Top 3 Reasons Why We Fall For Scams and Frauds

Many of us are trusting by nature. We want to believe that people are who they say they are and that people are basically honest. And yes, fortunately many folks are just that. But while scammers and fraudsters have been around forever, our use of smartphones and laptops has exploded and technology has become part of the fabric of our lives and the crooks are using every trick in the book to hook you in.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

We have the power of the internet in our pocket and we use it readily. We text, we google, we post on social media. And the pandemic reinforced the power and the necessity of all this electronic communication. During the pandemic we performed our work remotely through the internet and conducted our meetings through apps like Zoom, we purchased what we needed and had it delivered, our kids attended school and we even met with our doctors through tele-med visits.

But as advantageous as all this has been for us, it has also brought us peril. Scams and fraud are everywhere and they are costing us money and bringing us anxiety. So why are they so successful? Here are a few of the reasons:

Image by Martine from Pixabay

Reason Number 1 -- The Scammers Get Our Emotions Rolling

Most typically, successful scams take advantage of our emotions. They tell us we have won something and our excitement kicks in. Or they tell us we have an urgent problem with dire consequences unless we take immediate action and our anxiety takes over.

They may tell you that you've won a great deal of money and all you have to do is prepay some administrative fees. You focus on winning that big prize or sweepstakes and get swept away.

Or they may call and tell you a relative is in jail or being held hostage and they need you to wire money or send gift cards ASAP to help them out of the tight situation. The urgency is reinforced and they hope you become more worried about your relative than concerned about checking out the real facts.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

And then if we do get sucked in to a scam or a fraud, a whole new set of emotions kicks in.

1. First we panic. Oh no, what just happened? Did I just lose a whole lot of money? Can they really lock out my computer or hold it hostage?

2. Then, embarrassment sets in. I don't want to tell my family or friends because they will think I'm stupid or a sucker. (Scammers are counting on this one because the more isolated they make you feel, the more they can manipulate you.)

3. Then, we may panic some more and compound one poor choice with another, further slipping into the fraudster's clutches.

Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay

Reason Number 2 -- We're Too Busy to Verify

Let's be real -- in today's world we lead very busy lives and often don't have enough time to check things out and verify before we act. We receive lots and lots of emails and texts and routinely open these messages without so much as a second thought.

So what happens, we mindlessly click on something that is questionable and then the scammer knows they have a live one. Typically, they know all the techniques to overcome any insignificant concerns you may have and they use all the tricks in their bag to help you "overlook" slight inconsistencies that might otherwise alert you.

And hey, they count on the fact that we are routinely doing business over the internet with well known companies like Amazon, Pay Pal, UPS, Walmart or maybe CVS. The fraudulent emails can look pretty darn legit. So we click away and get sucked down the rabbit hole.

Watch for a blog post coming soon that will show you a few quick tips to verify if a email message is legitimate or fake.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Number 3 -- The Scammers Are Getting Better At Fooling Us

And this one is huge! The scammers are always improving their techniques so it has become harder and harder to tell when it's a scam or fraud. They make emails look oh so convincingly like well recognized companies such as Amazon or Netflix. And through the use of data brokers and plain old hacking, they are gathering sufficient information to convince us that they are legit or are alternatively using our gleaned information to line their pockets without us even knowing until it is very late in the game.

So What Do We Do To Protect Ourselves?

You've just taken the single most important first step which is starting to educate yourself about the inherent dangers of today's technology so that you can take back your power. The more you learn about how to recognize scams and fraud, the better you can defend yourself against the ever evolving schemes to separate you from your money.

So keep reading and learn as much as you can. We will begin with blog posts first. Periodically, resources will be linked which will have important tools or enhanced information ,all designed to help you fight back against scams and fraud.