The psychology behind all those scams

Don’t kid yourself, scammers use psychological tactics to rip off their victims. But keep this in mind too, these tactics depend upon your willingness to do what the scammer wants you to do. The most popular tactics include phantom fixation, social proof, authority and scarcity.

Phantom fixation is where you’re offered a prize or reward so compelling that you can think of nothing you want more. Those thoughts of winning that big prize can affect our otherwise good judgment when we can dream of nothing else.

Social proof is the idea that everyone else is getting in on the deal so it must be good. Often scammers will use Facebook messenger to make it appear that your friends or acquaintances are sending you a notice that you need to get in on this great deal. Other scammers rely on testimonials to trick you into thinking what they are peddling is…