What phrases give away scammers who want to "scam" you for money?

How to know that scammers want to cheat you and take your money: what phrases give them away, what to pay attention to, what should alert you.

The number of fraudulent or borderline ways to get money out of too trusting or too greedy citizens strikes the imagination even of professionals who encounter such situations in their line of work. But in most cases it is relatively easy to catch the swindlers, especially if you know what phrases are used to identify swindlers. There are similar features in all schemes.

Typical situations

Typical schemes of customer processing are actively used both in the provision of services and in the sale of goods. Sometimes they are within the law, which makes it extremely difficult to rectify the situation after payment.

Such transactions most often do not fall under criminal liability, although blatantly criminal schemes also operate. And in civil proceedings it is difficult to convince the court that the victims acted under the influence of deception or methods of psychological influence were applied to them. Civil relations are based on the principles of equality of parties and freedom of contract. A sane adult signs a contract voluntarily and must be aware of the consequences.

It is possible to recognize a cheater by the typical phrases.

Due to the fact that legally it is not always possible to talk about the actions of sellers and performers of fraud, we allow ourselves to use the colloquial expression "to cheat for money". This more accurately conveys the meaning of such schemes.

Divorce in car dealerships

The essence of the scheme is to lure the buyer by low prices and attractive promotions, and as a result, sell the car at an inflated price, with a simplified configuration and expensive credit. The executors are the managers of car dealerships. Representatives of the banks are involved in the chain, which are drawing up loans there.

Most often there are representatives of several banks in car dealerships. Large organizations with great prestige usually do not work there, especially if the sales are made with elements of fraud.

The participation of banks with a loyal credit policy (low requirements for potential borrowers, but higher interest rates) is the first indirect sign that not everything can go smoothly.

Some car dealerships operate under fraudulent schemes.

Fraudsters attract customers by placing misleading information on the site. The cars are offered for sale at a price much lower than the average market price, or with improved equipment at the price of the basic one; loans with low interest rates are claimed, and attractive actions are declared. Such information on the website is not considered by the courts as an offer, and to oblige the salon to conclude a contract on the declared conditions does not work, but the observant person can point to fraudsters and give away the scheme of fraud.

The client is kept in the showroom for several hours, being psychologically treated according to the memorized scheme. At first the manager sorrowfully informs that there are no more cars for this price and in this complete set. Then it becomes clear that the banks do not approve the credit on the declared conditions, and they will not approve this client in principle. The salesperson reassures the buyer, promising to help with the loan using his connections.

Then they start to impose another car at a higher price on the client. The manager shows a lot of activity in order to make the situation significant and to attract the client to him. Events develop gradually. The person is in constant tension and after a few hours of manipulation loses the ability to be critical of the situation. As a result they tell him that a miracle has happened, the car has been found, the bank approved the loan.

The client is given a pile of papers, which he signs without actually reading. As a result, another car is obtained for overpriced, a higher interest rate, an insurance contract is concluded on unfavorable terms with a little-known company.

As a bonus the managers can conclude additional contracts for some mythical services like legal support in case of an accident with the purchased motor vehicle. The sums of such contracts are astronomical in comparison with existing rates.

Managers are specially trained to work with clients. Sales training sessions are constantly being held, typical phrases are memorized. There are manuals (so-called scripts) to teach salespeople how to win people over, to confuse them, to suppress their ability to think critically about what is going on, to suppress their will, to frighten them with possible negative consequences. In some cases, even hypnotic abilities and relaxing substances added to free drinks can be used, but this is rare.

Fraudsters first of all try to accommodate the victim. In a short period of time, several people who were victims of the same car dealership contacted the law firm. He acted according to the classic divorce scheme, which some colleagues call the Moscow scheme. An appointment was made in the first half of the day - at 10-11 o'clock. Having arrived to the showroom, the client found out that the car he had been attracted to was not available at the moment, but it was more expensive and had the same equipment. Then the credit process began. There were not less than 5-6 representatives of not popular banks at a car dealership, but none of them approved the auto loan. Denial of credit in a car dealership is the second indirect sign, which gives out a professional scam. Usually they are willingly approved by banks on fairly loyal terms. The customers were constantly being kept in suspense. Suitable vehicles were parked and then disappeared again, prices were constantly increasing. Loan requests were systematically sent out, but the banks allegedly steadily refused or offered exorbitant interest rates. A polite manager was in close contact with customers, sympathizing with them. Free tea, coffee, and cookies were offered. As a result, the clients gained trust in the manager and began to agree with him on everything. After 6-8 hours, closer to the evening, the client was told that the banks finally rejected the loan and need to come tomorrow to continue the selection of options. 10-15 minutes after the client left, they get a call from a manager saying that he was able to negotiate with one bank on good terms and they have to come back urgently to sign contracts before the bank changes its mind. The happy clients would come back to the dealership and sign everything they were given, because the working day was already over and it was necessary to send everything to the bank within several minutes. The next day they were studying the signed contracts with the fresh head and realizing with horror that they have concluded them on extremely unfavorable conditions. It is very difficult to protect the interests of the victims in such situations. It is necessary to act in two directions - institution of criminal proceedings and recognition of contracts invalid, but the prospects are usually little.

Swindlers on the Internet

There are a huge number of schemes of divorce through network resources. Common in the technology used is the calculation on the greed, stupidity and naivety of the potential victim. Sometimes blackmail is used.

Erotic divorce

Erotic entertainment is traditionally engaged in persons serving time in the penal colony, but anyone can divorce - a neighbor, a colleague or a stranger from the other side of the planet. The essence of the scheme is that a love correspondence is established, which proceeds to the exchange of erotic and pornographic photos. The victim provides his authentic pictures, and the scammer can type pictures anywhere. Afterwards, the victim is demanded to pay a certain amount of money under the threat of distributing the pictures on social networks. Sometimes the blackmailer poses as an underage girl to spice things up, which increases the threat.

The victims risk becoming dependent on the scammer for a long time. The case is usually not limited to a single payment and after a while the demands are repeated. Strange as it may seem, quite serious people often fall for such a trap.

Internet dating can end in blackmail

An entrepreneur who owns a dental office came to the law firm. Married, with a child. He met a girl in social network and exchanged pornographic photos with her. The girl began to demand money from him, threatening to post the photos and correspondence on the pages of his wife and friends. He transferred small amounts to her several times. When it became clear that the case would not simply end like that, the victim requested legal assistance. He was advised not to communicate with the extortionist and to delete his and his wife's accounts. If contact with the scammer stops via social networks, the case is usually over. Threats are rarely realized in practice, as the goal is money.

Divorce through fake online stores

Scammers open a site, offering to buy various goods at bargain prices, from electronics and clothes to cosmetics and food supplements. The prices are set 1.5 to 2 times lower than the average market prices, and various bonuses are added. This should initially alert you, for it often betrays cheaters. The contract with the seller is not drawn up, no official offers are not placed on the site. It is impossible to identify the purchased goods with documents. After payment, the victim actually receives a parcel that contains another item.

Scammers often show a sense of humor. Instead of a fancy jacket they send a medical coat, instead of expensive sneakers they send cheap slippers, instead of a car DVR they send a rear-view mirror, etc. But there were cases when, when ordering a smartphone, the victim received a piece of laundry soap or nothing at all.

Such online stores don't exist for a long time, the sites disappear. Even if you manage to find the organizer, it will be difficult to prove the deception - the package was sent, but what was actually in it and what was supposed to be in it, you can only explain in words.

A victim of Internet fraud turned to the law firm. A young man ordered branded sneakers for a bargain price. After payment no parcel was received. It was impossible to track the movement of correspondence through postal services. In this case, it was possible to get the police to check on the victim's statement. It was found that the server was registered in Australia and the payment was made in yuan according to the exchange rate. No further information could be obtained. To get the money back in this situation seems unlikely.

Swindling through exchanges, casinos and other similar resources

Blatantly fraudulent schemes can be applied in semi-legal business. Potential victims are attracted through social networks and Internet advertising by promising superincome. Further events may unfold in several directions:

In order to participate in the game, the victim transfers his own funds to the intermediary's account, after which the recipient disappears; the client takes out a loan and transfers money to the intermediary, after which he also disappears; the victim gives the intermediary his personal data, bank card data, password and login of a personal account allegedly to transfer the winnings or perform any actions on his behalf, after which money is withdrawn or the loan is issued, which goes to an unknown destination.

On such schemes like to work the prisoners in the colonies, but other scammers enough. The reason for these divorces is primarily human greed.

The client, an adult of pre-retirement or retirement age, went to a law firm with a problem. He was introduced to a scammer via the Internet who offered to invest money in an electronic exchange game. The intermediary introduced himself as a specialist well versed in stockbroking and Internet money-making technologies. The victim invested his money. Initially a certain income was received, the victim's appetite was whetted. Under the pretext that it was necessary to manipulate the personal card, they found out the password and login from the victim. The man also gave the intermediary codes, which came in SMS-messages. After a while the fraudster disappeared and the client started getting calls from the bank demanding the repayment of debts on loans. Here, too, they went in two directions - they instituted criminal proceedings and filed a lawsuit to recognize the credit agreements as invalid. In such cases, the prospects are not bad, the court may go along with the borrower.

Offers to play the stock exchange or casino are usually a scam.

The use of databases

Sometimes Internet fraud takes quite bizarre forms. It is impossible to understand how people can fall for the simplest tricks. Most often, victims suffer from their own greed. Using the databases of normal internet stores or creating a fraudulent site disguised as an internet store, under plausible pretexts the scammers contact customers and extort money from them, often in huge amounts.

Elderly people are often victims of swindlers, as they are more trusting and easily tempted by tempting offers.

Aggressive sales

Selling systems can take aggressive forms that bring them closer to the actions of scammers. The days of "famous Canadian company representatives" going door to door and shoving stuffed animals and irons in people's apartments are over. Aggressive salespeople act primarily through the Internet and cold calls (calls to all phones in a row).

A person who has some kind of problem initially tries to find information on their own on the Internet. Depending on the subject, it brings up a window offering to ask a specialist a question and get a free consultation. The interested consumer formulates a question and leaves a phone number. Such a request goes to the call center, the employee who asked the question is immediately contacted. Usually operators have little idea what the question is about. Usually they are young girls and boys who have neither experience nor knowledge of the questions they are trying to ask the customers. Their job is to get people interested in a free consultation and get them into the office.

Sales managers are specially trained in how to talk to customers.

Once in the office, the person is put in the hands of the sales manager, who may also have a remote understanding of the subject of the conversation. The manager's task is to conclude a contract with the client and get the money. This is why they "find" dozens of illnesses if the person has medical problems, they identify complex and dangerous situations if the question requires legal intervention. Only after the contract is signed does the client's case go to the direct executors, who actually work out the contract in accordance with their qualifications.

Such schemes are similar to fraud due to a certain untidiness present in the sales. In order to secure a client, salespeople often give false information, complicate the problem and promise unattainable results. At the same time they impose a loan, which is taken out immediately in the office.

Such schemes are actively used in services: legal, medical, consulting, financial. There are specialized call-centers, which do not actually provide services, but sell potential clients (leads) attracted through the Internet or databases.

The call centers are staffed by people trained to communicate with potential clients, not specialists in the services they sell.

I first came across multi-stage schemes for selling goods and services in the first half of the 2010s. At that time, the possibility of developing a business along these lines caused some doubts - too high expenses were required to create call centers and sales departments, and to promote websites compared to traditional advertising costs. Currently, outdoor advertising, advertising in the media, and handouts are virtually non-existent. The main flow of customers comes precisely through the Internet.

Sometimes you also have to deal with outdated sales schemes. Through "cold" calls, potential buyers of various goods are identified, usually with the prefix "miracle" (miracle vacuum cleaner, miracle iron, etc.). д.). Vagrant salesmen come to the address of the responding client, demonstrate the goods and their properties, and bamboozle the person to such an extent that he buys an unnecessary thing at an inflated price. Scammers use every conceivable means of persuasion, up to and including pity (phrases like "they won't give me a bonus unless I sell you another phone"). Communication can take several hours, the buyer eventually loses the ability to critically assess what is happening.

Fraudulent Employer

The scammer searches for employees to do business together. The "work" is supposed to be as follows: the employer gives the newcomer a certain product at a lower price, trains him in sales techniques, provides advice and support, and the employee sells the product at a higher price. The difference goes to the income of the employee. At the same time, the applicant may be offered some small, low-paying office work to make the offer look more solid. The employer convinces them that the product is in demand, that there are established distribution channels, and that the salary is fast.

In reality, they shove the employee some worthless trash like miracle balms from Tibet, which are impossible to sell. Moreover, the swindlers convince the employee to invest a large sum of money immediately in order to get a maximum discount, for which they force him to take out a loan, which they then arrange for on the spot. As a result, the worker is left without work, without money, with a debt and unwanted goods.

There are more and more cases when under the pretext of hiring job applicants are forced to take out a loan and give the money to the employer.

The purpose of the free consultation is to conclude a contract

If the conversation is structured this way, then you have fallen into the hands of professionals . This does not always mean that you are a fraud, but it often means that they will be treating you seriously and persistently and will push you to the actual conclusion of the contract. Subsequently your problem may really be solved and provide quality services, or may be treated formally and only create the appearance of work.

Too loud promises

Pretty slogans and bright slogans talking about some global success of universal scale (phrases like "Become a millionaire in one month", "Get rid of alcoholism in 1 course of treatment") almost always give out cheaters.

Surprisingly, some TV channels publish advertisements and even hold programs with various magicians, hereditary sorcerers and other charlatans, who for money remove the evil eye and cut off the energy tails of the viewers. All magical services are a fraud.

The big promises in most cases are an advertising gimmick.

You should also be careful of couch stores, which usually sell unnecessary trinkets at inflated prices. By calling and placing an order, you are automatically included in the seller's database, and you will be pestered over the phone with offers to buy some junk for a long time.

Seminars and training courses with promising names are also in most cases of little practical value. If you attend one, you will be additionally imposed useless brochures, amulets, etc. In the worst case, you will be sucked into a pyramid scheme. When you see phrases like "Learn to live rich," "Earn your first million with us," "Cure all diseases," etc., immediately go in the other direction.

Use of pseudoscientific or irrelevant terms

The method is mostly used when selling products through the Internet, television, or by roving salesmen. Phrases including "non-stick nanocoating iron" or "smart vacuum cleaner" should discourage you from buying anything from that person or communicating with him at all. They give away the crooks.

Exaggerated profits

No one will ever sell two or three things for the price of one. In all such cases the overestimated price is set or the goods that are sold are of low quality and impractical, stale in the warehouse. Suggestions to invest in some enterprise and get in a short time profit of 100% also can not be realistic. In the best case you will remain without money, in the worst case - scammers will divorce you for a loan.

Any financial intermediary, really working in the market with money of clients, will not give more than 15-25% per annum, in rare cases it may be a little more. Invest money only in proven intermediaries, with whom acquaintances have already established long-term relationships.

There are phrases that immediately unmistakably give away telephone crooks.

Big names

Celebrities don't like to advertise whose services they use and in what stores, clubs, restaurants, etc. Such information can be told in interviews, in topical articles, but it is not marked on the signboards of organizations. The use of big names in advertisements does not necessarily give away the fraudsters, but it always indicates the use of unfair advertising.

Speeding up events

Hustling is a classic trick to get a potential client to sign a contract. It is important for the seller to make the payment at least partially on the day of the contract, otherwise there is a high risk that the client will not come again. If the partial payment is made, he crosses a certain line and is likely to pay the entire sum later.

It is important for the seller to make sure that the payment is made promptly.

A discount is traditionally used to convince the client to pay. Initially an inflated price is named, but then it is suggested that the discount be applied if payment is made today. To do this, they can offer some kind of certificate, or "in confidence" to say that only for you and only now, while the director is out of the office, or come up with other beautiful reason. This does not indicate pure fraud, but you should understand that in fact you are not provided with any discount, but simply tricked into a quick payment.

Setting additional conditions for the benefits

The scammer declares a certain benefit (for example, getting a big win, buying an expensive product at a low price, etc.), but it is only possible if certain conditions are met. Usually they ask to pay some sum of money, allegedly to compensate organizational costs and money transfer fees, to pay for a certificate of winning or membership in an elite club, to release the goods from seizure or for something else. The requested amount is promised back.

It is clear that no winnings or goods are received after receiving the money. On the same principle, they can get information about the bank account and personal account, write off money or arrange a loan. Setting conditions gives out the fraudsters, further work with such people or organizations is unacceptable.

It is impossible to describe all the situations and phrases that give out cheaters, because of their diversity and constant development. The main rule to remember not to fall into the hands of scammers: free cheese happens only in a mousetrap. In the vast majority of cases, scammers play on human greed.