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.
Read on to see the course description, or click below to register for the course today!
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 Objectives:
- Gain an understanding of the psychological impact on a person after a scam or financial fraud crime has happened to them; this includes emotional, relational, and cognitive effects.
- Learn different ways of responding to a person in this situation, and ways you should not respond, too.
- Understand stigma, victim blaming, and shame and how these contribute to an extremely distressing psychological experience when someone is the victim of fraud or a scam.
- Learn the many tactics that scammers and financial fraud criminals utilize as their weapons to steal from people, and how these can be used against anyone.
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.