The Psychology Behind Advance Fee Fraud Email Scams

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Advance Fee Fraud is best described as an offer of a large amount of free money, merchandise, services, employment, or even romance, where the victim is asked to pay a fee in advance to obtain what is being promised. The main strategy is to persuade the victim to send money first and then keep sending more, as many times as possible, until the victim either runs out of money or goes into debt because of the scam.

Scammers often begin by claiming that only a small up front fee is required to complete the supposed transaction. However, once the victim sends any money, the scammer quickly claims that unforeseen circumstances have arisen and more money is needed.

These requests are repeated, usually with each payment amount requested being larger than the last. Every time, the scammer assures the victim that this will be the final payment and that the transaction will soon be completed. Of course, the requests never end because the entire transaction is fictitious and no money or reward will ever be returned to the victim.

The psychology behind this method is that if a victim sends money even once, it becomes far easier to convince the victim to send money again. Once financially and emotionally invested, victims are reluctant to abandon the arrangement because they want to recover the money they already lost. This is reinforced by hope that the deal will finally conclude and by the belief that they will be compensated with a much greater reward than the amount being requested by the scammer.

To get victims financially committed, scammers may start with very small requests, sometimes as little as fifty to one hundred dollars, often through gift cards. After the first payment, the sums demanded increase, and the victim becomes more deeply invested and emotionally committed. The more money already sent, the harder it becomes for the victim to walk away.

Scammers sometimes provide access to fake online banking or cryptocurrency websites, complete with login details. These sites display large balances in fabricated accounts to convince victims that funds are real and ready for release. In reality, both the websites and the accounts are entirely fake and controlled by the scammer and the balances appearing in these fake accounts don't really exist.

Another common technique is the use of multiple fake identities. As the scam continues, the scammer may introduce supposed associates such as lawyers, bankers, couriers, security companies, or even religious figures like a fake pastor or reverend. These characters are designed to make the scheme appear more credible and important. In most cases, however, the victim is dealing with only one scammer who is behind all of the false personas and email addresses. Scammers may also create fake websites and supply fraudulent documents to further convince the victim that the transaction is real.

Another psychological technique often used by email scammers is to send the victim a new scam email called a “Past Effort” scam within 1-2 months after the previous contact between the scammer and the victim has ended. Please click here to read more about how Past Effort scams work.