(Last Updated On: March 24, 2022)

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.™ Urban Legends: Do Something Useful With Their Lives!

We hear it almost every day. A victim will comment as though asking a scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. “Why don’t you do something useful for others?”

This is not going to be a popular view since most victims want to vilify scammers as being evil, lazy, or worthless. But the truth is far different.

The truth is the most scammers are running a business, and like all businesses, it has its complexity, ups and downs, and risks that need to be managed. It just turns out that this business is a criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. one.

Remember…

Our job is not to feed hate and prejudice. Our job is to tell you the truth so you can accept what happened to you and heal from it. Some of these truths are going to be hard to hear!

Like a business, Scamming benefits its owners, employees, and its community!

We have previously spoken about how scamming is big business. One recent arrest of someone named “Hushpuppy” stopped billions in online fraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim.. But it is more than that, scammers are viewed by many in their countries as heroes.

I countries like Ghana, where law enforcement does very little about scammers or fraudsters they are viewed as employers and supporters of their communities. Scamming brings in so much money that it is a significant part of their national GDP. In most cases, one of the reasons why outside influence has been limited is that scammers bring in more than the foreign aid from countries like the United States.

The fact that this is a crime is not the principal issue to the people in these countries that depend on scammers for their income. Thus for large parts of the population of some countries scammers represent pivotal industrialists supporting local economies – to them, they are no different than Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.

This view of gangsters as benefactors is not new. In the United States during the Great Depression Al Capone supported his community with jobs and philanthropy as well (see Al Capone Ran A Soup Kitchen.) In today’s Ghana, scammers are virtually running and funding several of their universities – teaching the youth of Ghana technology skills – of course, these are mostly applied to produce more scammers, but not always. Additionally, after scammers make their money, they frequently apply it to the founding of new legitimate businesses. Scammers are today’s “Robber Barons” fueling the economies of their future (from the misery of victims today.)

The point of this article is to establish that scammers, while they are criminals in nature, they are far from lazy, do nothing useless people.

We are NOT taking their side – they are criminals that do vast harm to millions of people.

But it is important to understand that many of them (not all) apply their skills in the development of more than just filling their pockets. The ones that are frequently seen showing their stolen money are just low-level thugs, but the majority of scammers stay hidden working their illegal businesses without showing off. This is one of the reasons why it has been hard to attack the larger cartels, because they are both supporters of their local communities and because they remain very hidden. This is true of scammers in Africa, Russia, China, India, Latin America, and elsewhere.

It is most important that victims stop mythologizing scammers because by the insulting of scammers it only diminishes the victims.

If scammers are so stupid and lazy and do nothing useful then how did they 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. so many smart useful people around the world?

It must mean that all victims are stupid and lazy themselves to be conned by such people!

Of course, we know that is NOT true. Scammers are smart and capable – that is how they scam smart people.

It is actually harder to accept that you were scammed from a stupid person than to admit that the scammer was an expert in what they do. No one likes to be beaten by an incompetent opponent, yet scam victims trapped in their 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. insist on this which only makes it harder to accept and ultimately recover from.

So, the next time you hear to see someone call scammers stupid remind them that scammers are expert professionals at what they do! That when they insult scammers they are only insulting their victims!

Learn More:

Here is a Nigerian’s View: http://saharareporters.com/2020/06/27/why-hushpuppi-won%E2%80%99t-be-last-nigerian-fraudster-samuel-osho

 

TAGS: SCARS, Information About Scams, Anti-Scam, Scams, Scammers, Fraudsters, Cybercrime, Crybercriminals, Scam Victims, Smart Scammers, Scammers Are Lazy, Scammers Are Stupid, Insulting Scammers, Insulting Victims, Scammers Are Dumb, Urban Legends, Half Truths, Fake NewsFake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. It often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. However, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied more broadly to include any type of false information, including unintentional and unconscious mechanisms, and also by high-profile individuals to apply to any news unfavourable to his/her personal perspectives.

 

 

 

 

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