Help others to help yourself
Romeo Stevens (a) paraphrasing Lama Yeshe:
I am not telling you to help others as some sort of virtuous commandment. I am saying that from a 100% selfish standpoint you should try out focusing on the needs of others.
Try it for 3 weeks, and honestly evaluate if your life is better. If not, you never have to do it again. But it will likely be impossible not to notice how much better things go when you get in the habit of keeping a lookout for ways you can assist others in their positive goals.
No one is telling you to give up your critical faculties and be taken advantage of. And you'll find that your paranoia was unwarranted.