There is no honour among thieves.
Whatever story you are told, always remember it is just a story that someone has relayed to you. The ‘story’ is just that – a fictional tale that is designed to tug on your heartstrings or make you question your perceptions. It will use language and descriptions that encourage you to believe the scammers and take them at face value. A 'no lose' proposition is never what it seems.
Online fraud is now so prevalent that ‘Suckers lists’ now exist – 2014 in England a list of 160,000 names was discovered to be circulating on the Dark Web. The Suckers List is made up of people who parted with their money too easily and have been scammed before. These contacts were compiled, updated and sold to other scammers as a bulk data package for years before it was discovered. When the UK authorities started contacting the people on the list most were insistent they had never been scammed once. They were too savvy, smart and educated to fall victim to some criminal. They had lost money on some investments sure, but they were a victim of circumstance. Some people said they felt insulted by the authorities’ suggestion that they were vulnerable to or had been scammed. Denial is a natural reaction when someone accuses you of something you know isn’t true.
A website is often referred to as a ‘shop front’. Keep in mind that all you might be viewing is a digital magic show. To use the real world counterpart, let’s assume you’ve been sent a FREE ticket by a complete stranger to the greatest magic show that will ever be performed. Understandably, you’re intrigued so you decide to go. It’s the start of the performance and you’re seated in the audience. You cannot control the props, lighting, stage, smoke effects, other audience members or sounds – how long would you be sitting there before you witnessed something you couldn’t rationally explain? David Copperfield has inexplicably gained the power of human flight – yet he can only do this in a few big, dark rooms near Las Vegas, not outside in the parking lot. You are seeing what the magician WANTS you to see. The con artist is no different – they have total control of all images, links and data they direct you to from their site. Like a magician’s props – stacked card decks or concealed pockets – they’re used to misdirect, mislead or misinform their victims.
Purchases over the web can be incredibly difficult and expensive to recover. The processes take a long time and there is no guarantee of success. Lawyers are expensive and scammers know that, for most people, it is too much hassle or expense to try and recover their funds so they walk away, accepting their losses. The system makes the scammers lives considerably easier.