A Scamnesty
In my dealings with con artists, police and victims, the number one obstacle I come across is people’s reculance to talk about their experiences.
Police are tight lipped about the cases they’ve work on for risk of affecting the outcome of a trial.
Con artists are, not suprisingly, less than forward with their techniques.
And the victims of crime are often too embarrassed to come forward and report crimes. Even fewer tell their friends and family about their moment of gullibility.
Swindlers used to call this “putting in the fix”, doing everything possible to stop the mark from alerting the police. A hundred years ago, Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel tower twice because his first victim failed to raise the alarm on the scam.
Even worse, many people I speak with are incredulous as to how victims could be so stupid/gullible/greed to be taken advantage of.
What we need is a ’scamnesty’, a chance for victims to tell their stories, report crimes and feel that’s ok to be scammed. It’s the only way others will learn.
Plus the word ’scamnesty’ sounds cool.
I agree. The embarassment of being scam has lead to many more people to be scammed.
I have been scammed and I’m admit it.