Money fraud - how do they know who to target?

It seems that many people are being tricked out of money nowadays. You hear about fraudsters who use various clever approaches to convince the victim in their sights that - say - their money is in danger and needs to be moved, or that it can earn a better return if invested differently. 

In other cases there might be some prior oblique request for banking and ID details - in some quite different context - that arouses no suspicion in the victim's mind. Then, when the time is ripe, the fraudsters use this handy information to get past a bank's checking mechanisms, and quietly empty the victim's accounts.

In the more direct approach to the victim, the fraudsters invoke such emotions as panic or greed, or tap into an earnest desire to do the right thing - whatever it takes to make the victim set aside common sense and caution, and be manipulated into parting with large amounts of money. 

And clearly they do succeed. It makes you wonder when it will be your own turn to fall victim, so inevitable does the sting seem to be. I've heard anti-fraud experts on the radio tell of occasions when even they were caught out. So what chance does the non-expert have?

One point in particular puzzles me. And it never seems to be discussed. Or at least, I haven't heard it discussed. Just how do the fraudsters know who to target? I mean, it's profitless targeting someone who doesn't have much money put away. The fraudsters need to identify people with fat savings account balances, or who have just had a windfall. As they do seem to find these persons, what are their methods?

In the old days, a man might get to boasting in a pub that he had lots of cash, or things worth stealing, sometimes as a result of cleverly not paying his tax. The modern equivalent, I'm thinking, is the person who shows off a high-spending lifestyle on social media, or on a blog. Even if they are not actually saying 'look at me, I can do this because I've got oodles of money', I'm certain that the fraudsters take note and mark them down as potential victims. 

I've often wondered how much of my financial position can be deduced from my own blog, and the photos I upload to Flickr, all on public display. I'm clearly a single householder with no dependents who regularly indulges herself with new gadgets and new clothes, and takes a lot of holidays. On the other hand, I'm still driving a car I bought in 2009, and towing a caravan I bought in 2006, and I don't keep redecorating my home, nor do I have expensive holidays. So the fraudsters probably note my dossier that 'She has a comfortable income, but spends most of it. She's already a pensioner, so isn't building up a pension fund. She's too old to inherit anything more. Ergo, her capital reserves are probably modest.' Well, I hope they have in fact consigned me to their B or C lists!  

But you can see how easy it must be to deduce the financial position of somebody by careful study of, say, their Facebook or WhatsApp traffic. Most people have families, and the ones in a position to be the Bank of Mum and Dad must stand out a mile. Of course, some people live stylishly but spuriously on credit and loans, with maxed-out credit cards and no real money in the bank. A study of their Facebook ravings won't necessarily be enough to recognise their true circumstances. So how do the fraudsters know they would be wasting their time? Can they tap into Experian and other credit agencies?

And then how do fraudsters find out about the quiet, careful people who do have money, but who stay under the radar? Who don't put on a show, who don't boast or try to impress. Who are provident and sensible and canny, and in ordinary circumstances very careful indeed. 

I'm thinking there must be inside information. Somebody must be pointing the finger. Bank staff? Or at least persons who have access to account information, and are willing to sell their inside knowledge? You have to wonder.

The possibility that there are quite a number of dishonest people working in High Street financial institutions is a contentions notion, and it's quite understandable that banks would stay silent about it, as any admission would damage customer confidence. 

I don't know what to believe. But the fraudsters seem to be extraordinarily successful, surely more than they would be if they simply targeted everyone, and got lucky now and then. And I don't know why they would conduct an elaborate and sophisticated deception, as they do, unless they were certain that the victim really had significant funds and the effort would pay off. 

It's knowing that somebody is worth targeting that matters. They wouldn't need to know in advance that the victim was gullible or easily-duped. That would just be a bonus. Their methods work on whoever is in their sights. They fox and fool the most the most intelligent, the most well-informed, the ones least likely to fall for a scam or con in the ordinary way. 

So I'm being hyper-wary. If any stranger I meet starts to talk about money, then I'm on my guard. I'm not joining in any money-making scheme, even if a good friend says it's all right. And if anyone phones me up about a problem with one of my bank, savings or credit card accounts, I'm assuming they are not who they claim to be, and won't be listening. And I'm being equally circumspect with unexpected emails and texts. 

Perhaps it's a rather good thing that I don't now have the £202,000 I invested in the Cottage back in 2007. I lost all but £2,000 of it when the property was eventually sold at a thumping loss in a falling market in 2011. There is not the slightest prospect of ever having such money again. That adventure robbed me of my retirement nest-egg and medical fund. 

Still, as it's already gone, I can't lose it now. That's a kind of comfort, I suppose! 

Fraudsters, add that to my dossier.