Mocking Scam Victims Helps No One

Scams are not uncommon on the internet, chances are someone is trying to attempt to scam you every day, but most messages just fall into your spam folder or look so shady you wouldn't touch it with a 30-foot pole. Rarely does a scam drum up a media firestorm, but in February one scam did. Charlotte Cowles, a finance columnist for the New York Magazine's "The Cut" published a column describing how she was scammed out of $50,000 USD by fake government agents.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here is a summary. Cowles received a call on October 31st, the caller ID simply said "Amazon" so she picked up, the "Amazon" employee asked about unusual charges that were made to her account under a business account, which Cowles did not have. The "Amazon" employee then convinced her that she had been a victim of identity theft and offered to freeze the account, but strangely also offered to connect her to the FTC to resolve this. The FTC "agent" gave Cowles a badge number and a direct line to reach him later, the "agent" provided her date of birth, full name, and last 4 digits of her social security number. He said that a lot of fraud had been committed with her details, including home and vehicle purchases. The "FTC agent" then transferred her to a "CIA agent" both agents discouraged her from telling her husband or a lawyer about the situation, threatening to raid her home and arrest her. The scammers convinced her to pay them 50,000 to help her get out of this mess by withdrawing it from her bank, putting it in a shoebox, and placing it in the backseat of a car allegedly driven by an undercover CIA agent.

Of course, this was all a scam. Amazon is not going to redirect your call to the FTC, anyone can say they are an agent with the FTC or CIA and spoof the phone number you see on your caller ID. Federal agents will never ask you to withdraw 50,000 dollars and deliver it to them via walking a shoe box to a car.

Cowles admits that she believes herself not to be the type to ever fall for a scam, citing that most scam victims "tend to be single, lonely, and economically insecure with low financial literacy." As stated in her column. However, when seeing people respond to this case on social media, I see a ton of people saying "I would never fall for this", and "you'd have to be an idiot to fall for this". This is the exact same attitude that Cowles admitted to having before she got into her story. She could never fall for a scam because she is rational, because she never panics, because she is literate, because she is economically secure, because she has a lot of financial understanding. None of that matters when you are caught up in a scam.

In this case, the scammers created a false sense of urgency, they claimed that she would be raided and arrested due to a case they had built against her, a case that could all go away when they catch the fraudster. Despite the strangeness of being transferred from "Amazon" the scammers also established a false sense of legitimacy due to knowing personal details about her, like her full name, date of birth, and last 4 digits of her social security number. The story seems crazy and unrealistic, but that's kind of why it worked. Fear causes people to think irrationally, fear is the most powerful weapon a scammer can use against you to make you comply. A lot of scams are blackmail based, like someone faking being interested in a dating app and threatening to send friends and family your nude photos if you don't pay a ransom. The reason a lot of people are afraid to admit they have been scammed is also due to fear and embarrassment.

The public reaction to this case has done nothing but solidify the idea that being a victim is embarrassing and shameful. If you fall for this type of scam you are an absolute moron.

"I would never fall for this."

This is a sentence that, despite being in security, you will never hear me say. People who think of themselves as invulnerable to scams are very likely to be scammed. Being confident in the fact that no one would ever scam you makes you an easy target, as you are less likely to critically think about better-crafted scams, especially if you are unfamiliar with how certain processes work in the real world. The best way to avoid being scammed, rather, is to acknowledge that you are only human. That you are not immune to misdirection, manipulation, and impulsive actions.

Even people well versed in security are immune to scams unfortunately, including a 63-year-old former Army lieutenant colonel who has received extensive security training throughout their career. An article by NBC News highlights this specific case. The former lieutenant was working in a civilian role but was catfished by a woman he had met on a dating website claiming to live in Ukraine during the time that Russia invaded the nation unprovoked. A tweet by BNO News documented some of the conversations the two would have in transcripts, begging for information on any "secret plans" to help the nation. The information disclosed, given to a Russian operative rather than a poor single Ukrainian woman, could put NATO members, Ukrainians, and Americans at risk.

This scam was not particularly well crafted, and most people working for the military are not allowed to, and do not, discuss any details of their work. Unfortunately, some people are rather easily persuaded to give up information by images of attractive women. There is a loneliness epidemic, not just with men but with everyone. The scammer fed into this loneliness, making the man feel like a heroic savior like he could be sexy to this young Ukrainian woman he is attracted to. Most dating app scams simply don't make the news, because they do not involve exposing classified military secrets. Usually, scams linked to dating apps involve victims sending the scammers money under the guise of traveling to the victim's country, having to pay bills, having a sick family member, or a number of other reasons someone may need a couple hundred dollars. However, there is also clear value in military intelligence.

Many victims of scams do not come forward due to fear and embarrassment. This is exactly what attackers want: less awareness of ongoing scams due to this embarrassment and shame. It may seem natural to laugh at rather silly scams and think to yourself "I would never fall for this."

Maybe you wouldn't fall for this particular scam, at this particular time, but you are not immune to scams.