KAKARIKO VILLAGE, HYRULE - Over a creek bridge and up a set of stairs facing a mountain lives a village. Close to Hyrule Castle Town is the small settlement known as Kakariko Village. It isn't a big place. It only has a few houses, shops, a windmill, a graveyard, and a well. But Kakariko Village holds a major secret.
"A solitary lens with a purple frame and spikes on the end," states Kakariko resident Professor Shikashi. "That is what the lens looked like. No one knows the exact history, but The Lens of Truth is a magical and secret device. Some called it a myth. Others suspected it lost...until that fairy boy from the forest came and found it."
Link, the Hero of Time, entered the town on a mission to save Hyrule. His adventures had taken him all over the land and even across the plains of time. He was back in Kakariko searching for some magic. Shikashi spoke to Link about the lens.
"I relayed to the boy what I knew. 'A long time ago... There was a man in this very village who had an eye they said could see the truth! Now usually, you have to train your mind's eye most strenuously to actually see the truth... But this fella, no, they say he had a different way of doing things... His house stood where the well is now...'
"Strange thing is that having said this I recalled a story seven years prior where that well was drained. Some child went down the well to find something. Turns out it was a younger version of the fairy kid from Kokiri Forrest."
The learned man eventually came into contact with the Lens of Truth at a later date. He was interested in what it could see and convinced Link to allow him to use it.
"It took a lot of magical potion to keep it going, but it really did show the truth... invisible items and creatures, fake walls, and things like that. But the real value I found was that it showed scams...take a look at this inheritance scam."
Just a run of the mill one, right? Now, take a look at it using the Lens of Truth.
"How marvelous this device is. My intention is to replicate it to be able to protect Hylian consumers from the various schemes out there. The fairy boy from the forest might have saved us in more ways than one! Thanks Link, wherever you are."
Unfortunately, the Lens of Truth is not something available to identify scams to those outside of Hyrule. The lack of magic potion to power the glass plus it being a fictional device makes it impossible. However, real consumers can replicate the Lens of Truth by understanding the types of scams and red flags associated with them. Just a general knowledge of a handful of scams can go a long way in protecting people!