Anti-Scam Newsletter - Spring Edition

Welcome to the third edition of our quarterly anti-scam newsletter!

This edition is going to delve into the Psychology behind scams and how scammers are effective at their crimes.

SOCIAL ENGINEERING & MANIPULATION

Fraud and cybercrime are a human issue not a technical one. We are not good at assessing risk and we will believe what we want to hear. Scammers will seek to isolate you from your support network, by telling you not to tell your family, friends or the police. It must be kept a secret so that a second opinion is not sought. Scammers are very good at recognising this and will use these five, very powerful things to get you to comply.

AUTHORITY: Scammers use a level of authority to make you believe them as we trust and obey authority. Their communications are therefore designed to encourage compliance. Scams may look legitimate if they have been sent from an official institution or established reputable business. Doorstep criminals will often impersonate government officials or say they are from a recognizable organization to legitimize a visit.

URGENCY: Scammers will exploit human desires by offering high rewards with rapid deadlines to create a sense of urgency. These schemes are designed to appeal to human emotions such as excitement or fear to make the person react quickly, without looking at the context in too much detail.

CONTECT/EVENTS/PERSONALISATION: Criminals will research their victims and make it relevant to you or a time so that the offer seems unique to you.

SCARCITY: limited offer or a rare edition etc. to make you feel special.

EMOTION: emotions are triggered which overcome logical thinking

ELEMENTS OF COMPLIANCE

You are told the stages of what will happen so that you are convinced and trust the scammers. As a society we are too polite. It is ok to reject, refuse or ignore and it is ok to challenge.

RISK

The way we perceive risk is enlightening, for we base it on our biases, experiences, the news and media etc. For example, how we see the risk of cash and contactless are different. When you pay for something in cash, you feel the transaction more. Whereas, we deem contactless card payments to be safe, but it makes us detached from the transaction itself and we don’t feel as though we have spent any money. This makes us inclined to spend more money or perhaps be less cautious than we should with our money.

VERSUS

Our data has value, especially to scammers, but we have been conditioned by society to give away our data so often (surveys, opening accounts online for shopping) that we fail to protect it well. And if we don’t have an emotional connection to something, we may not assess the risk of a scam happening to us as very high. There may well be a spate of fraud or online crime in our area, but unless there is a strong emotional connection to what is happening, such as a friend or neighbour being scammed, we can dismiss it as unlikely to happen to us personally. Causality A= B.

LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION

Communication is important and made up of 7% words & their order, 38% pitch, resonance, energy and emotion, and 55% body language. When we can see a person’s body language, as well as hear their tone, we are more likely to tell that are lying. Our intuition is better. However, texts or emails are only the first 7% of communication. 93% is left out. We then read the messages in the way in which we want to. We project our own ideas, experiences and biases into those texts or emails and curiosity can take over. It can make us click on a link.

PASSWORDS

Our relationship to technology makes us vulnerable. Our data has value and is a key part of our identity but we have been conditioned to give away our data so often that we don’t protect it very well.

Passwords are the bane of our existence. Human beings do not remember complicated passwords but we need to have unique passwords for all of our accounts. Your email address is the most publishable thing about your identity and is used most commonly as your ‘username’ on an account so you are therefore relying on your password to protect that account. Let’s face it, humans are lazy by nature and likely have the same password for everything. If your password is hacked, hackers have your password to most of your accounts. Ideally you need a password manager that is secure and use it for all of your unique passwords. Don’t reuse your passwords and don’t rely on your memory.

COMMUNITY INTERACTION

So far this year we have held free scam awareness sessions at Oddfellows social group in Farnborough and with 35 + members of Onslow WI. Both sessions were well received and our free fraud information packs handed out.

Please do book a one-to-one appointment with the office, on 01252 239090 if you would like to know more about scams and how to protect yourself, as well as receive a free fraud information pack. Alternatively, you are welcome to send any fraud enquiries to kerenza.faram@gacarers.co.uk.

STAFF TRAINING

We have ensured that more of our staff have been trained.

RECOGINITION

Our scam awareness work within the company and the community has received recognition. Kerenza was nominated for ‘Bright Ideas of the Year’ and won a trophy, awarded by Head Office which now sits proudly in the Farnham office.

NEXT EDITION: Gift card scam

click here for more details or to contact Guardian Angel Carers - Farnham