Why Good People Become Scam Victims: Insights and Prevention

I consider myself a lucky guy, and it’s not because I’ve avoid the list of scams victims. Rather, it’s because I have a collection of good friends. What I mean is this—most of the friends I have are nice people. Many of the people I know are even tempered, good hearted, decent men and women. Even to a fault. From business colleagues to those I socialize with, the majority of them treat others, even strangers, fairly and decently. The world needs more people like that. And that’s why I worry about them becoming scam victims. Learn how to spot fraud and avoid becoming a victim. Brought to you by the Easy Prey podcast. Get this free ebook today. It’s not because they’re not intelligent. They’re all smart. It’s because nice people make good scam victims Because as smart as they are, their nice-people characteristics, their tendencies to give most people the time a day, a willing ear, and the benefit of the doubt—make them more susceptible for scam artists. And it’s not the only reason I’m concerned. It’s also because scammers aren’t letting up anytime soon. In much the same way decent people tend to consistently act decently, con artists, frauds and scammers are constantly looking to trick people out of their money. You might think that with the COVID-19 pandemic and all the trouble the world went through in 2020 with the loss of jobs and income, and a world health crisis, scammers would’ve taken a break. Not the case. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in 2020 there U.S. citizens reported 2.2 million instances of fraud. Those cased added up to at least $3.3 billion dollars in losses. That means when out-of-work, hurting, fearful people needed money the most, scammers were right there, ready to take advantage of their vulnerability. You can read an article about the scams from 2020 on the FTC website . Not at all.  It is absolutely possible for anyone to learn how to develop some skills and habits. One of the reasons I created Easyprey.com and started the Easy Prey podcast was to help everyone learn how to avoid fraud, scams, and other dangers we face, online and offline. On the website, you’ll find a handful of blog posts about scams and fraud. One of them is precisely about the topic I’m on right now. Here’s a link: The blog post includes a colorful and fun infographic showing 8 easy tips to help anyone avoid walking into a scam. I’ve published 60 episodes so far, with experts touching on everything from romance scams to pet scams, Ponzi schemes and psychopaths. You can find all the episodes here. If you subscribe, you’ll get alerts whenever a new episode is posted.