with anyone.
Yet, when my own moment came, all that knowledge somehow disappeared.
The bait was a big prize.
For a few foolish minutes, excitement became stronger than experience. Somewhere inside me, perhaps there was that little voice saying, “What if this is genuine? What if, this time, I really have won?”
I clicked.
I followed the instructions.
And, unbelievably, I shared the OTP.
By the time reality returned, it was too late.
The financial loss was very high.
I stared at what had happened and could hardly believe it. I had not merely fallen for a scam. I had walked into it while carrying all the knowledge that should have prevented me from doing so.
At that moment, I felt like the biggest fool in the world.
Strangely, however, it was also one of those moments when I felt truly alive.
Why?
Because suddenly I was confronted with my own humanity.
We sometimes reach a stage in life when experience gives us confidence. We believe we have seen enough, learned enough and become wise enough to recognize danger before it reaches us. We warn younger people about mistakes. We tell others to think carefully. We believe certain foolish things happen to “other people.”
Then life smiles and says, “Your turn.”
My turn was expensive.
Very expensive.
My first reaction was not to tell everyone what had happened. I chose silence. Partly because I knew what people would ask:
“How could you fall for that?”
That was exactly the question I was already asking myself.
So I hid my embarrassment. I did not want sympathy, lectures or the painful amusement of people wondering how someone who understood cybersecurity could hand over an OTP to a scammer.
Perhaps silence was my way of protecting what remained of my dignity.
But with time, I began seeing the experience differently.
That mistake reminded me that being knowledgeable does not make anyone invincible. Intelligence does not cancel emotion. Experience does not completely remove temptation. And expertise does not prevent a human being from having one spectacularly foolish moment.
I lost money, but I gained a rather uncomfortable lesson in humility.
Today, I can look back and almost smile—not because the loss was insignificant, because it certainly was not, but because the incident stripped away the illusion that I could never be fooled.
I was fooled.
Completely.
And perhaps that was the moment I realized I was still very much alive—still capable of excitement, temptation, error, embarrassment, regret and, eventually, laughter at myself.
Sometimes feeling truly alive does not come from climbing a mountain or winning a great prize.
Sometimes it comes from discovering, at considerable expense, that despite all our knowledge and experience, we remain wonderfully, painfully human.
And yes, occasionally, the biggest fool in the world.
Saviour Shanthalal Hettiarachchi
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