The now viral story of a financial advice columnist falling for a $50,000 Amazon scam has garnered bewilderment and ridicule from social media users over the last week; especially as other outlets came to her defense

Charlotte Cowles, a financial columnist for New York Magazine’s The Cut, shared her horror story of being conned out of $50,000 in an elaborate Amazon scheme last week.

“When I’ve told people this story, most of them say the same thing: You don’t seem like the type of person this would happen to. What they mean is that I’m not senile, or hysterical, or a rube. But these stereotypes are actually false,” she wrote.

Notable details of the story included speaking to a man she believed to be a CIA agent who convinced her to withdraw as much cash as she could and give it to an undercover agent the following day.

Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.