Are scam victims stupid? Scam Detectives says no!

At Scam Detectives HQ we monitor Internet discussion boards and news sites for information about the latest scams and ripoffs so we can help you to stay safer online.

Although this site has only been online for a year, the methods and psychology of scams has been a personal interest for many years, and we’ve seen how scammers have become more and more clever and sophisticated in their approaches as technology and use of the Internet has developed.

As such, we completely understand how a new Internet user, or a user who isn’t “net smart” could easily fall victim to an online scam.

Unknown unknowns

Unless you’re technically savvy and know that email addresses can be faked, links in emails can look like they go to one website whilst actually going somewhere completely different and that it’s very easy to download logos and website layouts to create almost perfect copies of official websites, why would you think that an email from HMRC or Barclays Bank was anything other than, well, an email from HMRC or Barclays Bank?

When banks like MBNA actually ENCOURAGE you to click on links in their emails to log into your online credit card account, why wouldn’t you click on a link in an email from Paypal or Ebay?

If you’ve never knowingly been exposed to online fraud or dishonesty, why would you think that the guy (or girl) you’ve met on an Internet dating site isn’t everything they’ve claimed to be? People do begin relationships over the phone, via email or on Internet message boards and I’m sure we all know someone that met their partner in this way. I’ve been married for almost 9 years to a wonderful woman who will freely admit that she started having feelings for me well before we met, simply through our regular telephone calls when we worked at different branches of the same Company.

Every day, people are targeted by “real-life” criminals who con them out of money, steal personal possessions, commit acts of physical violence. Nobody suggests it was their own fault, they “should have known better” or that they “asked for it”. Or at least if they do, they’re quickly shouted down by the voice of reason.

So why does the Internet community have so little sympathy or regard for victims of Internet scams?

These are just a few comments posted on the website of a National newspaper reporting on a woman who lost £10,000 to a romance scammer posing as an Army medic serving in Afghanistan.

She deserved everything she got for being so stupid and naive

Are people really still this gullible with the internet?

serves you right, sorry but your head needs a good wobble if you fall for internet scams

Most of the comments were in a similar vein, with one particularly offensive contributor giving the scammer “10 out of 10″ and wishing him “the best of luck”.

Similar comments can be found on any forum where someone complains about being ripped off by “phishing” emails, fake job offers, lottery scams or basically any online fraud.

a bad thing for all of us

Comments like this serve only to attach a stigma to being scammed which inevitably leads to a reluctance to report the crime for fear of being ridiculed, which is a bad thing for all of us.

If scam victims don’t tell their story because they think that people will think them stupid or gullible then how will new Internet users learn how to avoid falling victim to similar scams?

Despite seemingly popular opinion, at Scam Detectives we believe that victims of scams are not stupid, gullible or naive.

Our experiences of talking with scam victims has shown us that many are kind, warm hearted, generous spirited and live their lives believing that other people are honest, trustworthy and genuine until they’re proven otherwise.

These are admirable qualities which are unfortunately taken advantage of by heartless scammers, and it’s on the shoulders of those scammers that we should firmly place any blame that is to be laid.

If you’re a scam victim who has chosen to tell your story, you deserve our support and our respect for displaying the courage to stand up and say “I was scammed. I can’t turn back the clock and do things differently but I want other people to know what happened to me so I can help stop it happening to someone else” and we at Scam Detectives salute you.

What do you think? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below or drop us a tweet using the hash tag #scamvictims

Tags: scam victims