A scammer will often work with one or more accomplices who will be posing as bystanders or fellow potential customers. They may deliberately appear sceptical at first and then ‘be persuaded’ by such a great deal. We have a tendency to let our guard down if we feel we are in ‘good company’.

Most people have a tendency to defer to authority, so scammers will often make themselves appear authorative, either through deliberately claiming to be something they are not, or through simply giving a strong impression that they are something they are not.

Many people want something for nothing, and if they think they are getting something for nothing, or at least for far less than it is worth, then they are susceptible to being manipulated. The scammer for example might make the person being scammed think they know something the scammer doesn’t. Or the scammer might hint that the proposal is not entirely legal or ethical, suggesting that it is their willingness to take advantage of an illegal or unethical action that is giving rise to the ability to take advantage.

Scammers often place time pressures, by claiming a deal is only available for a limited period of time. People’s reasoning skills are often weaker under time pressure and they revert to instinct or predictable patterns of thought which are more prone to manipulation.

Scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated about use of information they already have. Thus e-mails might be highly personalised, claiming to be from friends, or friends of friends, or from some other organisation you have dealings with.

A scammer may be able to provide examples of highly satisfied customers. On the assumption that this is not simply falsehoods, which in some cases it might be, then bear in mind that it may well be true that there are satisfied customers. This however doesn’t mean all customers were satisfied, or indeed that a very high percentage of customers were satisfied. Pyramid schemes have satisfied participants. However they have many many more unsatisfied participants. It is often the unsatisfied people who you don’t hear about, they might just want to forget the whole experience, or might not want to expose the fact that they have been taken in.

If we take multiple surveys or customer tests, particularly if they are relatively small sample sizes, we will get varying results. Put all together they will provide a much larger sample size and if the sample size is relatively large will approximate to the underlying results. Any one small sample size result however will be atypical. Yet those looking to portray a given viewpoint can readily choose only those samples which conform to what they want to portray. They may make excuses for excluding those that don’t conform, or just simply ignore them.

Bias creeps in, or sometimes barges in, with regards the means by which we choose who to sample. If we ask those who go to church whether or not they believe in God we will generally get a higher percentage than if we were to ask those randomly chosen off the street. Were those surveyed who gave a 89% approval rating for a given product truly chosen in some random manner, or were they those who were in any case most likely to be satisfied, eg. those who responded to a survey which in the first place they would only have heard about if they were already interested in the product.

Consider the following: I send a mailshot to 10,000 people saying I can predict some future binary event, say whether the stock market will go up or down over the next month. And I tell them in a very confident tone. Only I give half one answer and the other have the other answer. For 5,000 of the mailshots I will have got it right, and maybe piqued their interest. The other 5,000 will have simply dismissed me as a nutcase and stuck me from their thoughts. I then send those I got it right a further mailshot with a further prediction. Again, I will get it right for half of them. Thus for 2,500 I have made two high confident statements in a row. And again for a third time, and possible a forth. I now have a relatively large number of people some of whom will be highly impressed by my fortune-telling skills, and now is the time to cash in with asking them to bet through me on some future event. Similar techniques of presenting those outcomes which were positive and ignoring or suppressing those that weren’t, is very frequently used, and we need to be on the look out for it when presented with seeming miracle results.

You’re told that you’ve won a prize in a competition that you haven’t even entered. To claim the prize you have to pay an administration fee. You pay the fee and either get back nothing or something less than the fee you’ve paid. 22,000 people replied to one particularly successful scam mail shot and sent £500,000 in one day.

You see an advertisement offering work which you can do at home, for example, stuffing envelopes or putting together home assembly kits. You’re asked to pay a fee upfront and then find there’s no work on offer, or you only get paid if you get others to sign up, or you do the work but there is some excuse for why you are not paid for it. Thus you may assemble a kit, and are then told the work isn’t up to standard and you won’t be paid, or you are paid far less than you expected to be. A genuine home-working scheme won’t ask you to pay money upfront and will explain in writing what you are expected to do, how much you will earn, and when you will be paid. You should also be paid at least the national minimum wage.

You receive correspondence or voice mail or some other communication telling you to ring a number to claim some prize or gift. But the number is a premium rate number and you are paying a very high price simply to be on the phone. And of course the responses to your call will be aimed at keeping you on line for as long as possible.

An offer for cures based on new scientific breakthroughs, often relating to health issues such as diabetes, arthritis, or to help you lose weight. Often accompanied by quotes or reports from doctors and references from happy customers. If there truly were genuine scientific breakthroughs you would have heard about it through normal news channels. Any such ‘cures’ are worthless and may even be dangerous.

An offer for a large fee if you can help someone transfer money out of a country. You are asked for your bank details. Or you are asked to pay some upfront fee for something seemingly worth far more than you are being asked to pay. You pay, but you then don’t get what you were promised, or if you do it will be worth far less than whatever you’ve paid up front.

There are circumstances in which someone may give you a cheque, but ask for some money before you get the opportunity to cash it. When you do try to cash the cheque you find it is worthless.

When sending someone a cheque for goods or services remember that your cheque could be altered. Ensure you are sending your cheque to someone or an organisation you are confident about.

You might be contacted by someone claiming you have an unpaid bill or otherwise owe money, and be threatened with legal action or having your credit rating impacted. Scammers could impersonate some legal representative or the police.

Offers to buy shares in a company you’ve never heard of, or an invite to invest in some goods such as fine wines that are supposedly ‘guaranteed’ to rocket in price. Even if you receive shares and goods they will be worth, and will remain worth, far less than you’ve paid up.

A common way for scammers to get a lot of personal data about you, which can then be used in support of identity fraud or for a more personalised approach to you, is through asking you to complete a survey. This might be accompanied by an ‘offer’ of a monetary reward or vouchers. Again be sure you don’t give any bank details to supposedly enable them to credit you with the reward.

Sites which look like other sites, such as bank or auction sites or a site selling event tickets or holidays, but which are set up to trick you into giving up your bank details, or to pay for goods which you either don’t receive or if you do receive something it is worth far less than you would have paid for. Some such sites can look very convincing. Be wary of following links to such sites. Best to type in the known addresses of sites directly into your browser. And be sure you know the precise address: scammer have been known to use similar addresses on the basis that some people will mistakenly think they’ve entered the correct address.

You get an invite to a presentation at a hotel or elsewhere where there is ‘no commitment to buy’ but you are guaranteed some free gift. These will often be about timeshare, though the terminology will be different, or some expensive holiday. Whilst you will not be literally forced to sign up, there will be strong psychological pressures, including possibly fake fellow attendees being seen to talk about what a great deal it is. And the free gift may itself by something of a scam – a voucher, for example, offering a deal worse than you might have got elsewhere.

Be wary of scratch cards which are not from reputable sources. Scratch cards posted through your door or which are handed out to you on the street could well be aimed solely at getting you to get in contact in a way that enables you to be scammed such as ringing some premium telephone number. Be very wary of easy wins from unknown sources.

Many scammers are targeting those aged 55 or over who are now able to release some of their pension funds early. Be very wary of any unsolicited approach and remember they are acting in their interests, not yours, and there are no magic money making schemes that are guaranteed to dramatically increase your money through investments, at least not without very high risks. If you are potentially interested in releasing some of your pension funds then get advice from persons you approach knowing they are reputable advisors, not from those who have contacted you. In particular note that there are significant tax penalties in releasing funds early, and also that you can’t spend it twice. Taking pension money early means it won’t be there when you need it in your older age.

Looking to get you to inadvertently download software that will allow them to access information on your computer. Be wary of following someone else’s links to websites, unless you are on what you know to be a reputable website. Note that fake websites can look very realistic, and you can believe you are on them. If you are being invited to go to another website through a link and you have any reason to be suspicious, and default to being suspicious, type the address for yourself in your web browser.

Schemes which you are invited to join by friends or some post or e-mail shot, whereby you are expected to invite others to join up to. You will be invited to pay some fee, with the promise of high levels of returns through getting others to join up. There may be some product involved which claims to be of some value but in reality will be very cheap and shoddy.

Dating scams occur when you think you’ve met your perfect partner online, but once they’ve gained your trust, they ask for money for a variety of emotive reasons. Such scams are very common, even for those you have gone through reputable dating agencies.

Unsolicited calls claiming there is a problem with your computer. They may claim to be from Microsoft or from your virus protector or any other organisation. They will find ways of scaring you into believing there is a genuine problem and direct you to a website from which they can scam you in some way or even gain access to sensitive information on your computer. Do not respond to any such calls. Reputable companies such as Microsoft do not make such calls.

Beware of buying supposed tickets for events from sites you don’t know. You can readily check the authenticity of sites by googling them. If they are unreliable then you should be able to readily find this out. Don’t get fooled into having to make an instant decision. Lots of people get caught out by ticket scams where they are pressured into making a quick decision.

Being asked to buy cheap supposedly high quality goods is likely to be a scam. You may encounter this in the street, or through someone calling at your door, or through a post or e-mail shot. Goods may look good but will often be cheap and shoddy imitations.

Being asked to do a survey can be an opening to a scam. By all means complete surveys, but don’t give any personal information away, other than that readily available such as your name and address. And be wary of them seeking further information such that they can ‘reward you’ for your participation.