The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques

by Martina Dove

The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques provides an in-depth explanation of not only why we fall for scams and how fraudsters use technology and other techniques to manipulate others, but also why fraud prevention advice is not always effective. Starting with how fraud victimisation is perceived by society and why fraud is underreported, the book explores the different types of fraud and the human and demographic factors that make us vulnerable. It explains how fraud has become increasingly sophisticated and how fraudsters use communication, deception and theories of rationality, cognition and judgmental heuristics, as well as specific persuasion and scam techniques, to encourage compliance. Covering frauds including romance scams and phishing attacks such as advance fee frauds and so-called miracle cures, the book explores ways we can learn to spot scams and persuasive communication, with checklists and advice for reflection and protection. Featuring a set of practical guidelines to reduce fraud vulnerability, advice on how to effectively report fraud and educative case studies and examples, this easy-to-read, instructive book is essential reading for fraud prevention specialists, fraud victims and academics and students interested in the psychology of fraud.

Genres: Psychology

156 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 2020

Reviews

[Dmitry · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

Эта книга является хорошим суммированием всего доступного материала на тему психологии обмана, манипуляции и мошенничества. Книга не является каким-то новым исследованием психологии мошенничества или новым подходом к анализу данной темы, а рассматривает психологию мошенничества на основании тех данных, что имеются в нашем распоряжении на сегодняшний момент. Имея это, автор предлагает несколько кейсов, которые являются иллюстрированным материалом, той теории, что излагается автором (опять же, на основе имеющихся источников). Тут нужно учесть, что никакая книга не способна дать существенную защиту от современных технологий обмана и манипуляций, т.к. подходы, которыми пользуются мошенники, всегда видоизменяются и модифицируются. Да и описать все способы, к которым прибегают мошенники, просто невозможно. Однако автор всё же даёт теоретические советы, т.е. что влияет на шансы успешного мошенничества, но как в любой литературе по самопомощи, чтобы воспользоваться этими советами, нужно очень серьёзно перестроить свою личность. К примеру, импульсивные люди более подвержены тому чтобы стать жертвами мошенничества. В эту же категорию входят и пожилые люди, впрочем, это и без какой-либо книги очевидно.

Так же очевидно, что не только импульсивные люди имеют наибольшие шансы стать жертвами мошенничества, но и люди, которые считают, что вот их-то никогда мошенникам не обмануть. Как пишет автор, это тоже ошибочное видение. Любой человек, даже очень и очень умный, может в какой-то момент своей жизни стать жертвой мошенничества. Взять хотя бы мошенничества связанные с сайтами знакомств, которые в последнее время стали чуть ли не лидерами по использованию оных в качестве инструмента для обмана людей (был даже снят документальный фильм на эту тему). Это особенно верно учитывая открытия в современной психологии, в частности то, о чём писал Канеман в своей знаменитой книге «Думай медленно… Решай быстро» (Thinking, Fast and Slow) и вот об этом же как раз и пишет автор и этой книги:

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman tells us that, as humans, we have intuitions about information being processed; however, this intuition can often lead to imperfect decisions. Kahneman (2011) suggested that we rely on two processing systems, System 1 and System 2.
<…>
System 1 is automatic; it operates fast and without much effort and cognitive capacity. It is often unconscious and involuntary, relying on previous experience or associations. It has lower correlation with intelligence. Since careful thinking is hard and requires cognitive effort, System 1 relies on vividness and emotion for making decisions, rather than on retrieving facts needed to make optimal decisions.
<…>
System 2, on the other hand, is slow and controlled. It allocates attention and concentration to the task, and engages in effortful cognitive processing. It is often conscious and has higher correlation with intelligence.

Я уже давно заметил, что суета и быстрые решения всегда очень опасны, если речь, конечно, не идёт о вопросе жизни и смерти как, например, вовремя отпрыгнуть от мчащегося на тебя автобуса. В остальном, чем больше времени на обдумывании ситуации будет у человека, тем меньше вероятность попасться на крючок мошенников. Впрочем, работает это не всегда, как показывают истории связанные с мошенничеством в сфере интернет-знакомств. Однако автор очень верно подчеркнула опасность быстрых решений, ибо именно на этом и основывается большая часть успешных мошеннических действий – вынудить человека реагировать быстро и необдуманно.

Van de Weiyer and Leukfeldt (2017) found that people who were more emotionally stable were less likely to be victims of cybercrime. Since many scams typically work to evoke strong emotions (e.g. you won a lottery etc.), having the ability to regulate emotional response and exerting self- control could help in avoiding such scams.
<…>
Other studies, too, found a link between impulsivity and vulnerability to fraud. Impulsivity was found to be higher in fraud victims.
<…>
However, this could also be down to the fact that people over the age of 65 show increased levels of dysfunctional impulsivity (i.e. act with less forethought or make quick decisions) compared to adults and adolescents.
<…>
People who are more compliant may be particularly vulnerable to fraud. Compliance does not necessarily mean that a person is not aware of the danger, it rather means that they consciously decide to go along with something.
<…>
Delaying decisions is also a good way to avoid scams. Most frauds rely on quick thinking (e.g. today only, one- time offer, etc.) and visceral influence will intensify this.
<…>
But intelligence is not enough when it comes to fraud as some scams can be well executed. Additionally, intelligent people may be lacking practical or social intelligence, which is more influential when it comes to recognising deceptive cues.
<…>
The study found that individuals who were more suspicious were less likely to be phished, either via links or attachments.
<…>
This supports suggestions by Frauenstein and Flowerday (2016), who argued that our habitual behaviours on social media, such as sharing and clicking links, are making us more vulnerable to phishing attacks.

Как видим из вышеприведённых цитат, всё сводится к социальной психологии, которую используют мошенники, чтобы найти бреши в особо уязвимых местах психологии личности тех или иных людей, как например, излишняя доверчивость или импульсивность. Так что золотым правилом является умение откладывать решение на день-два, о чём как раз и пишет автор этой книги.

My rule is always to delay any decisions by at least a day or more.

Социальная психология? Да, пожалуй, именно это является главным оружие всех мошенников, начиная с эпохи Средневековья. Хотя книг на тему социальной психологии было написано много и многие люди даже знают примерное содержание данной дисциплины, но не всем удаётся вспомнить, а главное правильно воспользоваться теми знаниями, которые предлагает любой хороший учебник по социальной психологии. А вот мошенники из раза в раз оттачивают свои навыки, включая и один из самых основных навыков, о которых так же повествует социальная психология – навыке быть обаятельным и привлекательным.

Fraudsters frequently work hard at appearing positive and likeable, because this makes it easier for them to convince potential victims to comply.

В общем, книга неплохая, но назвать её обязательной к прочтению я всё же не могу, так же как книга вряд ли сможет стать своеобразным щитом от современных мошенников.


This book is a good summary of all available material on the psychology of deception, manipulation, and fraud. The book is not some new study of the psychology of fraud or a new approach to analyzing this topic, but it examines the psychology of fraud based on the data that we have at our disposal at the moment. Having this, the author offers several cases, which are illustrative of the theory that the author presents (again, based on available sources). It should be taken into account that no book can give a significant defense against modern technologies of deception and manipulation, because the approaches used by fraudsters are always modified and changed. And it is simply impossible to describe all the methods used by fraudsters. However, the author does give theoretical advice, i.e., what influences the chances of successful fraud, but as in any self-help literature, to take advantage of this advice, you need to restructure your personality. For example, impulsive people are more susceptible to becoming victims of fraud. The elderly are also in this category, but this is obvious without any book.

It is also obvious that not only impulsive people have the greatest chance of becoming victims of fraud, but also people who think that they will never be fooled by fraudsters. As the author writes, this is also a mistaken view. Anyone, even a very smart person, can become a victim of fraud at some point in their life. Take at least the frauds associated with dating sites, which have recently become almost the leaders in using them as a tool to deceive people (there was even a documentary on this topic). This is especially true given the findings in modern psychology, in particular what Daniel Kahneman wrote about in his famous book Thinking, Fast and Slow, and this is exactly what the author of this book writes about:

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman tells us that, as humans, we have intuitions about information being processed; however, this intuition can often lead to imperfect decisions. Kahneman (2011) suggested that we rely on two processing systems, System 1 and System 2.
<…>
System 1 is automatic; it operates fast and without much effort and cognitive capacity. It is often unconscious and involuntary, relying on previous experience or associations. It has lower correlation with intelligence. Since careful thinking is hard and requires cognitive effort, System 1 relies on vividness and emotion for making decisions, rather than on retrieving facts needed to make optimal decisions.
<…>
System 2, on the other hand, is slow and controlled. It allocates attention and concentration to the task, and engages in effortful cognitive processing. It is often conscious and has higher correlation with intelligence.

I've noticed for a long time that hustle and quick decisions are always very dangerous, unless, of course, it's a matter of life and death, like jumping off a bus that's coming at you. Otherwise, the more time a person has to think about the situation, the less likely he or she is to get hooked by scammers. However, this does not always work, as the stories of online dating scams show. However, the author very correctly emphasized the danger of quick decisions, because that is what most successful scams are based on - forcing a person to react quickly and rashly.

Van de Weiyer and Leukfeldt (2017) found that people who were more emotionally stable were less likely to be victims of cybercrime. Since many scams typically work to evoke strong emotions (e.g. you won a lottery etc.), having the ability to regulate emotional response and exerting self- control could help in avoiding such scams.
<…>
Other studies, too, found a link between impulsivity and vulnerability to fraud. Impulsivity was found to be higher in fraud victims.
<…>
However, this could also be down to the fact that people over the age of 65 show increased levels of dysfunctional impulsivity (i.e. act with less forethought or make quick decisions) compared to adults and adolescents.
<…>
People who are more compliant may be particularly vulnerable to fraud. Compliance does not necessarily mean that a person is not aware of the danger, it rather means that they consciously decide to go along with something.
<…>
Delaying decisions is also a good way to avoid scams. Most frauds rely on quick thinking (e.g. today only, one- time offer, etc.) and visceral influence will intensify this.
<…>
But intelligence is not enough when it comes to fraud as some scams can be well executed. Additionally, intelligent people may be lacking practical or social intelligence, which is more influential when it comes to recognising deceptive cues.
<…>
The study found that individuals who were more suspicious were less likely to be phished, either via links or attachments.
<…>
This supports suggestions by Frauenstein and Flowerday (2016), who argued that our habitual behaviours on social media, such as sharing and clicking links, are making us more vulnerable to phishing attacks.

As you can see from the above quotes, it all comes down to social psychology, which scammers use to find gaps in the particularly vulnerable parts of people's personality, such as excessive gullibility or impulsiveness. So the golden rule is to be able to postpone a decision for a day or two, which is exactly what the author of this book writes about.

My rule is always to delay any decisions by at least a day or more.

Social psychology? Yes, perhaps, this is the main weapon of all swindlers since the Middle Ages. Although many books on the subject of social psychology have been written and many people even know the approximate content of this discipline, not everyone manages to remember, and most importantly, correctly use the knowledge that any good textbook on social psychology provides. But fraudsters from time to time hone their skills, including one of the most basic skills, about which also tells social psychology - the skill to be charming and attractive.

Fraudsters frequently work hard at appearing positive and likeable, because this makes it easier for them to convince potential victims to comply.

In general, the book is not bad, but I still can not call it a must-read, as the book is unlikely to be a kind of shield against modern scammers.