THE power of the scammers. Think you can’t be scammed financially? You could be in for a shock.
The power, and incredible cleverness, of their strategies is quite extraordinary.
They simply work to percentage success, and if you fall into each slot along the way, they are very capable of accessing your cash, emails, passwords and pensions.
Whilst varying, they always follow a simple, similar strategy, the beginning of which is to search for the vulnerable and the emotional, or make you either of those.
Whilst in South Africa this time last year, in the cold light of day outside a supermarket when accessing cash, a kind gentleman wanted to make my bank account lighter.
I spotted him jump out of his car and move into a queue behind me. Clue one: Few people queue where I was.
Cash straight in my pocket, and as I left, he called me after three seconds to inform I had left my screen open and someone could take my money. I went back and sure enough, the screen said ‘would I like anything else’? When I clicked no, it looped to the same question.
He kindly told me that if I put my card in and put my pin in, it would clear the screen. When I said no, he squeezed ‘we won’t be able to get any money out for Christmas if you don’t’ and ‘someone will take your money’.
So I opened my phone and froze my Revolut card in an instant. Another burly chap stuck his head in (with his borrowed high viz jacket) and told me I could not leave the cash point.
He had placed a skimmer in the machine, which was controlling the screen, and had I placed the card in and typed the pin, my account would be empty in a flash.
The principles of each scam work the same. We are naturally protective, but not cynical enough to think like the scammers.
The scam normally involves heightening the emotion of the victim.
When we are emotionally aroused, there is a psychological reaction when our emotional, ‘crocodilian’ brain takes over, as our cortex shuts down the useful logical part of a brain.
This leaves you with fight, flight or freeze, none of which are overly useful in this scenario.
A percentage of society do respond like this however, and that is what they work on – percentages. Do not be that percentage.
Once that primitive part of the brain is engaged through emotion, you also become highly suggestible. That is a clear psychological impact. The emotion often manifests in the form of Fear of Losing Out (FOLO) both in terms of actually losing money but, as in situations like tulip mania and other Ponzi schemes, missing out on the pub chat where we all made money out of unicorn ears…didn’t you?
Tulip bulbs sold in the 1600s for $750,000, their price rising because they were expensive, and so became more expensive.
Today, our emotional needs are not being met. Much of society is badly distressed, bewildered, lost, anxious, insecure, lonely, out of touch with society, controlled by outside events, and so, highly emotional and susceptible.
The strategy is simple: Keep a cool head, always. Run it by your solicitor, accountant, or me, in this column, if you like.
If it looks like a politician and smells like one, but they say they are actually really helpful, it’s still the former.
If it involves a ‘quick action’ idea. Leave it.
Keep your computer up to date daily. Antiviruses work with the most up to date systems and your system updates are set to protect against bugs.
Never, ever, click a link on anything from someone you don’t know. It could have a code, which allows others to take over your computer for example. Even if you do know them, be careful. Ask Jeff Bezos, who received a WhatsApp message on his phone allegedly from the Prince of Saudi Arabia. Within minutes, vast data was flowing from his phone.
Keep your antivirus up to date on both computers and phones. Once in via your phone this could give them access to other computers on your wi-fi network.
Do not push your view of fairness in the world onto this. These people have no morals and don’t care. Protect yourself.
:: Peter McGahan is chief executive of independent financial adviser Worldwide Financial Planning, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. If you have a financial question, call Darren McKeever on 028 6863 2692, email info@wwfp.net or visit us on www.wwfp.net.
