The emotional impact is devastating and many family members and friends aren’t sure how to help.
This is especially difficult when the person does not want to accept that they are dealing with a scammer and they continue to have money stolen.
Thank you for checking into this course, which probably means you have recently found out that someone you care about was the victim of a scam or fraud. Whether the person had the courage to reach out to you or you found out in another way, this course will help you understand how this has impacted them and how to help.
The emotional impact of being scammed is not well understood…until it happens to you. For family and friends, when the shock of finding out wears off, you can begin to understand more with the course I created just for you.
Scam victims find It difficult to reach out at first because of shame and stigma. When they do, they are often re-traumatized by victim-blaming. Most people don’t mean to do this, and there are also plenty of people who have a very negative view of someone who has been scammed. There are reasons for both. The most important to know is that scammers use a lot of ways to manipulate people and they are very, very good at it. I mean, they are VERY, VERY good at it. I go into detail about the vast number of tactics they use in my course and it is one of the most important parts you will learn. In fact, learning these tactics also helps you to recognize them more easily when a scammer tries them on you, too. You can make a huge difference to your loved one by understanding this and it helps you to support them in the best ways possible.
The number of people that experience fraud or a scam 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 people to be knowledgeable about how this kind of crime happens, ways to prevent it, and ways to protect ourselves in the future, too.
**Since I wrote the initial version of this page, 2024 numbers came out, and the amount the FTC published is $12.5 billion, a 25% increase over 2023. Keep in mind that these are reported numbers only. The true numbers are estimated to be much, much higher.
This is a terrible experience for you as well, and I hope you find ways to care for yourself as you support your loved one, and I hope all of the information in this course useful to you. For many of you reading this, there could be a feeling of betrayal towards the person who was scammed. I talk about this in the course, too.
Please contact me for a link to the course!
Side note: I started this work in 2013, and around 2014 or so, I created a webpage because I couldn’t find anything about the emotional impact of this crime on people and wanted to offer some support to them. If you are interested in reading that original material, here is a link: Emotional Impact of Scams and How to Support a Loved One