Why sweetheart scammers continue to find hearts ripe for the taking and the raking

The victims and places change. But the same sweetheart scams keep on scoring and scarring. Why?

This New York Times story by Kate Murphy says the desire for connection and companionship makes people vulnerable. From the story:

“The drive to find a preferred mate is extremely powerful,” said Lucy Brown, a clinical professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who studies the brain activity of people in love. “It’s a reflexive urge, like hunger and thirst,” which can cloud judgment and make people less likely to question the motives of an online match.

Moreover, she said, romantic love can produce feelings of euphoria similar to the effects of cocaine or heroin, which explains why otherwise intelligent and accomplished people do irrational things to get a fix. Of course, people have always been fools for love — it’s just that the global reach and altered reality of the Internet increases the risk and can make the emotional and financial damage more severe.

“I don’t think there is a general understanding of how much of this romance scam stuff is out there, how it works and what the consequences are,” said Steven Baker, director of the Midwest region of the Federal Trade Commission. “It’s staggering how many people fall for it.”

Check out the story for lots more on how scammers operate and why they succeed.

This story by Sarah Jacoby of refinery29.com spotlights more insights on scams from Maria Konnikova, author of the book: The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For It...Every Time. 

Among Konnikova's perspectives: "We become really vulnerable to people who make us feel certain, who create stability where it's missing."

Get a variety of useful scam-prevention tips from the InspectaDate Safety Tips page.