I believe it is a mistake to see the victims of cons as unsophisticated. Or rather, doing so makes one more susceptible to being taken - consider how Madoff operated.
I watched a coworker send money to Nigeria once for a Teacup Yorkie - $900 for a pedigreed dog including air transport seemed like proof of the victim's internet shopping savvy and unsolicited warnings from the workplace were ignored.
What was amazing was how well the scammer read the victim. The dog was to board a 10 am flight and arrive in ATL at 2:30. The email arrived at about 10:15 notifying the victim that another $400 was needed for customs but that the dog could still make the flight.
Two of us working hard managed to convince the victim not to send the money - I think that the possibility of a dog flying from Nigeria to a baggage carousel in Atlanta in three hours finally made it through the filter. But it was a close call.
The victim was a savvy college graduate with a good job which required a lot of responsibility and hard knuckle negotiations with contractors and vendors on a regular basis. The attacker was extremely sophisticated in their pitch. It's why the victim trusted them and didn't verify anything.
> I believe it is a mistake to see the victims of cons as unsophisticated. Or rather, doing so makes one more susceptible to being taken - consider how Madoff operated.
Exactly. There's so much social stigma attached to being a scam victim that it literally disables one of our defenses: self-doubt.
I watched a coworker send money to Nigeria once for a Teacup Yorkie - $900 for a pedigreed dog including air transport seemed like proof of the victim's internet shopping savvy and unsolicited warnings from the workplace were ignored.
What was amazing was how well the scammer read the victim. The dog was to board a 10 am flight and arrive in ATL at 2:30. The email arrived at about 10:15 notifying the victim that another $400 was needed for customs but that the dog could still make the flight.
Two of us working hard managed to convince the victim not to send the money - I think that the possibility of a dog flying from Nigeria to a baggage carousel in Atlanta in three hours finally made it through the filter. But it was a close call.
The victim was a savvy college graduate with a good job which required a lot of responsibility and hard knuckle negotiations with contractors and vendors on a regular basis. The attacker was extremely sophisticated in their pitch. It's why the victim trusted them and didn't verify anything.