Who Would Fall For That?

Over the Labor Day weekend, I received an email from a member regarding a recent purchase. In brief, someone pretending to be the seller of an expensive item on eBay sent her an email solicitation for direct purchase (bypassing eBay). She responded, expressing her interest. The "seller" proceeded to email her explicit "eBay approved" instructions for completing the transaction via Western Union. The person also included several assurances that the transaction was protected by eBay, etc. They even included an "eBay Fax number" for sending a copy of her drivers license, etc to verify that she was a legitimate buyer! Assured by the unsupported claims of security, the buyer sent the complete stranger a large sum of cash through her local Western Union office.

After the "seller" stopped responding to her emails, she emailed me for my advice on how to contact the person so she could check up on the item's deliver status. What proceeded was a lengthy back-and-forth email correspondence between myself and the victim. With a sympathetic tone, I explained exactly what had happened; why her transaction was not an actual eBay transaction, why she was almost certain to never receive the item (or her cash) and why she needed to contact her local law enforcement authorities. However, even after outlining for her in detail exactly what had actually occurred ("...lady, you have been swindled...robbed...defrauded..."), she was still somehow convinced that she was going to eventually receive the item or if not, at least a cash refund from the seller or compensation from eBay. She was also certain that the item was probably lost or delayed in transit and that the seller's email was "down."

I was left shaking my head in disbelief. How could someone who, by her emails, otherwise seemed reasonably intelligent, willingly volunteer for what to the rest of us, was clearly a scam? Who in their right mind would send a large amount of cash to a total stranger?  I am sure you have often wondered the same thing. We tend to assume that the people who fall for Internet scams are either blinded by greed or burdened with incredible stupidity. Or both.

The truth however, is much often more complex. Check out this recent New Yorker article.  It gives new meaning to the old saw, "There are no victims. Only volunteers."

Griff