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| Spying on the Scammers UK TV |
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| Nominal Animal:
I'm particularly easy target for confidence gamers, those who use social skills to engineer responses they need to gain advantage. I definitely don't think it has anything to do with stupid or intelligence, just social skills. Mine aren't that great; I think too much, and am too easily swayed by dangling a hard-to-solve problem in front of me. I tend to not fall to email scams and such, where I can construct my response; it's the real-time social situation that gets me. And I have seen lots, from various billing scams to inept subcontractors to clients who see you as a source of work/resources to be exploited with such exploits being a "win", and so on. Also, I tend to not fall to the money scams, but to the more personal ones. Scamming is a skill, and countering/shielding from scams is another. You don't need to be stupid to fall for a scam, just unaware and too trusting. I would like scammers to be severely punished, severely enough to make that way of life a non-starter. Instead, we have people who glorify it, as heist movies and such (Ocean's Eleven comes to mind). Indentured servitude for twice the amount of resources at risk would be a good starting point, in my opinion, but my opinion is probably a bit too severe. |
| Zero999:
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on March 05, 2020, 03:19:48 am ---I'm particularly easy target for confidence gamers, those who use social skills to engineer responses they need to gain advantage. I definitely don't think it has anything to do with stupid or intelligence, just social skills. Mine aren't that great; I think too much, and am too easily swayed by dangling a hard-to-solve problem in front of me. I tend to not fall to email scams and such, where I can construct my response; it's the real-time social situation that gets me. And I have seen lots, from various billing scams to inept subcontractors to clients who see you as a source of work/resources to be exploited with such exploits being a "win", and so on. Also, I tend to not fall to the money scams, but to the more personal ones. Scamming is a skill, and countering/shielding from scams is another. You don't need to be stupid to fall for a scam, just unaware and too trusting. I would like scammers to be severely punished, severely enough to make that way of life a non-starter. Instead, we have people who glorify it, as heist movies and such (Ocean's Eleven comes to mind). Indentured servitude for twice the amount of resources at risk would be a good starting point, in my opinion, but my opinion is probably a bit too severe. --- End quote --- It sounds like you might have some social anxiety. If it's having a negative impact on your work, relationships etc. then you should consider getting help with it. I think everyone is vulnerable to some kind of scam or con. We all have needs and weaknesses: greed, lust, loneliness etc. which can be exploited by someone cunning enough and with the right means to do so. Being aware of one's weaknesses only puts them in a stronger position. I bet lots of victims thought it would never happen to them. |
| Nominal Animal:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on March 08, 2020, 10:07:56 pm ---It sounds like you might have some social anxiety. --- End quote --- Yeah. As I have mentioned before, I burned out (more than once) due to forcing myself to run a business when I'm not suited for that kind of operational model, and to work with people who were happy to exploit me, and am now struggling with the after effects. I was too stubborn to get help (typical Finnish male trait) until I completely broke down, and seem to have all kinds of residual symptoms for the rest of my life. For example, stress gives me literal rash and some other skin issues. I can recommend cognitive-behavioural therapy even for rational-analytical scientist/engineer-type person like me. It's not lying on your back on your sofa and talking about stuff, it is the mental equivalent of going to the gym to become strong enough to deal with whatever you need to; with the therapist being more like a coach helping you find the things you need to work on. It works. The physical side effects one learns to live with. One could even argue that "social anxiety" is the norm for Finns, anyway. It would certainly explain why Finns and Finland in general are so easily scammed by socially adept operators. Anyway, my point was that being susceptible to certain forms of scamming or confidence games has nothing to do with stupidity or intelligence, because scamming is a skill not unrelated to how illusionists/magicians do their thing. |
| Mr. Scram:
--- Quote from: Buriedcode on March 04, 2020, 11:14:45 pm ---It is always interesting to see people claim that those who fall for scams are just stupid - as often it is that attitude that allows people to be scammed. Plenty of well educated people fall prey to scams, because of the "well, I'm too clever to be wrong". Just look at how many Nobel prize winners went off the rails with pseudoscience. Engineers are also vulnerable to scams, and whilst its easy to scoff at those victims who fall for it, of course the perpetrators should be punished. --- End quote --- Interestingly about half of people believe they're not susceptible to advertising. Research shows they not only are, but people who believe this are actually more susceptible to it. |
| SilverSolder:
--- Quote from: Mr. Scram on March 09, 2020, 06:22:44 am --- --- Quote from: Buriedcode on March 04, 2020, 11:14:45 pm ---It is always interesting to see people claim that those who fall for scams are just stupid - as often it is that attitude that allows people to be scammed. Plenty of well educated people fall prey to scams, because of the "well, I'm too clever to be wrong". Just look at how many Nobel prize winners went off the rails with pseudoscience. Engineers are also vulnerable to scams, and whilst its easy to scoff at those victims who fall for it, of course the perpetrators should be punished. --- End quote --- Interestingly about half of people believe they're not susceptible to advertising. Research shows they not only are, but people who believe this are actually more susceptible to it. --- End quote --- Plus, they marketers are very clever... e.g. they have certain brands of cigarettes that are never advertised anywhere, designed to appeal to people that believe they are not susceptible to advertising! :-DD |
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