The best cons rely on the greed of the mark.
I saw the above cartoon on The Onion and realized why my SPAM box is being filled regularly with missives that my "renewal" of McAfee anti-virus or notifications that my new iPhone was being shipped. Of course, they wanted me to click on a link or call a number to "cancel" the transaction, and during that call or chat, would ask for my credit card number. That's why these e-mails were in the SPAM box in the first place. Why Google doesn't just delete them outright is beyond me.
But as the cartoon above illustrates, there is another angle as well - greed. The best cons rely on the greed of the Mark. You want the victim to believe he is conning you and thus will suspend his usual skepticism because greed takes over.
I never thought of it, but "Kelly" points out that some folks might think that they are pulling a fast one on "McAfee" or whatever, by demanding a refund for an anti-virus software they never paid for in the first place. Of course, they never get the refund, just their credit card data stolen.
Note that these cons use the name of McAfee (or Norton) anti-virus and not the Russian Kaspersky anti-virus. Funny thing that, perhaps they don't want to besmirch the "good name" of their fellow countrymen. And by the way, maybe in the dawn of the Internet age these programs had merit, but today, most operating systems and web browsers have anti-virus software built-in. Windows Defender, later superseded by "Microsoft Security Essentials" does a good job of filtering out viruses - for free. Some have argued that the "old school" anti-virus programs have devolved into spyware and bloatware themselves, after their founders sold off the company (and the company gets sold again and again).
Of course, anyone who has access to the Internet would realize they never paid for "McAfee" anti-virus or any other software or an iPhone or whatever. I check my account daily and log my purchases so I can keep track of spending - and try to keep it at $100 a day (which is getting harder to do with inflation).
One thing that is annoying about credit cards is that some merchants use obscure wording for their account names. Today I found a charge for $87 for "WPP*SE DEPOSITORY ACCOUNT" which sounds kind of sketchy. I was all set to report this as fraud and cancel my credit card (which is fun when you are travelling) when I realized it was a charge for "Peachtree Pest Control" for bug-spraying. I only realized this after I scrolled through pages of charges on the BoA site and saw another charge to the same account. For some reason, you can only see the "details" of a charge after it goes through (which said "Pest control services" and gave the phone number of the merchant). When it is just a "hold" all you get is that cryptic account name which I guess someone in their accounting department thought was descriptive. Sadly, a lot of merchants do this.
Sadly too, when I called Bank of America, they mentioned that I cannot dispute the charge until it goes through, and even then, the "merchant" probably gets his ill-gotten money if the charge was fraudulent. There should be a mechanism in place to allow a card-holder to dispute a temporary hold before it becomes a permanent one. Maybe there is, but I don't know of it.
The sad thing is, too, that the credit card companies basically don't care about fraud, as it is just a cost of doing business. They are skimming 3-5% on every purchase everyone makes by credit card, and collecting 22% interest from chumps who can't pay off their balance every month (which eventually encompasses 70% of America at one time or another). So fraud is tolerated in the name of making money. Kind of sick, really, if you think about it.
It never ceases to amaze me how clever these fraudsters are in figuring out complex ways to scam Americans out of their money. The designer dog scam, for example, used my stolen debit card to pay for ads for non-existent dogs. People stupidly pay "shipping fees" on these non-existent dogs, using Western Union. The fraudsters use a fake ad on Craigslist to enlist "secret shoppers" to "test" Western Union in order to launder the proceeds from the "sale" of the non-existent dogs. A Google Voice phone number is used to transfer calls to Russia. Pretty slick, and I guess if you are poor and living in a 3rd world country, well, you have a lot of time on your hands to figure out scams like this - or they evolve over time as you learn from successes - and failures.
The best thing about "Greed of the Mark" scams is that no one feels sorry for the victims. If the victim goes to the Police to complain, they risk being exposed as potential scammers themselves. "Let me get this straight - you were hoping to get a 'refund' on something you never paid for in the first place? Uh-huh!"
Similarly in the Designer Dog or Craigslist scams, no one feels sorry for a chump who hoped to buy a $5000 to $10,000 item for less than 1/4 the price. You thought you were being clever - but greed again, causes people to shut down their skepticism.
Maybe that is a good way to spot scams. If you think you are "getting away" with something, chances are, it is the other guy who is getting away with murder - and you are the victim. Rather than give in to greed, use it as police tape to mark off bad deals and to prompt you to be more skeptical. Because whether it is a Nigerian Prince offering you millions of dollars or Winn-Dixie offering a "BOGO" on 12-packs of seltzer* chances are, you are being scammed big-time.
*We recently went to Winn-Dixie to get some things as it is near where we store the trailer and truck. Unlike Walmart which displays prices on everything and has few contrived "bargains" almost everything at Winn-Dixie was a BOGO or a discount or some come-on if you use their "frequent shopper" program - which accumulates "points" you can use to pay for purchases later on. I looked at the receipt and according to them, we "saved" nearly $20 on $40 worth of groceries. In reality, we bought $20 worth of groceries, period, and saved nothing. But I am sure there are many folks who think they are somehow getting away with murder by shopping at Winn-Dixie. Frankly, I thought their prices were scandalous, even with "discounts", compared to Wal-Mart.
UPDATE: They say greed and fear drive the market. Fear of missing out, fear of losing money, greed to make a mint.
These SPAM cons work the same way, I think. Fear of identity theft ("Someone has charged a new iPhone to my card! I'd better call right away!"). Greed ("Hey, free iPhone, or better yet, a refund to my bank account! Sweet!"). Either way it works, it gets people, particularly the elderly, to call.
