Stuart Simonsen is a financial industry expert who advises clients on the financial implications of bankruptcy, lawsuits, and fraud accusations. In the following article, Stuart Simonsen discusses how individuals can avoid being targeted by white-collar criminals and falling victim to these schemes.
The sad truth is, those who fail to understand the tricks of criminals are usually victims before they know what happened. To avoid this, Stuart Simonsen fraud expert examines the anatomy of deception and what individuals should know when it comes to the consequences of white-collar crime.
According to the experts in criminal justice, white-collar crimes are an ever-evolving category of misconduct that typically involve use of technology in today’s day and age. Crimes like these, and specifically fraud, also implement tactics of establishing trust in order to sell fake services, intangible goods, or even stolen property.
In this article, Stuart Simonsen fraud expert provides a look at the various scams people fall prey to and covers what each looks like in greater detail. By the conclusion, not only should these strategies be clear, but their consequences should be equally as easy to recognize.
Tactics of Fraud
Stuart Simonsen fraud expert says that the danger that one cannot see is often the danger the one falls prey to. It is possible to be prepared, even with the advent of the new technology that makes scam artists and other crimes so numerous.
In order to help the general public be better prepared to ward away fraud, Stuart Simonsen fraud expert prepared a list of the top 3 tactics of fraud below.
- White-Collar Criminals Prey on Emotions
- Many Criminals Sell Fraudulent Goods
- Criminals Gather Personal Information
Stuart Simonsen examines each of these strategies more closely to not only be prepared to outmaneuver fraudulent attempts but understand their consequences as well.
Criminals Prey on Emotions
Stuart Simonsen states that whether initiating a cybercrime or calling to scam someone, a person attempting to profit from deception will often interact with their victim in a way that manipulates the emotions. All salespeople must be able to establish trust and sympathize with a potential customer to hope for a sale; unfortunately, white-collar criminals are no different.
Common fraud schemes are to intimidate, seduce, or even bond with their victim. For example, Stuart Simonsen reports that a person attempting to commit fraud may do so by posing as a person in authority. They may be able to hack into an account or even a number to pose as someone you know and create a sense of urgency or claim to be the police demanding their victim pay a fine.
Some white-collar criminals add to this by flattering a victim’s sense of intelligence according to Stuart Simonsen fraud expert. This is especially the case in false crypto-currency schemes; a criminal may tell their victim that they know enough about finances to risk money on alleged cryptocurrency.
The consequences of falling prey to these schemes are not only monetary if the fraud succeeds, but they can be emotional, too. A sense of loss in the case of a scam artist who earned the victim’s trust is not uncommon and can be difficult to recover from.
Criminals Sell Fraudulent Goods
Sadly, whether online or even in person, fraud that involves goods which do not actually exist is common. Some criminals in the white-collar category can advertise the selling of furniture, or even vehicles, quite convincingly online. Stuart Simonsen fraud expert says that the advent of social media has, unfortunately, only made this more possible for criminals.
Criminals can very easily concoct an entire website and information page on an alleged product. They then send out links on trustworthy sites such as Facebook, where victims find themselves taken to a page that looks very reputable and paying for an item that will never materialize.
To avoid the consequences of these crafty online traps, be wary of sellers online in general. Especially watch out for links to alleged payment plans, websites without a full phone number, and suspicious domain names.
Criminals Gather Personal Information
Finally, Stuart Simonsen fraud expert reports that the most common example of fraud is theft of personal information. This can be done over the phone and, again, involves white collar criminals posing as a representative of a larger authoritative organization.
Sometimes, this can be a bank, or even a service claiming to block certain numbers. Once a criminal has enough information on a victim, such as their credit card number or even social security number, they can help themselves to many of the victim’s belongings in the place of the victim.
To avoid this, no matter what form the scam takes, be sure to reserve passwords and account numbers, and even email address information, for oneself.
In Conclusion
The anatomy of fraud is sadly linked to the human connections white-collar criminals take advantage of. They prey on emotions, building trust and accessing personal information in order to steal goods or even services without any legal return. To avoid these consequences, keep up to date on fraud schemes like the ones mentioned above and keep yourself safe from these offenders.