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Who are the victims?
Victims are anyone who puts their trust in the scammer. This may sound
obvious but the scammers target people who come across as needy,
desperate, or gullible. Such people are more likely to be swayed and
coerced by a scammers manipulative banter and are thus prime targets.
The scammers appeal to peoples desires of getting rich quick, living the
easy life, leaving the 'rat race', achieving financial freedom...you get the
picture To sum it up. Scammers prey on the people's inherent desire to get
'more for less'.
However, the following groups of people are particularly vulnerable to the
scammers:
Elderly: Senior citizens may lack the mental acuity to identify or rebuke a
fraudulent sales pitch. Elderly are also lonelier than the general population
and are thus more likely to listen to scammers sales pitch as a means of
forging a 'friendship'.
Stay at home mothers: Stay at home moms find at home work appealing
since they can make money while watching their children instead of sending
them to daycare.
Suppose a mother posts on a forum asking if anyone knows of any work at
home jobs. She writes a short blurb about how her day is constrained by
having to take care of her children and so on. A scammer reads the post
identifies her as being 'needy' so he strikes sending her a private message
regarding an envelope stuffing opportunity. The scammer tries to fulfill her
needs by offering an 'employment opportunity' that will fit her contained
schedule. The mom gets the message, reads the scammers sales pitch,
and mails off her registration fee and in that instant becomes a victim.
Disabled: Disabled people may find a regular work environment unsuitable
or too demanding and are easy prey to scammers promising easy at home
work.
Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs are always looking for a way to leave the rat
race and achieve financial independence as a 'self made man'. However,
the vast majority of entrepreneurs fail to achieve these goals. They are
therefore susceptible to scammers who promise entrepreneurial success
for relatively little work.
College students: With tuition rates and living costs rising, college students
are always strapped for cash. Students also find it difficult to hold part time
jobs because of demanding, time consuming course work. The opportunity
to 'Make Thousands In Your Spare Time' may seem like dream come true,
but it is just a scam targeted specifically at college students who desperately
need the money.
How do scammers find their victims?
Scammers have many ways of finding their victims such as telemarketing,
posting flyers, infomercials, seminars, newspapers, and various forms
internet advertising (bulk email, forums, pay per click, SEO) ect.
Once technique scammers use to gauge the effectiveness of an advertising
campaign is to add an extension number to the end of their 800 number.
When someone calls the number, they are asked to read the extension.
Since the scammer puts ads in multiple publications in varying cities they
can link each location or publication with a different extension number. If a
certain location is lagging, circulation can be stopped. Or circulation can be
increased to areas that are showing
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