 Mesa Police Department FraudSTOP
What is Fraud and How do the Con Artists Succeed?
According to Black’s Law Dictionary fraud involves an intentional perversion
of the truth for the purpose of deceiving someone to part with something of
value. In Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The New Psychology of Persuasion
(revised edition, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1993) he outlines
six psychological triggers that con artists use to succeed. These include:
Reciprocation: the con artist gives the victim assistance or a free
gift causing the victim to feel obligated to offer something in return.
(Example: they send you a calendar in hopes that you will send them a donation).
Commitment and consistency: the con artist gets the victim to accept a
certain proposition and then refers back to it later to persuade the victim to
commit to something further. The social embarrassment of seeming indecisive or
inconsistent may cause the victim to agree to some action. (Example: they get
you to agree that it is sad that children are starving in some parts of this
world and then ask you to send money to help them).
Social proof: the con artist refers to others who have participated
saying, “Everyone does it”. (Example: they say that one of your neighbors or
fellow church members has participated)
Liking: the con artist builds a rapport with the victim making it
harder to resist them when the victim’s guard is down. (Example: you mention
that you are a veteran of WWII and they say that they are a veteran of Desert
Storm)
Authority: the con artist seems to be an authority to support their
claims or products. (Example: they claim to be a doctor to back up their claims
about a health product)
Scarcity: the con artist will play on the fear of missing out by
making the offer seem scarce or limiting the time to make a decision (Example:
“Act now, the offer expires at midnight”)
In addition, they may use guilt, threats, humiliation or embarrassment as
tools. (Example: they say that you’ve won enough money to help your
grandchildren so if you’re a good grandparent you can’t possibly turn that
down).
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