Anti-Scam FAQ: What Is A Scammer

Answer:

A scammer or fraudster is anyone that engages in scamming or defrauding a victim. In other words a “conman or woman.”

Scammers work in thousands of different ways. They conduct scams in-person face-to-face or on the phone, by mail or email, or through other forms of online communications. Some appear to be companies or institutions or governments, some present themselves as fake individuals that they either invented or are impersonating.

A scammer’s greatest tool is social engineering that allows them to create lures that pull in a victim. They use a variety of manipulative techniques to hook or trap victims, and then maintain their control until they can get what they want. Not all scams are about money. Sometimes it is about getting information or getting a victim to do what the scammer wants (such as sextortion scams.) Relationship scams can cause the most profound trauma in victims requiring significant support, counseling, or therapy.

Some scammers work alone, but in most of today’s large-scale scams, scammers are working in organizations or cartels – these can be a few individuals all the way up to 10,000 or more. Scammers are spread around the globe and work in almost every country. In fact, even some countries actively engage in scamming, such as Iran and North Korea.