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Why did so many Singaporeans fall for the job recruitment scam ….
In a long con, scammers know that their marks will usually be skeptical and will need proof that the scam “works.” This is where they deploy the use of a convincer. In the job recruitment scam, scammers used two types of convincers — social proof and bait — and this is the reason why so many people fell for it.
Social Proof. Marks are added into a WhatsApp chat group of supposed random participants. These participants are far from random and are all in on the scam. Once in the WhatsApp group, the scammer will make requests for personal financial information like bank account numbers which the other “participants” readily send. The mark, seeing that others are sharing the information, will assume that it is safe and also send his or her own information. If the mark does not fall for the scam, one of the scammers will ask an “innocent question” about whether it is safe to send such information. After some assurance, the scammer who asked the innocent question will agree that it is safe and send the information. Seeing that a skeptic was convinced, the mark will be convinced that it is safe and also send their bank information. Oftentimes, as social proof, scammers will screenshots their bank statements supposedly showing their earnings from the scam. Once again, when the…
