Scammers have been taking advantage of people for centuries. But modern technology affords scammers the capability to expand their reach to many, many people. In fact, modern scamming is a numbers game. With the ability to make thousands, if not millions, of robocalls a day, or emails, or text messages, even if the percentage of those who respond is tiny, a scammer can make a good living at our expense.
AARP, the organization that represents the interests of
older people, together with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA),
who makes sure the broker-dealer industry operates fairly and honestly, recently
issued a report based on a study that they conducted that looked into why some
people become chronic victims of fraud.
Scammers want to get you emotional so that you act
without thinking and so that they can more easily control your actions. It is called
going under the “ether.” And a person’s life situation can make it easier for
the scammers.
The AARP/FINRA study found situational factors that
can set the stage for someone to be victimized by a scammer. The study classified
the situational factors into three categories,
·
Circumstances- such as losing a job, losing
a family member to death or divorce, financial insecurity, being isolated from
family and friends, or experiencing mobility issues/needing to rely on others.
·
Victim Characteristics- such as feeling
depressed, a lack of a sense of purpose, feeling unseen or lonely, physical/mental
health changes/degradation, having/feeling a need to atone for past wrongs,
feeling impulsive, overly trusting of others, experiencing a history of abuse,
lacking knowledge of scams.
·
Biases- such as judging a decision based on
its outcome, listening to information that confirms preconceptions, overestimating
the importance of information that is available, relying more heavily on the
first piece of information offered, failing to recognize one’s own biases.
Playing on situational factors are three elements that
bring the scam/fraud into action,
·
Triggers- kick start the fraud, plays on
the situational factors, and brings on an emotional response. The scammer seeks
to activate a trigger to put the victim into action. Some triggers can include
an urgent call for help, a perceived imminent danger to a family member, friend
or home, romantic seduction, financial insecurity, building trust (in the
scammer), a promise of a windfall, establishing a sense of scarcity, preying on
a desire to do good.
·
Motivations- motivations are the
underlying need or needs that a fraud victim wants to fulfill. A motivation is
often a direct result of situational factors. Motivations can include a need to
be cared about, need to be helpful, a need to be in control, a need to protect
the family.
·
Ability- This is the capacity of the
victim to follow through with a scam. A key is access to funds. There are
drivers and barriers to ability.
o
Drivers include access to funds, abundance
of time, trust (in the scammer), cognitive impairment, denial (that there is a
scam).
o
Barriers include inaccessible money, inaccessibility
to the fraudster, intervention by others, confusion, skepticism, distrust (of
the scammer), worry about social judgement.
How to interrupt or stop scammers from being
successful is a question that law enforcement and consumer protection
professionals have been seeking answers to. Public education is a first effort.
If the public knows about the existence of scams, then they will hang up, not click
on a link, or not call a phone number the scammer gives them. Most people stay
away from these scams. However, scamming is still a lucrative crime.
Chronic victims may need more personal help. Scammers
do develop lead lists of people who are most likely to send money or give
personal information. This makes it more difficult to break the pattern with
scammers coming back for more.
Helping potential chronic victims avoid scams may be
most effective from people they know and trust. Letting family members,
friends, and neighbors know that scams exist, that scammers want to get victims
emotional and that they take advantage of the events in the news, our greed, and
our need to protect ourselves and our families can help in the long term.
If a family member or a friend is engaged with a
scammer there are things that you can do to help them out of the situation.
AARP recommends when talking to someone about the scam that you use language
that empowers not shames. Shaming words, like “fell for it,” “duped,” “how
could you,” places the blame on the victim not on the criminal. Someone in the
position of being scammed will be sensitive to criticism and may be quiet about
being scammed if they are shamed.
Finding a way to help your family member or friend to
hold the scammer accountable can help them with their self-esteem, confidence,
and sense of self-worth. This in turn shows a way out of the scam. Ultimate
accountability may be difficult. But reporting the incident to an agency such
as local law enforcement, the Washington State Attorney
General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission, or the FBI can give the
victim a sense that they have done something.
If money was sent to the scammer, act quickly to attempt
to recover the funds. If gift cards were used, contact the store where they
were purchased to see if any funds could be recovered. If funds were taken out
of a bank account, talk to the bank.
Even if you cannot recover any money, reporting the
scam to authorities helps law enforcement collect the evidence it needs to
eventually stop the scammers. And you and your family member or friend can
break the contact with the scammer.
AARP The Perfect Scam podcast, Scammer Recruits Grandmother to Launder Money in Romance Scam- This podcast episode is an excellent example of what the report is talking about. A wife has to put her husband with dementia into a nursing home then finds being at home to be a lonely experience. Then she meets Mark online who subtly and patiently reels her into a romance/money mule scam. See how her family helped her out of this scam.
https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2020/romance-scam-grandmother.html.
AARP Study- Addressing the Challenge of Chronic Fraud
Victimization:
AARP Fraud Watch Network:
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/
Washington State Attorney General’s Office:
https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint
Federal Trade Commission:
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
FBI- Internet Crime Complaint Center:
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