MIMIKAMA
This is how fraudsters exploit people

But is that really the case? Do only certain people fall victim to various scams - or can it affect everyone?

After 11 years of Mimikama, I dare to say that it can happen to anyone, because scammers work with emotions. A suitable example are the false “ Hello Mom… ” or “ Hello Dad… ” WhatsApp messages that have been in circulation for at least a year now and there are people who are still falling victim to this type of fraud. (This scam is about the fact that your child needs help, the old smartphone broke, they have now received a new cell phone number and the “child” needs to make a quick transfer.) ( Here )

Why is the scam so successful?

On the one hand it's about EMOTION and on the other hand it's about WHATSAPP. There are two important aspects here:

  1. EMOTION: Your own child needs help, and when the child asks for help, then of course you as a mom or dad want to help.
  2. WHATSAPP: If your “child” contacts you via WhatsApp and you read this, then you will “hear” your child say what was written and the message will automatically give you a boost of trust. have described why this is the case here .

Even if the content from the scammers is unbelievable and mostly full of errors, we BELIEVE it. The reason: We were manipulated by EMOTION, and the gut feeling, which is often interpreted correctly, stopped at that moment!

In other words: Fraudsters are manipulators and take advantage of this. So if a fraudster triggers emotion and trust in us, then it is no longer relevant whether the fraud/lie is top-notch or a flop in terms of content. In this phase it is often the case that we no longer check whether something is right or not, because our gut feeling has already said something completely different!

So you as a human being are the weak point

Fraudsters exploit the “human factor” as the supposedly weakest link in the security chain to realize their criminal intent. Where cybercriminals are stuck thanks to current software and systems, firewalls and virus scanners, they try to defraud people in other ways.

Human characteristics such as emotions , willingness to help , trust , fear or respect exploited in order to cleverly manipulate people.

In this way, cybercriminals trick the victim into disclosing confidential information, circumventing security functions, making transfers or installing malware.

But this is nothing new and has served as the basis for a wide variety of fraud schemes since time immemorial. However, in the age of digital communication and social networks, more and more effective new opportunities are emerging for fraudsters to reach millions of potential victims in a short period of time.

The aim of fraudsters is to provoke certain behaviors in victims by making them believe a certain circumstance.

It is important that you have previously gathered knowledge from the target person's personal environment. With this background knowledge and the pretense of being someone special, a target person is manipulated.

An example of this are the WhatsApp messages mentioned above. The classic example: The fraudster sends a message via WhatsApp, pretending to be a “child”. Through clever manipulation, the target person is at some point convinced that they actually have their own daughter or son on the other end. In the worst case scenario, the victim falls into the trap and transfers amounts between EUR 1,000 and EUR 4,000. ( Here )

Fraudsters benefit from the human vulnerability and thereby decipher the psyche of their victims!

Fraudsters not only use sophisticated technical methods, but also psychological mechanisms that exploit our deepest emotions and motivations. Often these mechanisms are not explicitly known to the victims in advance and are only apparent at second glance.

If a victim has knowledge of an attempted manipulation, it is much less successful.

Therefore, at this point I would like to explain how fraudsters work and how the psyche is decoded!

Fraudsters work with pressure and fear, greed, curiosity, trust, praise and willingness to help!

In detail:

Pressure and fear
Possible penalties are threatened if action is not taken. As in the case of the fake Euro or Internetpol employees. Apparently there is a major investigation. If you refuse to provide information, you are threatened with 5 years in prison. In a well-known case, people were asked to transfer the money from their own bank account to a foreign account in order to avoid a prison sentence. ( Here )

Greed
A reward or possible advantages are promised, as was recently the case with a supposed “Milka competition”. This was again sent via WhatsApp and again from a contact that you already had in your contact list. So again the “WhatsApp phenomenon” as already described above. WhatsApp users were lured into a trap under false pretenses. Fraudsters posed as “MILKA” and promised users a Milka Easter gift basket. ( Here )

Curiosity and interest
Supposedly explosive information is promised or exciting content is hinted at, such as the “Is that you on the video?” links, which were also sent by a known contact via Facebook Messenger. ( Here )

Trust
Supposed similarities are mentioned in order to generate additional trust or the fraudsters can often build trust in the area of ​​so-called “love scamming”. Like in this case, in which a fraudster managed to gain a woman's trust over the course of several months and was ultimately able to steal a six-figure sum of money. ( Here )

Praise and flattery
The victim is grabbed by his vanity in order to obtain information (e.g. in the form of an interview request to a “recognized expert in a specific field”)

Helpfulness
People like to help other people. Attackers take advantage of this by encouraging behavior that supposedly helps a third party in an emergency situation. Imagine getting a call and it seems like you have your son or daughter crying on the phone to tell you that something serious has happened. These tricks are used by scammers to get your money. ( Here )
It doesn't always have to be a phone call! The scammers may also send a WhatsApp message or an SMS saying something bad has happened. Please call me” ( here )

A few tips on how to protect yourself from this:

  • Always remain critical: Don't just transfer money to anyone. If in doubt, ask someone you trust or look online to see whether someone has already published something on this topic. Be suspicious and stay calm.
  • Make sure: Make sure the caller is really a relative. Call him back. In the case mentioned above, it is best to use the “old” telephone number.
  • Money, jewelry and other valuables: Never give your valuables to people you do not know.
  • Consult: If it is a dubious “emergency” then simply say: “I don’t know you, I need to talk to my family first” and then hang up.
  • Never allow yourself to be put under pressure: Don't allow yourself to be put under time or emotional pressure, but question the situation. Would your daughter/son, grandchild, friend or work colleague really contact you online with a financial emergency?
  • Confidential information: Never give out confidential information such as account numbers, credit card details or login details, etc
  • Access to your computer: allow unknown callers from “ Microsoft ” access to your computer (for example by installing the software).
  • Don't be ashamed: Nobody has to be ashamed if they are a victim of fraud. Trust the police and file a report.

Recommendation: Cheaters, impostors, liars – there are always people who fool others on a large scale. They often lie, gamble and deceive for years. Why and how do they do this? And how can we find out about them? The criminal psychologist Lydia Benecke on the psychology of manipulation . ( Here )


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )