The Number One Reason We Fall For Scams – And Ways To Avoid Them

Our emotions lead to every decision we make in life. Scammers have become sophisticated in how they obtain our information. Fraud has existed in various shapes and sizes for years. None of us is immune to schemes that have proven their staying power. A common tactic is to seek to exploit basic human emotions such as excitement or fear to provoke a spontaneous ‘gut reaction’ to the scam offer. Such scams also abuse people’s trust by making a scam look like a legitimate offer from a reputable business or official institution.

Learning objectives:

Discuss the emotional reasons we fall victim to scams

Explore cognitive strategies to help us avoid them.