What’s the saying, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?” Well, it’s on me, and I’m feeling shame. In the past short while I’ve been pulled into two unfortunate scam situations. One involved clicking on something that exposed my computer to a potentially disastrous virus (I haven’t seen my husband run that fast in a while). The other was when purchasing an item online, I clicked on an offer to get free shipping, which ultimately led to three months of $18 charges to be a part of their “reward program.” I surely did not feel rewarded and, in fact, felt like a fool wasting considerable time connecting to their customer service to undo my future “rewards.” I did feel a little better, though, when an article in my American Psychological Association journal caught my eye, literally titled “Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It.” I thought I’d share a few tips to help us all avoid these inevitable lapses in judgment that at best cause us aggravation, and at worst can lead to considerable losses and betrayals.
In their research, Daniel Simons, PhD, and Christopher Chabris, PhD, examined the cognitive habits that put us at risk of being deceived. What most scammers have in common is their use of “the mental shortcuts and patterns of thinking we tend to use in our daily lives.” As they explain, most of the time, these habits serve us well. It would be too challenging and time consuming to go through life skeptical of everything we hear and read. But the same habits of trust and belief that work well most of the time leave us vulnerable to people who are trying to mislead us. And we all tend to think we’re smarter than the people we hear about who’ve gotten scammed. The reason for that, the researchers note, is that whenever you hear about a scam, it’s in retrospect and happening to someone else. But when a scam is targeting you, in particular, meeting your own demand, wish, or want in the moment, you’re more likely to fall for it. The authors conclude that most of us can be deceived if the targeting is aimed at us and takes advantage of the way we think and the information we’re looking for.
One common cognitive bias we have is the truth bias, our default tendency to think whatever we hear or read or encounter is true. We have this bias as a natural result of being social. We rely on it in order to make plans, have conversations, and go about our days engaging in the world. Another cognitive bias involves our focus. We tend to rely on the information that’s right in front of us, that’s easily at hand. This information is often provided for us, conveniently oriented to getting us to do what the scammer wants us to do. Another bias is our own desire. When someone gives us exactly what we’re looking for (free shipping anyone?), we tend to accept it much more readily than if someone tells us the opposite of what we want to hear. We’re much more likely to forward a post on Instagram without stopping to think when it matches our beliefs.
A lot of scams involve promising something that’s too good to be true, like a medical benefit or investment outcome. The problem is, that what sounds too good to be true to one person is just good enough for someone else to want to try it. And that’s all a scammer needs, is that right person who is just wanting it enough to try it. A general principle the authors share is that anytime you are promised a big effect from a small intervention, that’s when you should require the strongest amount of evidence. Can one daily supplement really get rid of all of your wrinkles? Scammers play the odds. The Nigerian prince email looks ridiculous, but it doesn’t have to fool most people. It only has to convince a handful of people who are willing to respond. And in this way, the scammers have selected out the people most likely to send money. Or the people most vulnerable to pressure tactics who are especially afraid of being penalized by the IRS or some other institution of authority when threatened.
Almost everybody is capable of being conned or scammed under the right circumstances (Theranos?). But it’s wearisome to go about life always on guard and skeptical. It’s important to know for yourself when it actually matters to put in the effort to second guess and fact check. For bigger decisions with large consequences or times when just taking an extra minute might save you time and money later, it can surely be worth it.
It helps to be aware that, in general, all of us are more vulnerable to scams than we realize. A few questions to ask in order to weed out possible deception:
-Did you solicit the offer or was it unsolicited?
-Were you called by an outside party? If yes, can you call them back?
-Does the deal look too good to be true?
-Are you asked to keep the information confidential?
-Do you have to send money in order to start the process?
-Is there any urgency communicated by the other party?
-Is there an enticing prize or reward involved?
-Do you have to provide details that you wouldn’t normally have to provide?
And a final point, which is my biggest vulnerability, is time! Most often I’m vulnerable to clicking on something when I’m in a hurry. It’s usually in the morning when I’m sorting through emails and want to get done before I’m off to work. I was click happy in the case of the virus email. And in the case of my “free shipping” reward, I’d spent so long choosing my beloved gift in just the right size, that checking out was the afterthought. I went for the big colorful button that said “Free Shipping Reward” and, apparently, missed the fine print. And even more apparently, I’m gullible enough to think the company wanted to give me a reward for just being little ol’ me!