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One of the smartest people I know fell victim to a scam in a way that would leave you perplexed.
How could someone so sharp fall for something like this? That was my initial reaction, but as I reflected, I realized that was the wrong conclusion.
Instead, my friend’s story demonstrates that sometimes intelligence doesn’t have anything to do with whether someone becomes a scam victim. Rather, it reveals something about human psychology — and how we can combat this escalating problem.
This particular scheme began with a phone call purporting to be from the sheriff’s office. The “deputy” told my friend that a warrant had recently been issued for his arrest for failure to pay and failure to appear charges related to a previous traffic ticket, a ticket it turns out didn’t even exist.
If he didn’t pay the fine and additional costs, the scammer told my friend, deputies would soon come to his house to serve the warrant and take him to jail. The only way to avoid that scenario was to pay a sum that exceeded $1,000 via PayPal.
Right now, you’re thinking that no one with half a brain could fall for this blatant fraud.
But the scammer knew details about my friend’s past addresses and even names of deputies at the department.
The scammer suggested that perhaps the summons was served at a past address after my friend had moved. The swindler added that the whole thing may very well get sorted by a judge at a later date, but for the time being, he had to abide by the arrest warrant in front of him.
He did two things that have become staples of these types of cons. He created fear and got my friend’s thoughts to race, resulting in emotional rather than logical decisions.
“The people that do this, they hone their skill, and there’s a set methodology to create a sense of urgency, a sense of fear and panic,” First Orion CEO Scott Hambuchen told our Chloe McGehee about phone scams. “Next thing you know, you’ve given somebody money or data that you shouldn’t have, and bad things happen with it.”
Sometimes these scams play on our fear; other times they prey on greed — think get-rich-quick and Ponzi schemes. Sometimes a person’s propensity to help their fellow man is the culprit.
Almost all of them try to create a sense of urgency that, when combined with these other psychological factors, inhibits our ability to think rationally. They take advantage of our natural optimism and inclination to believe others are being truthful.
By shaming scam victims, we invite silence and miss the opportunity to learn how to better protect ourselves.
Often, the best antidote is simply pausing when the stakes are high and taking a moment to evaluate all of the information before us without emotion.
I promise if this could happen to someone as smart as my friend, it could happen to any of us.
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