Figgy’s Reviews > You're Just Too Good To Be True > Status Update

Are seniors' brains actually wired in a way that means they will be more trusting of online crooks trying to steal their money? Does this explain Bill's reverence for the Inspector General?

I realise that what happened to Bill has, in a way, happened to me. I've become attached to the idea of Cindy, a young woman in Senegal, probably suffering in poverty. She's talked about loneliness, selling her boy, her mean uncle, and I've interpreted it in the way that sounds best to me. 'Maybe this is actually a really nice girl crying out for help!' I've said to myself, filling in the gaps.

And even though I am fully aware that Cindy has cut and pasted this from somewhere, even though I have been told a thousand times by the police that scammers operate by stroking people's egos, I cannot help but glance at the photo I sent Cindy to see if my eyes do, indeed, look magical.

Awful exchange between two scammers here, too long to quote.

Instead of saying, 'I don't believe this guy is who he says he is' (as everyone else seems to say to Bill, which is frustrating for him), I ask instead if Bill can put me in touch with the Inspector General. 'If he's genuine,' I tell Bill, 'he will make a great interview subject.' And if he's not genuine, I think, he will still make a great interview subject.

'Whereas what we don't understand as much is the romance fraud. It is a type of addiction, but I don't think it's related to, or has the foundational aspects of, a gambling addiction.'

'Some of the tactics scammers use remind me of domestic violence. They cut you off from everyone else and make you reliant on them. We hear all these stories of children giving their senior parents ultimatums to cut contact and they don't, so the families disown them. So they have nothing left.'

'If there's this bundle of money there, or the love you've dreamed of, it's hard to walk away. And these scammers are so professional with how they twist and turn everything. You think you can walk away, and you do walk away, and then they'll find you again. And they will have put some thought into what your vulnerability is. And they'll come back and get you that way.'

Romance scams accounted for about 7 per cent of online fraud in 2006. Now they are up around 92 per cent, according to Brian.

'Collectively, the victims we contacted in 2005 [26 people] had lost in excess of $7.2 million. And that's when we realised we had a problem.'