Psychology of ScamsPsychology Of Scams Psychology Of Scams is the study of the psychological or emotional effects of scams or financial fraud on victims of these crimes. It helps victims to better understand the impact of scams on them personally or on others. To find the SCARS articles on the Psychology of Scams, use the search option to enter the term and find them.

The How & Why of ScamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. Psychology

From Approach & Selection to Capture & GroomingGrooming Grooming is a form of setting up a victim for a scam or other crime by befriending and establishing an emotional connection with the victim, and sometimes the family, to lower the victim's inhibitions with the objective of the scam or criminal activity.  Grooming includes the development of a trust relationship between the criminal and the victim, getting the victims to the point where they can be more completely manipulated.  , to Manipulation & Containment!
Learn the answers to why this happened to someone like You!

A SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. Topic Collection

Our Human Psychology Enables Us To Be Scammed!

We Are Built To Be Manipulated And Scammers Know How To Do This!

However, the more you know about these psychological processes, the better you are prepared to prevent them and to change your behaviors to avoid them in the future.

Disclaimer: All of these articles are provided for educational & “entertainment” purposes – we have to say that. We are a Crime Victims’ Assistance Provider and do not provide psychological or mental healthcare – we do not offer counselingCounseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. They may also work with "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists". SCARS does not provide mental health counseling. or therapy services. This information is intended to help you become aware of these topics and find a direction for your own research, or to have topics to discuss and explore with your own mental healthcare professional. These are generalized and may not apply to you.

We will update this catalog from time to time as new articles are added or recategorized.

Why You Were Lured Into The Scam

Victim Predisposition:

• What Drives People To Be Scammed?
• Stranger Trust – How Did You Get Captured In A Scam?
• What Drives Us To Be Scammed
• Sun Tzu And The Selectively Ignorant
• Cognitive Distortions
• White Knight Syndrome – Rescuing Damsels In Distress And Getting Scammed
• The Fear of Missing Out and Romance Scams
• You Made A Mistake

How You Were Lured

Social EngineeringSocial Engineering Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. It is used as a type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme. It has also been defined as "any act that influences a person to take any action that may or may not be in their best interests.":

• Socially Engineered / Social Engineering Scams
• What Is Social Engineering?

Working Against Yourself:

• Confirmation Bias – Letting Your Desires Control What You See!
• Reciprocity Rule & Scams
• Stranger Trust
• Scam Victim Selfishness – A Common Behavior That Leads To Romance Scams?
• Why Do You Think You Were Scammed?

Grooming

How ScamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. Work Psychologically:

• Understanding The Long Con – The Basic Mechanics Of A Relationship Scam – How Scams Work
• Scammer Methods – A Scammer’s Primer – Part 1: The Introduction

Grooming:

• Scam Grooming: Finding Common Interests
• Scam Grooming: Using Persuasion To Establish Rapport
• Internet Romance Scammers Know What Their Victims Are Longing To Hear
• Future Faking – Future Planning As A Manipulation Tactic Of Scammers
• Screen Time, Sleep Deprivation, and Romance Scams
• Why Do They Call You Dear?
• Reciprocity Rule & Scams

Manipulation & Control

Control Manipulation:

• The Amygdala Hijack!
• Gaslighting – Destroying A Victim’s Sense Of Reality Or Truth
• What is the Purpose of Gaslighting?
• Diversions – A Scammer’s Manipulative Technique
• Equivocation – The Magician’s Choice – The Arts Of Manipulation
• ASMR – Using Your Brain & Body Against You
• Scam Victim Surrender
• Chasing Your Money – A Psychological Trap
• The 7 Psychological Principles of Scams
• Understanding Yahoo Boy Methods
• Why Scammers Ask For Photos?
• There Is No “He” Or “She” In Romance Scams
• Living under Manipulation for Too Long Leaves Victims …

The End Game

Post-Scam Manipulation:

• The Scam Is Over But You Are Still Being Manipulated
• Confronting Scammers & The Guilt Or Flip Scam
• Threats And Your Local Risk
• Scammer Threats
• Scammer Threats & Blackmail
• Threats From Scammers
• What Does It Mean To Be A Scammer?

After-Scam Emotions & Distress

In The Aftermath:

• After The Scam Comes Disaster
• After A Scam, No One Can Tell You How You Will React
• Psychological Shock – After A Scam & In The Future
• Dissociative Amnesia
• Emotional Danger After The Scam
• Disengaging From A Fake Scam Relationship
• 10 Steps To Breaking Free & Beginning Your Recovery
• Support & Information For New Scam Victims
• Understanding A Romance Scam
• What Can You Expect After A Scam

Fear & Panic:

• When Panic Sets In
• How Fear Affects You After A Scam
• Victim Response To Fear Is Anger!
• SCARS Commentary About Helping Victims
• Long Term Fear & Phobias From Scam Victim Trauma

Suicide & Crisis:

• Being Aware Of Scam Victim Suicide Risk
• Are Scams Manslaughter or Murder? The SCARS Doctrine

Grief & Longer Effects

Grief:

• A Candid Discussion Of Grief By Nora McInerny – TED Talk
• The Complicated Truth About Grief

Mid to Long Term Emotional Effects:

• Sadness & Scam Recovery
• Understanding the Victim Complex
• You Aren’t At The Mercy Of Your Emotions – Your Brain Creates Them
• Surviving The Change: Scams Turn Lives Upside Down
• Why Keeping Your Scam Secret Harms You And Everyone Else!
• Trauma Bonding
• Depression – What You Need To Know
• Losing Control

Guilt ShameShame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self; withdrawal motivations; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. AngerAnger Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, trigger, hurt or threat. About one-third of scam victims become trapped in anger for extended periods of time following a scam. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. Some view anger as an emotion that triggers a part of the fight or flight response. Anger becomes the predominant feeling behaviorally, cognitively, and physiologically. Anger can have many physical and mental consequences. While most of those who experience anger explain its arousal as a result of "what has happened to them", psychologists point out that an angry person can very well be mistaken because anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability. & DenialDenial Denial is a refusal or unwillingness to accept something or to accept reality. Refusal to admit the truth or reality of something, refusal to acknowledge something unpleasant; And as a term of Psychology: denial is a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality.

Guilt, Shame & Self-BlameSelf-Blame Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. SCARS seeks to mitigate the prejudice against victims and the perception that victims are in any way responsible for the actions of offenders or scammers. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as the greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery. Scam victims are often blamed by family & friends for the crime. Scam victims also engage in self-blame even though they are not to blame.:

• Guilt vs. Shame – Understanding Them
• Scam Survivor’s Guilt
• Open Letter To A Victim In Pain
• When Should A Scam Victim Feel Ashamed?

Anger, RageRage Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, trigger, hurt or threat. About one-third of scam victims become trapped in anger for extended periods of time following a scam. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. Some view anger as an emotion that triggers a part of the fight or flight response. Anger becomes the predominant feeling behaviorally, cognitively, and physiologically. Anger can have many physical and mental consequences. While most of those who experience anger explain its arousal as a result of "what has happened to them", psychologists point out that an angry person can very well be mistaken because anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability. & Hate:

• Really Understanding Your Anger
• Hate As A Coping Mechanism
• Are We Not All Tired Of The Outrage!?

Denial & Help Avoidance:

• Living In Denial – A Case In Point
• Denial Is A River In Nigeria
• How To Know If You Are In Scam or Recovery Denial?

Scam Victim TraumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS.

Learning & Coping With Trauma:

• Immediate and Delayed Reactions to Trauma
• Romance Scam Victims & PTSD
• Understanding Trauma Compulsions
• Scam Victims & Traumatic Memories
• Cognitions and Trauma
• Coping Strategies for Scam Victim Trauma Survivors
• Finding Real Trauma Support For Romance Scams Victims
• How Trauma Can Impact Four Types of Memory
• A Candid Discussion Of Trauma And Emotional Hygiene By Guy Winch, Ph.D. – TED Talk
• TEDed Introduction To Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Scam Trauma Syndrome [STS]

VictimizationVictimization Victimization (or victimization) is the process of being victimized or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimization is called victimology.

Being A Victim:

• What Is A Relationship Scam?
• Romance Scam Victimization
• To Being A Victim
• Can You Correctly Identify A Victim?
• A Scam Victim’s 7 Deadly Sins
• Failure Is A Choice
• The Trauma of Victimization
• Scam Victim Mindsets
• Romance Scam Delusion
• Who We Can Help?

How Can Scammers Do This:

• Dehumanization – How Scammers Can Do What They Do To You!
• What Is The Relationship Between Scammer And Victim?
• Ghana Scammer Study – Rationalizing Online Romance Fraud

On The Wrong Path

Mistakes Victims Make:

• Scam Victim Information Avoidance
• Survivorship Bias & Romance Scams
• Stages Of A Victim’s Experience Without Support
• Why You Can’t Stop Looking At The Stolen Face
• Good vs. Bad While Recovering
• Victims Are Still Victims
• Scam Obsession – Becoming Scam Junkie
• The Dark Side – Schadenfreude
• Real Victims’ Assistance
• Beware Of Scam Victim Saviors Who Act Like They Are Instant Experts
• Savior Victims
• Obsessive Scammer Exposing
• Scammer Name-Calling – Please Just Stop It!
• The Victim Trap – Meeting Strangers In A Strange Land!
• Victims Frequently Engage In Self-Defeating Behaviors
• Female Face Fixation Syndrome
• Do You Hate Your Scammer?

Recovery & Becoming A SurvivorSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com

Recovery & The Path To Becoming A Survivor:

• What Does Recovery Mean For A Scam Victim?
• Jay Shetty on Letting Go!
• Romance Scams Trauma Recovery Tips
• How Do You Get Closure?
• Journaling & Recovery
• How Can You Explain What Happened To Family And Friends?
• Phases Of Recovery
• Getting The Person Back That You Once Were …
• Knowledge Matters To Scam Victims
• Do You Believe In Prophecies?
• Surviving The Change: Scams Turn Lives Upside Down
• Forgiveness
• Resilience, Recovery And Romance Scam Victims
• You Made A Mistake
• What Are The Responsibilities Of A Scam Victim?

Recovery Tools

Recovery Tools:

• Humor As A Tool In Scam Victim Recovery
• Helping Others
• Clothes As Therapy For Scam Victims: When & How Does Enclothed Cognition Work?
• Desensitizing
• Removing The Face Of Your Scammer
• Taking Care Of Yourself
• Write A Letter To Your Scammer – Say What You Feel!
• The Scam Victim’s Mantra
• The Keys to Motivating Yourself After a SCAM!

Points Of View

Changing & Rethinking:

• The “Pig Pen” Syndrome
• From Pain to Power – Crime Victims Take Action
• Victims As Activists & Why Many Scam Victims Should Delay Or Not Become One
• The Hardest Subject – The Truth
• Are Victims Fraudsters Too?

Returning To Danger

Recidivism & Re-Scamming:

• You Can Still Be Scammed! Over And Over!
• The Odds Of Being Scammed Again
• You Have Been Scammed – So Back To Online Dating
• Repeating The Scam – Engaging In Risky Behavior Over & Over
• Commentary On Being Scammed Again
• Scam Fetishists or Willing Victims?
• Romance Scammer As A Consort
• Sharing Your Scam Story

Scam Victims Families & Friends

Understanding & Support:

• Understanding Scam Victims
• Helping Friends & Family Better Understand Romance Scams
• Intervention For Relatives Of Scam Victims In Total Denial
• How To Confront A Scam Victim In Total Denial
• Protecting Elderly Victims In Denial Over Scams
• Romance Scam Infidelity
• 5 Steps For Rebuilding Trust In A Marriage Following A Romance Scam
• Romance Scams And Risk Of Divorce
• Saving Scammers’ Current Victims

For ImpersonationImpersonation An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone, such as: part of a criminal act such as identity theft, online impersonation scam, or other fraud. This is usually where the criminal is trying to assume the identity of another, in order to commit fraud, such as accessing confidential information or to gain property not belonging to them. Also known as social engineering and impostors. Victims

Stolen Lives:

• The Challenges In Supporting Impersonation Scam Victims
• Impersonation Victims Blame Romance Scam Victims
• Accusations Against Persons In Stolen Photos

More Knowledge

Research:

• Research Paper-Report – The psychology of scams: Provoking And Committing Errors Of Judgement
• Research Paper-Report – Risk Factors For Advance Fee Fraud Victimisation
• Online Romance Scams And Victimhood
• Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims
• Psychology Of The Online Dating Romance Scams – A Research Report

If you have an academic or government affiliation you can access more research at ResearchGate

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Survivor’s Recovery Journal

A Scam Victim’s Self-Help Recovery Journal (Click to View)

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This official SCARS Self-Help Recovery Program Journal allows you to record your journey day by day, to be able to look back and see your progress, and measure your achievements. While this is a difficult time in your life, it will get better in time and journaling is an important way to help you through many of those moments, but also to show yourself how strong you are!

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