Persuasion in Scams

Ferreira, Ana Rita; Jakobsson, Markus

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-6457-4_4

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Investors can sustain the scheme not only by their financial contribution but also by expanding the network through their connections (Rantala, 2019, p. 30). Ferreira and Jakobsson (2016) stated that to attract potential victims, various persuasion techniques are often used by fraud offenders during interactions to trick them into believing in their false promises. According to Ferreira et al (2015), to ensure their effectiveness, scam messages are often devised using the psychological principles of “authority”, “social proof”, “liking, similarity and deception”, “commitment, reciprocation and consistency” and “distraction”: The “authority” principle is associated with how people are generally used to respond to authority without questioning (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31).…”

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, conformity to authoritative figures’ wishes and commands is believed by society to be beneficial for one’s life (Milgram, 1974). The “social proof” principle concerns with people’s tendency to mimic what most of the people around them do or seem to be doing (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31). This principle views social evidence as a basis for people’s actions.…”

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, based on experience, people will most likely act in accordance with what they perceive as social evidence rather than contrary to it (Cialdini, 2009). The “liking, similarity and deception” principle refers to how people tend to follow other people whom they know, or look familiar or similar to themselves and also those whom they are attracted to (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31). In other words, people’s compliance or at least positive reaction is dependent upon the existence of some form of “relationships” (Schaab et al , 2017, p. 211). The “commitment, reciprocation and consistency” principle means that once people make a decision, they will commit (often publicly) to it through a specific action and will follow it until the end (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31).…”

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The “liking, similarity and deception” principle refers to how people tend to follow other people whom they know, or look familiar or similar to themselves and also those whom they are attracted to (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31). In other words, people’s compliance or at least positive reaction is dependent upon the existence of some form of “relationships” (Schaab et al , 2017, p. 211). The “commitment, reciprocation and consistency” principle means that once people make a decision, they will commit (often publicly) to it through a specific action and will follow it until the end (Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016, p. 31). Publicly viewed as being committed to a specific action is considered necessary for people in their social interaction (Schaab et al , 2017, p. 212).…”

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

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When gullibility becomes us: exploring the cultural roots of Indonesians’ susceptibility to investment fraud

Prabowo

2023

JFC

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Purpose This paper aims to explore various cultural and behavioral issues associated with the problem of investment fraud in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach By examining multiple cases of investment fraud in Indonesia as well as reviewing publicly available government reports, this study highlights several important cultural and behavioral issues associated with the susceptibility of Indonesian financial services consumers to investment fraud to understand better the dynamics of the victimization process. By using multiple cultural and behavioral theories, this study demonstrates how such issues shape the interactions between investment fraudsters and investment fraud victims. Findings This study demonstrates that multiple cultural and behavioral factors have created and shaped an environment where fraudsters can exploit people’s behavioral loopholes for their fraudulent schemes. In particular, the high power distance and high collectivism have been identified by this study as contributing to the high level of materialism in the country, which in turn makes people more susceptible to the temptation of get-rich-quick schemes. Investment fraudsters, being students of human behavior, use their behavioral knowledge to devise various means to deceive their victims. They use multiple psychological principles to stimulate target victims “gullibility to make them more vulnerable to fraudulent persuasion. In many cases, even financially literate people are not immune to fraudsters” deceitful messages. This study highlights gullibility production as a foundation for investment fraudsters to devise their means by which victims are manipulated to accept certain beliefs that depart from facts and evidence. Practical implications This paper contributes to the innovation in anti-fraud practice by building a better understanding of multiple cultural and behavioral issues associated with investment fraud victimization. Originality/value This paper brings a new perspective into the field of anti-fraud to stimulate innovation, in particular in investment fraud prevention.

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Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Investment Fraud At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

When gullibility becomes us: exploring the cultural roots of Indonesians’ susceptibility to investment fraud

Prabowo

2023

JFC

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“…First, liking, similarity, and deception ; authority ; and distraction were the three most common principles used in phishing emails, with fewer occurrences of commitment, reciprocation and consistency (Ferreira and Chilro, 2017; Ferreira et al , 2015; Ferreira and Lenzini, 2015). Second, the most common PPSE pairs included authority and/or distraction , suggesting attackers use these PPSEs in conjunction with other PPSEs (Ferreira et al , 2015; Ferreira and Jakobsson, 2016). Finally, social proof was rarely used in phishing emails (Ferreira and Lenzini, 2015; Ferreira and Teles, 2019).…”

Section: An Integrated Taxonomy Of Persuasion During Social Engineering Attacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

How social engineers use persuasion principles during vishing attacks

Jones

Armstrong

Tornblad

et al. 2020

ICS

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Purpose This study aims to examine how social engineers use persuasion principles during vishing attacks. Design/methodology/approach In total, 86 examples of real-world vishing attacks were found in articles and videos. Each example was coded to determine which persuasion principles were present in that attack and how they were implemented, i.e. what specific elements of the attack contributed to the presence of each persuasion principle. Findings Authority (A), social proof (S) and distraction (D) were the most widely used persuasion principles in vishing attacks, followed by liking, similarity and deception (L). These four persuasion principles occurred in a majority of vishing attacks, while commitment, reciprocation and consistency (C) did not. Further, certain sets of persuasion principles (i.e. authority, distraction, liking, similarity, and deception and social proof; , authority, commitment, reciprocation, and consistency, distraction, liking, similarity and deception, and social proof; and authority, distraction and social proof) were used more than others. It was noteworthy that despite their similarities, those sets of persuasion principles were implemented in different ways, and certain specific ways of implementing certain persuasion principles (e.g. vishers claiming to have authority over the victim) were quite rare. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how social engineers use persuasion principles during vishing attacks. As such, it provides important insight into how social engineers implement vishing attacks and lays a critical foundation for future research investigating the psychological aspects of vishing attacks. The present results have important implications for vishing countermeasures and education.

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