There are actually a lot of signs that warn you that someone is trying to scam you. Scammers, identity thieves and other criminals use a lot of psychology and sociology to try to trick you into giving up your info, ID and/or money. The things listed in this article will help you, but keep in mind some legitimate contacts will start out this way, too, so you'll need to keep your wits about you to separate the two!
On the fringes of cons are sometimes well-intentioned people in multi-level/network marketing positions who've bought into the whole dream that was sold to them by their sponsor. I've been an MLM initiate (a few times - sigh), so I know all too well how compelling the dream-sellers can be. Stay away unless you've got tons of grit and are really good at selling what are, at best, overpriced products and services or, at worst, are a complete rip-off. In addition to these are people in PR and marketing - some of them think they're doing what is right because they've bought into the belief that "business ethics" are okay. Con artists tend to be machiavellian, at best, and uncaring, if not psychopathic about the damage they do, at worst.
Who They Target
Con artists often choose specific people or groups of people for cons, depending on their mode of operation and goals. They target those with mental illness, the desperately ill, the very young and naive, and the very old and forgetful, and they usually don't care if they ruin your life in the process. Some specialize on preying on elderly people who are often technologically not savvy, suffer from dementia/Alzheimers, are lonely, and so on. Others go after people struggling with debt (most of us) by offering a magical solution to get lots of money easily and quickly (that doesn't work out). Some look at everyone from certain countries as being astronomically rich, so they believe they can't possibly ruin you financially by tricking you into sending them a lot of money. Some salespeople will actually date multiple customers of theirs so that the customers fall in love with them, then manipulate them into buying expensive products, ultimately just to dump them after they've gotten a big bonus check.
Some target the rich and powerful, like Ponzi and Madoff did.
Other times, cons are so generic that they are attempted on just about everyone, especially when technology is used to find "easy marks" for the con. If all you have to do is run a program and it finds you hundreds, thousands or more victims in a matter of hours or days, you don't have to be picky - you just have to rake in the money. Cons run from overseas, spoofing local addresses and phone numbers, with special software for robocalling and so on are very popular ways to indiscriminately find victims.
Many people fall for it - even experts. Use the signs of a scam to help you identify a potential con. Here's an example of a long and short con perpetrated against members of the Air Force while on duty.
What They Use Against You
Aside from infirmities, weaknesses, inexperience and other problems, con artists use hope, fear, loneliness, selfishness, confusion, greed, compassion, vanity and so on to prey on others.
They also look online for any information they can find, from blogs, vlogs, social media and dark websites. Some have access to private databases (illegally or legally through legit jobs), too.
Once a con artist has manipulated you into trusting them, which often involves conforming their behavior to what you think of as most trustworthy, be it through extreme politeness, kindness and generosity, or behaving like a rebel, a troubled person, a victim, a vet (military) or an authority figure, they then work towards their goal: getting your money and/or your personal information.
Duration of a Con
Durations are roughly divided into short and long cons. A short con can take mere seconds to days, whereas a long con takes days, weeks or even years. The majority of cons are short because, although the profits are lower, the risk is also lower. Major, long-term cons have a much greater pay-off but the risk of exposure and capture are much greater because the con artist cannot as quickly and easily disappear. This is why we hear more about them in the news - these people are either in the spotlight or dealing with the very wealthy and powerful, such as Bernie Madoff, Enron, Andersen, Lehman Brothers, Cendant, Refco/MF Global, Worldcom, Fannie Mae, HealthSouth, Tyco International, Qwest Communications, Jack Abramoff and many other government con artists and other criminals.
Cons can be performed with both short and long aspects to them, performed one after the other, concurrently, consecutively or overlapping.
Tools of the Trade
Phones and the Internet are now probably the most popular way to commit fraud, and computers are often used with sophisticated software.
Written statements from government agencies are easier to identify as real, plus they give authorities a way to track down the criminals, so they're less likely to be used - but it does happen. Criminals generally want a fast in and out approach, minimizing the risk of tracking, instead of something that leaves a physical trace. This doesn't mean it'll never happen, though - counterfeiting anything from a letter or ID to an entire website is big business for criminals - and long cons usually require things like this.
You can be conned anywhere and at any time. That means that face-to-face communication, phone calls, text messages, mail, email, images, business cards, brochures, newsletters and pretty much anything else can be used to perpetrate a scam. In other words, they will use any form of communication - even in person, non-verbally through a costume, physical appearance, faking a disability, talking or behaving strangely and more. Sometimes, timing is extremely important, and plays a significant role in the success of the con, while other times it just happens to be that you are at the right place at the right time for the con artist. Some con artists specialize in tailoring the entire presentation of their scam to a particular person's weaknesses (such as a handsome man, greed, or arrogance). They might rent a fancy house, a luxury car, set up a fake business in a temporarily rented office space, take you on a business trip, or seduce you. The one thing that you can bet on is, if you are THE target, they know just about everything there is to know about you (especially if you have an online presence).
A lot of scams are committed via phone calls, but some come as SMS (text) messages, email, mailed letters and even visits to your home or business. With advanced computer software, it has become easier and easier to call/write to thousands or even millions of people a day, using spoofed email addresses and phone numbers, or even hacked online accounts. Combine that with the malware (malicious software) designed to infect, reveal, steal and raid, the profits of which dwarf the combined profits of all the anti-malware companies, and authorities are facing a major problem.
Anything, in other words, can be used to help make a scam successful.
Symptoms of a Scam
The following list gives you some of the most cues of common scams around and I hope it'll make you more conscious and careful.
- Mis-spellings and poor grammar in the body of the letter (e.g. "I realizes that your not going to believe this")
- Appeals to faith (e.g. "As a fellow member of our religion,") or emotions (e.g. "If we don't act now, they may take over!")
- Just because a call or email seems to be from a number or email address you know or believe you can trust doesn't mean it is. Exert caution because computer hackers and phrackers can "spoof" a phone number or email address. If you know how, the original email (before it's been beautified by your browser) can give you clues as to where it really came from.
- If you didn't write to them first, sign up on their website or otherwise ask them to contact you BEFORE they called or wrote, and ESPECIALLY if they claim they're responding to your request, it's a 99.9% certain to be a scam.
- Popular scam topics:
- student loan forgiveness (I've never had one and yet they keep calling me!)
- car warranty (I've never had one of these and I was getting calls when I didn't have a vehicle, either!)
- a free vacation (oh, the places I'd have seen if only I could trust these con artists!)
- the IRS or the FBI threatening legal action or imprisonment (they never do this!)
- someone claiming to be your relative or friend, speaking quickly, talking about an urgent matter and trying to get you to give them sensitive info as quickly as possible or asking for money desperately
- the SSA or other government agency calling (they will never ask you for confidential info or money if they call you)
- disaster relief donations (you should be seeking them out)
- requests for gift cards with a monetary value, wire transfers, and cash for payments, (it's hard to trace them, especially if the criminal is overseas, and can easily be resold)
- requests for your credit or, worse yet, debit card number (the former is easier for you to reverse than the latter, and the latter opens your bank account up directly to thieves who get the info) with expiration date and the special code (3 or 4 digits, most often on the back of your card)
- technical support calls you didn't request (they'll pretend to fix something while either doing nothing and showing you completely innocuous things on your system, or plant malware and steal private data)
- charity donation requests where they ask for financial info (like your card or account number)
- lottery win (where they request bank account info that they'll use to drain your account)
- promises of very large dividends, returns on investment, etc. (you should be wary of anything quick and with a VERY high percentage ROI)
- confirming insurance or healthcare info
- calls about bank and other types of fraud (sometimes the criminals pretend to be the good guys and trick you into revealing info that way)
- debts from companies that haven't already mailed you notices with all the private info (the name of your creditor, your account number, your balance, etc.)
- password requests
- anyone asking for private info like your date of birth, social security number, SS registration number, address, bank account, etc.
- any type of high-pressure, time-sensitive offer or request
- Other common tactics to secure your cooperation are:
- long-term love scams. I fell prey to a couple when I was young & foolish and wasted hundreds of dollars - other people have been bilked of their entire savings, amounting to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars because they're so lonely. You meet someone online, they profess their love for you, maybe send you some risque pictures and sweet-n-sexy talk you, then start asking for money because the cost of communicating with you - plus the cost of a translator if they're from a foreign country - is too much for them to handle. This is almost always a trick. They'll sometimes even try to get you to come to their country, which can lead to a disastrous visit because they'll ask you to send them a lot of money to prepare everything for your arrival, and then leave you waiting in despair at your point of disembarkation.
- job offers that are vague and/or too good to be true (like you're offered a management position without looking at your resume and checking your references, you don't have experience in the field and you never even applied with them). I've written here about a few fake job offers I've received.
- job offers that lead to a website that somehow seems incomplete or too small for the company (they'll send you whatever you're supposed to handle and use that to cause you to spend money that ends up in their pockets via one method or another)
- job offers for work at home handling payment checks, packages, etc. (almost always scams), often with an oversized salary.
- offers to make you rich by transferring vast sums of money into your bank account from a foreign country due to an mysterious inheritance from an unknown relative or friend, an escaping government official or member of that person's family, and other sources (they'll get your bank account info and drain it)
- jobs that require the upfront payment of money in order to apply, do a background check and/or get training. Legitimate companies shouldn't force you to pay for these expenses and legitimate job websites don't allow this so, if you see a job ad and find out the company wants money, report them. I've done this to a few companies on Glassdoor and Indeed, among others, and they always investigate and shut down those companies that violate their rules.
- long-term love scams. I fell prey to a couple when I was young & foolish and wasted hundreds of dollars - other people have been bilked of their entire savings, amounting to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars because they're so lonely. You meet someone online, they profess their love for you, maybe send you some risque pictures and sweet-n-sexy talk you, then start asking for money because the cost of communicating with you - plus the cost of a translator if they're from a foreign country - is too much for them to handle. This is almost always a trick. They'll sometimes even try to get you to come to their country, which can lead to a disastrous visit because they'll ask you to send them a lot of money to prepare everything for your arrival, and then leave you waiting in despair at your point of disembarkation.
10 Most Common Phone Scams to Look Out For
Scams Targeting the Elderly (starting at page 17)
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