Created by a Licensed Counselor and Expert in Fraud and Scams for Advocates, Support Group Personnel, Helpline Personnel (and any other professionals who provide ongoing support to these victims after the fraud has occurred)
Fraud and scam victims are a growing population worldwide and have a difficult time finding appropriate support. It is difficult to reach out because of shame and stigma and when they do, they are often re-traumatized by victim-blaming, by people who do not fully understand this type of crime or the reasons it has such a tremendous emotional impact.
Unfortunately, this population is growing fast. In 2023, the amount scammers stole from victims was more than $10 billion, and this was over five times the amount stolen in 2019 (based on reporting by the FTC). Scammers are becoming more skilled and technological advances are making it easier for them to steal. There is an urgent need for more of us to be knowledgeable about how this kind of crime happens, ways to prevent it, and ways to protect ourselves, too.
This course is currently being updated with new content. This page will be updated with a link when it is available again!
The Psychological Impact of Scams and Financial Fraud: What Professionals Need to Know to Support Victims
Number of educational hours: 4 hours
Join Cathy Wilson, LPC, ACS, in this professional development course to understand the essential psychological factors of working with scam and fraud victims. By gaining this understanding, you will be able to make a difference for the people you work with and talk to who have experienced this type of crime. These crimes are almost always traumatic for a person. Scams in particular are shrouded in secrecy, stigma, and victim-blaming.
This course is created from many voices of victims (who are also survivors!) about what they experienced and what they needed. There are very few published resources about the emotional impact victims experience. Those resources are based on what people share when they are willing to make the information public such as through interviews, social media, research, or an FBI report. This course, however, allows you to also gain an understanding directly from my work with scam and fraud survivors who were unwilling to share the information publicly. You’ll gain a deep understanding of the reluctance so many people have about telling anyone, even their closest friends and family.
In addition to the voices of victims/survivors, this material applies many concepts related to the power of manipulation and influence.
Learning Outcomes:
- Upon completion of this course, student will have the skills to:
- Support victims with empathy, compassion, and understanding
- Describe and avoid victim-blaming
- Provide support in a trauma-informed and culturally aware manner
- Understand and describe the psychological impact of transnational fraud (Level 1 content, plus additional material)
- Understand and describe the psychological weapons (manipulation tactics) used by these criminals (Level 1 content, plus additional material)
- Effectively facilitate support groups for fraud victims and understand their unique needs in these groups
- Effectively assist fraud victims in navigating how to report this crime, and how to find additional support that may be needed
- Assist victims and families when the victim is involved with a scammer but does not want to accept that this is occurring and victims who engage with scammers multiple times (“chronic victims”)
Instructor Credentials:
Cathy Wilson is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado and Arizona, USA, and is also an Approved Clinical Supervisor. She has over a decade of experience with, and specializes in working with people who have been scammed, and helping them heal and overcome this difficult experience. She has facilitated presentations on many aspects of the emotional impact of being scammed, has written a book on this topic, titled The Emotional Impact of Being Scammed and How to Recover, and has also created several trainings and informative videos on this topic as well.