The Scammers’ Psychological Warfare: A Call to Arms

Abstract

Fraud and scams are some of the most common crimes in the world, inflicting staggering emotional, financial, health, and psychological suffering on millions of individuals each year. Despite this widespread and extensive impact, the psychological research on what renders some individuals more susceptible to fraudulent solicitations, what mechanisms scammers use to lure potential victims, what therapeutic programs can help victims, what educational/preventive programs can reduce compliance, what can be done to increase reporting, and what policies are needed to safeguard the public is just emerging. To address this pressing social problem, this article has several goals. First, it is designed to provide readers with state-of-the-art insights into fraud research: what has been done thus far and what is urgently missing. Its second purpose is to highlight the urgency of the problem and encourage researchers to conduct relevant research in their domain of expertise. Our primary goal, however, is to reach beyond the academic sphere. To fight fraud, we must unite forces with private and not-for-profit organizations, education providers, financial institutions, government entities, grassroots organizations, international organizations, law enforcement agencies, and many more. To that end, we hope this article draws the attention of a wide range of stakeholders and encourages collaborations that produce direct action.