CLEVELAND, Ohio — Our personal and financial information is in the crosshairs of con artists like never before, leaving victims of scams to sort through a wide range of emotions.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank continued his National Consumer Protection Week coverage Friday morning with a look at the psychology of scams.
What mind games are bad actors using on their targets, and how those they con can mentally move forward.
That’s because for many victims they experience a roller coaster of emotions from fear to embarrassment and regret.
Feelings Monica Rus is all too familiar with.
“I'm scared. That kills me all the time that I didn't do more research like I should have," said Rus.
The Euclid woman wrote a $4,000 check for home improvements that never happened.
She found herself victimized twice.
"It hurts to this day, because I feel like we're smarter than that," said Rus.
First comes the financial fallout from being manipulated, followed by that flood of feelings.
So, how do victims find a way to move forward and maybe shed some of those heavy emotions?
To get that answer, I sat down with Sheerli Ratner, a clinical psychologist with Metro Hospital.
She said scam victims can move forward by recognizing the difference between feeling embarrassed and living with shame.
"I am extremely embarrassed and humiliated, that's a form of taking responsibility and saying ok, this happened to me, it wasn't good. I made a bad choice, now what? As opposed to guilt and shame, this happened to me, I'm a bad person," said Ratner.
One of the biggest things Ratner said we all need to realize is that those trying to take advantage of us are professionals and have a firm grasp of psychology.
"Part of why people feel bad sometimes they they've been scammed is that how could that happen to me? I'm a smart educated person. You are, and so are they," said Ratner.
With that in mind, there are some questions we can ask ourselves to prevent falling prey to their tactics.
"What are some of my own fears and anxieties in life and how do I make sure that I keep those in check," said Ratner.
Ratner said an example of that is someone who is afraid of aging.
Scammers tap into our unconscious fears that a person can easily get suckered into buying an expensive face cream that doesn't do what it claims.
"What are my fears? Turn them into self-love, then I'm less susceptible to being vulnerable out there. The stronger I am inside, the stronger I will be out there," said Ratner.
At the end of the day, Ratner believes the best line of defense is our own self-awareness.
"Should I ask myself more questions? Should i look into this more? Should I ask other people to tell me what they think? Click on the inside before you click out there," said Ratner.
Ratner commends people like Rus, who come forward to share their stories.
"Now they use their pain and turn it into purpose," said Rus.
Rus stepped out behind the curtain of embarrassment and shame to save someone else the same financial and emotional grief she'd endured.
"You think things like that, oh, that's never going to happen to me. Well, here we're just trying to add a room and it happened to us, so it can happen to anybody," said Rus.
I also spoke with Susan Elbers, a clinical psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic.
She told me National Consumer Protection Week is so important because it helps us all recognize the psychological blind spots that scammers use to lure us in.
Among them, creating a sense of urgency with the hope we respond quickly.
The other thing Elbers said to watch for is someone trying to use what's called the "foot in door" technique.
"They ask you to commit to something small with the hope in the future that you will commit to something much larger. They also use the technique of reciprocity. This is where they give you something knowing in human nature that we tend to reciprocate. We feel a sense of obligation when someone gives us a gift or small token," said Elbers.
Elbers said another avenue scammers would pursue is authority bias, where we tend to be more trusting of people with power, and they might pose as police officers or FBI agents to gain our trust.
I spent this past week alerting you to the latest scams out there and the steps you can take to stay ahead of scammers and hackers.
My work doesn't end as National Consumer Protection Week wraps up.
I will continue working with those agencies, deploying resources to help Ohioans as our coverage expands well beyond the last five days.
However, I also want to work with you.
Please email me at Michael.Brookbank@wews.com with any consumer-related concerns or if you have been victimized by a scam.
I am committed to following through to protect your personal and financial well-being better.
