There was a particularly frightening prediction in the Washington Post in September: Next year, almost half of all mobile phone calls in the US will be made by scammers.
Before anyone dismisses this as unverifiable speculation or as being a problem only for Americans, think again. The projected rise in scams is because we are so psychologically vulnerable to them.
The Post story was sourced from First Orion, a caller ID and call blocking company that works with telcos. It projected a leap in scam calls from 3.7 per cent in 2017, to 29 per cent in 2018 – climbing to 45 per cent next year.
CEO Charles Morgan told the Post: "Year after year, the scam-call epidemic bombards consumers at record-breaking levels, surpassing the previous year, and scammers increasingly invade our privacy at new extremes."
That growth is fuelled by a never-ending supply of potential victims because scammers, while they unquestionably use technology, use psychology even more. The US psychology magazine and website Psychology Today recently ran the result of a reporter's investigation into Nigerian scammers' technique – and found they preferred 45-75-year-old men and women, the demographic most likely to "have money and be lonely".
Findings like that are why many New Zealand organisations are redoubling efforts to ensure customers are educated so they can detect a scam – like BNZ's new site, Scam Savvy.
The need is great – the Research New Zealand survey in June showed almost 72 per cent said they had been targeted by a scam either online or by phone. Only about one-in-five Kiwis (19 percent) said they had never experienced a cyber-security issue.
BNZ are also not just depending on people going to the website – they are taking their anti-scam knowledge to those most in need: senior citizens.
In the last few months, BNZ staff has helped educate nearly 2000 seniors, mostly at retirement villages, with presentations based around Scam Savvy's identify-and-avoid techniques.
One branch, Auckland's Birkenhead, has even been holding 5pm-6pm seminars, with a mostly elderly audience.
Birkenhead branch staff Ann Barton and Shelby Mun say the results from the Scam Savvy seminars were immediate. Barton says: "One customer attended and he and his wife were settling down that very same night and got out the i-Pad. He got a spam email straight away – purporting to be from the sister-in-law, asking they immediately go and buy iTunes cards [a common scam].
"Because of our presentation at the bank, he was able to recognise it was a scam and realised that his sister-in-law had been hacked. He was able to alert the sister-in-law and then send out messages to everyone on their contact lists to make sure no one else was fooled."
Mun says: "From our presentations and the questions and feedback, many of the senior folk involved were curious about these things – but didn't like to bother us during working hours. If there is a main message, it's that people must not be ashamed or embarrassed about being scammed or targeted; it's not about intelligence, it's knowing what to look for. Scammers use all sorts of tricks."
Here are several examples of the psychological triggers scammers employ to get into our wallets and bank accounts (sources: Psychology Today and Moneywise):
• Authority – many scams claim to be from a government body or a bank, using our innate trust in those in a position of authority.
• Fear of missing out – scammers say a potential investment is in short supply and you'll miss out if you don't act now.
• Foot in the door technique – scammers often begin with a small, innocuous request, perhaps like asking what are the best sights to see in the victim's home town.
• Reciprocity – once a relationship is established, scammers prey on our sense of obligation. If we like someone and they have done something for us (like an "investment opportunity" or simply chatting to the lonely), our brains are hardwired to reciprocate or be obliging.
• Threats – in Australia, the ATO scam (Australian Tax Office) saw scammers threatening people with a warrant for their arrest if they didn't pay up. This plays to a psychological response known as "amygdala hijack" when the threat shuts down the pre-frontal cortex, the rational, logical part of the brain. This causes us to act and not think.
• Escalating commitment – this refers to the psychological phenomenon of decision makers who persist with failing courses of action (like sending money to scammers when they have received no results or benefits from their "investment"). In these cases, there is a strong unwillingness to accept previous decisions were wrong; many refuse to change course.
*Scam Savvy takes those needing to know how to spot and avoid scams through a series of scenarios commonly (and often successfully) used by scammers. It also advises the following if you think you have been scammed:
• Contact your bank as soon as possible to let them know what's .
• If the scammers have documents such as your driver's licence or passport, contact the police.
• Information on the latest known scams can be found at Scamwatch https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/scamwatch/
• For further advice, education or reporting online scams visit www.cert.govt.nz