{ "article": { "format_version": 5, "presentation": "complete-card", "overview": "When someone asks for money, account access or secrecy, make one independent check before acting: leave the incoming conversation and contact the real person or organization through a route you already trust. Fraud often borrows familiar names, believable voices or a small first payment. Understanding the requested action helps you protect yourself; if money or information has already gone, contact the relevant provider promptly.", "sections": [ { "id": "understanding-fraud", "role": "explanation", "title": "Understand what the request is trying to do", "items": [ { "label": "Follow the request from the story to the action", "text": "A deceptive story can persuade someone to send money, surrender account access or reveal personal information. Understanding that sequence makes the request easier to examine. Impersonation borrows the name of a trusted person or organization; phishing is a message or website designed to obtain sensitive information. The FTC describes both because stopping a suspicious payment and securing a compromised account are different jobs. Ask what the contact wants you to do next. A bank logo or familiar name does not answer whether that action is legitimate.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-signs", "ftc-phishing" ] }, { "label": "Give yourself a way to check outside the conversation", "text": "The FTC describes a recurring sequence: someone claims authority, introduces a problem or reward, pressures you and directs the payment. A fake security alert can therefore turn your wish to protect savings into a transfer to a criminal. Write down the claim, leave the conversation and contact the real organization using information you already trust. This interrupts the caller's control of your attention. It is an adaptation of official guidance, not a tested STUDlearn protocol or a promise of safety.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-imposter", "ftc-current-signs" ] }, { "label": "Protect your good intentions while examining the demand", "text": "Frank Stajano and Paul Wilson studied documented confidence tricks and described how kindness, social compliance and distraction can be exploited. Caring about a relative or wanting to do your job can be the opening, rather than greed or ignorance. Their framework is conceptual, not a diagnosis of your personality. A useful response is to describe the action neutrally: someone wants a secret transfer to a new recipient. That gives another person something concrete to help check.", "source_ids": [ "scam-principles" ] } ] }, { "id": "four-common-requests", "role": "application", "title": "Check four everyday situations", "items": [ { "label": "Verify the employer before funding a task or deposit", "text": "A remote-job text may offer easy daily pay for rating products or completing 'optimization' tasks. The FTC describes fake platforms that show growing commissions, sometimes pay a small amount, then demand your own deposit to unlock tasks or withdraw earnings. The displayed balance is controlled by the scammer; an initial payout does not validate it. Confirm the opening through the employer's real careers site and contact details. Paying to unlock pay is the relevant warning, rather than the mere fact that a recruiter used a phone.\n\nIn an invented sequence, a supposed recruiter invites someone to rate products, sends a small payment and then says a deposit will release a larger balance. The recipient now has two different observations: a payment arrived, and a website displays further earnings. Neither establishes that the displayed balance is withdrawable or that the recruiter represents the named employer.\n\nThey check the employer's careers page independently rather than following the recruiter's link. Even if a real company with that name exists, the particular contact and demand still need verification. The request to pay in order to receive pay is the pattern to recognize; increasing the deposit to 'test' a withdrawal would put more money at risk. If money was already sent, provider contact and the recovery routes below matter promptly. The example shows why an early apparently reassuring event does not validate the later demand.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-task", "ftc-job-text" ] }, { "label": "Check a familiar-sounding emergency through a known number", "text": "A caller may sound like your relative and say an arrest or hospital bill requires money immediately. The FTC explains that a short audio sample can support voice cloning, and scammers can combine it with names found online or simple guesses. End the incoming contact and call the relative on a number already in your contacts. If unavailable, reach another trusted family member and verify any claimed institution independently. If someone is in immediate physical danger, use local emergency services; an unverified payment demand is not emergency verification.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-emergency", "ftc-voice" ] }, { "label": "Confirm the recipient before approving a workplace payment", "text": "Business email compromise, or BEC, is a deceptive request that appears to come from a familiar business source. The FBI describes copied addresses, stolen access to real email threads and requests to redirect an invoice or property payment. Even a genuine-looking conversation can contain a substituted account number. IC3 recorded about $3.05 billion in 2025 BEC losses; that reported total shows the stakes, not your personal odds. Call the vendor or colleague using the existing directory or vendor record and confirm the amount, recipient and change. At work, follow the normal approval process rather than allowing urgency or an executive's apparent authority to replace it.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-bec", "ic3-report" ] }, { "label": "Get support when an online attachment turns into a money demand", "text": "Romance fraud uses a manufactured relationship to obtain money, sometimes through a supposed emergency and sometimes a fake investment. The FTC's guidance concerns that exploitation, not how to date. Conversation over weeks, personal photographs and a convincing video can all serve the invented identity. Pause payments, keep relevant messages and speak with someone trustworthy. An image search can reveal copied pictures, but finding no match cannot certify the person. For a relative who is entangled, offer help checking the request rather than making their intelligence the issue.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-romance", "carpenter-interview", "cross-profile" ] } ] }, { "id": "what-evidence-shows", "role": "findings", "title": "Read the evidence with its limits", "items": [ { "label": "Take impersonation seriously without turning totals into your odds", "text": "The FTC's June 2026 release identifies imposter scams as its most reported fraud category in 2025, with approximately $3.5 billion in reported losses and nearly one in three fraud reports. That establishes a costly reported pattern, not the probability that your next caller is fraudulent. Complaint databases omit unreported events and depend on what people identify and submit. The practical meaning is to check a claimed bank or agency independently, particularly a story about moving money to protect it.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-imposter" ] }, { "label": "Use employment-loss figures to understand the stakes", "text": "The FBI's 2025 report records 24,688 employment complaints and about $363 million in reported losses. The category covers more than one script; it does not measure how many legitimate jobs are advertised online. FTC guidance supplies the actionable distinctions: paying for a promised job, forwarding money from a supposed employer's check and reshipping goods under deceptive instructions. For federal jobs, use USAJobs.gov and the official postal-service employment route. Treat a professional-looking listing as a starting point for verification.", "source_ids": [ "ic3-report", "ftc-jobs" ] }, { "label": "Separate AI involvement from proof that AI caused every loss", "text": "The FBI's April 2026 summary reports 22,364 AI-related complaints and nearly $893 million in 2025 losses. It describes fabricated profiles, documents, voices and videos used alongside pressure. An AI descriptor is a reported feature, not a separate crime category or a detector evaluation. Its presence can overlap a romance or investment complaint, so adding descriptor totals to crime-category totals double counts. For a high-stakes request, independently authenticate the requested action rather than estimating whether the content looks synthetic.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-ai" ] }, { "label": "Keep different agencies' romance numbers separate", "text": "IC3 lists roughly $929 million in confidence/romance losses in 2025. Separately, the FTC reports that nearly 60 percent of people reporting romance losses said the contact began on social media. Those are different databases and measures; neither describes everyone targeted or everyone who lost money. A person may feel safe because a profile has friends or a group has encouraging testimonials. The FTC explains that profiles and apparent investment communities can be manufactured. Social familiarity still leaves the recipient and payment unverified.", "source_ids": [ "ic3-report", "ftc-social" ] }, { "label": "Learn the kind of scam rather than assigning one victim profile", "text": "Marti DeLiema, Yiting Li and Gary Mottola analyzed a retrospective survey of people who had reported scams to the Better Business Bureau. Factors associated with answering an offer differed from those associated with losing money, and relationships varied across scam types. This was a self-selected U.S./Canadian sample with a low response rate, not a representative causal trial. Its useful lesson is specificity: a person may recognize a fake prize yet be surprised by a convincing emergency or investment story. Tailor practice to the requests they actually receive.", "source_ids": [ "scam-type-study" ] }, { "label": "Practise a check that has a measurable purpose", "text": "Kumaraguru, Cranor and colleagues' 2009 School of Phish study involved 515 Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff and students. Training arrived after a simulated phishing click; knowledge was retained for at least 28 days, and reinforcement reduced information disclosure in later simulated attacks. That is useful evidence that a specific skill can improve. It does not show permanent protection, prevented financial loss or transfer to family-emergency calls. A practice callback or account check should rehearse the real action you want available under pressure.", "source_ids": [ "phish-study" ] } ] }, { "id": "checking-a-live-request", "role": "application", "title": "Check identity, payment and account access", "items": [ { "label": "Use contact details you obtained before the request", "text": "Out-of-band verification means checking through a channel independent of the suspect message. The FBI's BEC guidance recommends finding the number yourself rather than trusting details in the payment request. For example, call the vendor number already in the accounts file, not the new 'accounts team' number attached to the invoice. A second email that simply replies inside the same compromised thread is not independent. Confirm the payment details as well as the person's name; a copied signature does not authenticate a destination.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-bec" ] }, { "label": "Keep gift-card codes for their intended use", "text": "The FTC identifies a demand for gift-card numbers and PINs to pay a fine, tax, emergency bill or prize fee as a scam pattern. The codes let someone spend the value without holding the physical card. If already shared, contact the issuer promptly and retain the card and receipt. Ordinary wires and payment apps have legitimate uses, so their names alone cannot decide a different request. With those transfers, examine who contacted you, how the recipient was verified and why speed or secrecy is being imposed.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-gift", "ftc-current-signs" ] }, { "label": "Open your account independently before sharing information", "text": "Phishing can be an account-takeover attempt even when no money is requested yet. A message may claim a billing or security problem and lead to a page that collects your login details. The FTC advises contacting the organization independently and using multiple layers such as updates and multi-factor authentication. Open the service through its known app or address rather than the urgent message's link. A request for a login or verification code needs its own check; convincing branding does not make disclosure safe.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-phishing" ] } ] }, { "id": "keeping-protection-routine", "role": "application", "title": "Keep the check usable under pressure", "items": [ { "label": "Agree on a family callback before an emergency story arrives", "text": "Make a simple household agreement: a request for money or account access gets a callback to the saved number, even if the voice sounds familiar. The FTC recommends a private question as a fallback if hanging up feels difficult, but a fact already posted online is weak confirmation. A family phrase can help as an agreed practice; it has not been established here as a tested security system. Preserve the independent callback and another trusted contact as the actual checking routes.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-emergency" ] }, { "label": "Put payment confirmation into the normal work process", "text": "A standing vendor record, an independently checked account change and the required second approver spread responsibility beyond one rushed employee. The FBI explains how compromised email can give a criminal enough real billing detail to make an invented request fit the moment. Discuss a clear process with whoever owns payments, including how to pause a change and report a suspected compromise. Follow existing thresholds and responsibilities. This is practical implementation of verification guidance, not proof that two approvals defeat every attacker.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-bec" ] }, { "label": "Save the details that make a report usable", "text": "Keep the original message, profile or company name, dates, payment amount, destination and transaction reference where it is safe to do so. The FBI asks for these details because they help connect an account of events to transfers and other complaints. Keep gift cards and receipts if applicable, rather than only describing the loss from memory. Preserve material privately for the bank or official intake; publishing unredacted records can expose more personal information. Contact the provider promptly even while you assemble the record.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-ai", "ftc-paid" ] }, { "label": "Limit the public information a caller can borrow", "text": "The FTC's social-media guidance recommends limiting visibility of posts and contacts. Public family details, workplace information and audio can help someone tailor a believable request; voice-cloning guidance specifically describes online audio samples. Restricting access reduces material available to an opportunistic impersonator, but it cannot erase copies or stop guessing. Keep the callback procedure even after changing privacy settings. Privacy controls and request verification do different jobs, so one should not replace the other.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-social", "ftc-voice" ] }, { "label": "Make reporting and support ordinary after a suspicious contact", "text": "You can report a suspected scam without proving that it succeeded. FTC reporting gathers consumer patterns; IC3 receives internet-crime complaints; IdentityTheft.gov helps plan recovery when identity information is misused. AARP's free Fraud Watch Network Helpline is 877-908-3360 and offers support rather than criminal investigation. Choosing the route that fits the harm is more useful than treating one form as a universal solution. A report or support call is not a promise of restitution, and embarrassment is not evidence that you caused the crime.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-signs", "ic3-recovery", "ftc-paid", "aarp-help" ] } ] }, { "id": "where-protection-varies", "role": "perspectives", "title": "Understand where protection is still uncertain", "items": [ { "label": "Compare age findings with the population actually studied", "text": "IC3's 2025 report records about $7.7 billion in losses among complainants aged 60 and older. Burnes and colleagues' older review pooled 12 population studies and estimated annual fraud/scam experience of 5.4 percent among mostly cognitively intact older adults living in the community. Dollar losses in complaints and survey prevalence answer different questions. The review's older data, heterogeneous questions and exclusions limit comparison with today's younger adults. Neither result supports treating age as a verdict on judgment or using one age-based warning for every scheme.", "source_ids": [ "ic3-report", "burnes-review" ] }, { "label": "Assess training by the outcome it improves", "text": "Specific phishing education has evidence of benefit; the size and duration of benefit depend on the training and the outcome tested. School of Phish measured disclosure in simulated university email attacks over weeks. It did not test romance attachment, an urgent voice call or whether a bank customer recovered money. Vendor click-rate scores likewise describe the tested setting. The open question is how much an intervention generalizes to other situations and lasting financial protection, not whether learning is pointless. Keep process controls alongside repeated, relevant practice.", "source_ids": [ "phish-study", "carpenter-interview" ] }, { "label": "Describe who initiated the transfer when asking for help", "text": "A deceived customer pressing send and a criminal transferring money after stealing access are materially different facts. The CFPB's Regulation E interpretation includes a transfer initiated by someone who obtained an access device through fraud in its unauthorized-transfer discussion. That prevents the blanket conclusion that sharing information with a scammer always eliminates protection. It also does not promise reimbursement for every customer-initiated payment. Tell the institution exactly who did what, request an investigation and ask about the applicable dispute process; individual rights require fact-specific advice.", "source_ids": [ "cfpb-eft", "ftc-paid" ] }, { "label": "Use verification alongside the evolving detection tools", "text": "A detector attempts to classify whether audio or video is synthetic; authentication asks whether the person and requested action are legitimate. Those are different questions. Perry Carpenter's 2026 interview argues for slowing down and checking because short convincing fakes can be sufficient and detection changes as generation improves. This is commercial expert commentary, not a head-to-head accuracy study. The FCC's ruling places AI voices within existing covered-call consent rules, with exceptions; it does not provide a home identity test. Keep an independent check regardless of a tool's verdict.", "source_ids": [ "carpenter-interview", "fcc-ruling" ] } ] }, { "id": "deeper-understanding", "role": "explanation", "title": "Understand why convincing stories work", "items": [ { "label": "Separate an available check balance from a settled payment", "text": "A fake-check sender may overpay for an item or supply 'equipment money' for a new job, then ask you to pay someone else. The FTC explains that the bank can make funds available before discovering that the check is invalid. If the deposit is reversed after your outgoing transfer, you can owe the bank while the scammer keeps the money. A visible balance is therefore not verification. Describe the forwarding request to your bank before acting; no fixed waiting period in this article certifies a suspicious check.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-check" ] }, { "label": "Recognize attachment without making it a reason to blame", "text": "Cassandra Cross analyzed narratives in 1,015 Australian romance-loss reports from 2018–2019. Recognition triggers included further money requests, communication details, verification, an offender's actions and information from another person. Her paper also describes Whitty's model of relationship-building before requests; stages and timeframes differ. The research helps explain why support can involve checking concrete details rather than blaming intelligence. It does not prove that one confrontation ends attachment or that its reporting sample represents everyone targeted. Pause the next payment, preserve evidence and connect with qualified help.", "source_ids": [ "cross-recognition-study", "ftc-romance" ] }, { "label": "Use the persuasion principles as a vocabulary for checking", "text": "Stajano and Wilson describe distraction, social compliance, herd influence, dishonesty, deception, need/greed and kindness. These names identify how a story directs attention: an apparent boss invokes authority; a fake investment group invokes everyone else's apparent success; an emergency invokes care. Naming the mechanism can make it easier to describe the request to a trusted person. The framework came from analysis of documented cons, not an experiment proving that labeling prevents losses. Use it to create space for verification, rather than to label a victim.", "source_ids": [ "scam-principles" ] }, { "label": "Understand why a poor pitch can still make business sense", "text": "Cormac Herley's 2012 attacker-economics analysis models the cost of following up with recipients who will never pay. An implausible advance-fee story can screen many people out immediately and leave a smaller set likely to continue, reducing wasted effort for the attacker. The model does not show where today's scammers live or that all fraud targets are gullible. Modern impersonation can be polished. Both a clumsy message and a highly professional one can be designed to induce action; writing quality is not an authentication method.", "source_ids": [ "attacker-economics" ] } ] }, { "id": "after-a-loss", "role": "cautions", "title": "Respond when money or information has already gone", "items": [ { "label": "Ask the payment provider for help immediately", "text": "Use the official app, a statement or the number on your card to contact the bank, payment app, wire service, gift-card issuer or cryptocurrency operator used. Explain the deception and ask whether the transaction can be stopped, reversed or refunded. The FTC distinguishes these routes because the provider and legal protections differ. Cryptocurrency can be particularly difficult to recover, but a difficulty is not a reason to skip contact. Keep the transaction details and report through official channels; no recovery outcome is promised here.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-paid" ] }, { "label": "Give identity misuse its own recovery plan", "text": "An identity thief may use personal information to open credit or access an existing account. IdentityTheft.gov supplies a tailored U.S. recovery plan; contact affected institutions and address exposed credentials as appropriate. A credit freeze is free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and restricts access used for most new-credit checks. A fraud alert instead directs lenders to verify identity. Neither recalls a wire nor secures an existing account on its own. Continue reviewing statements and addressing compromised accounts even after arranging new-credit protection.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-freeze", "ftc-paid" ] }, { "label": "Verify the new helper as carefully as the original request", "text": "After a loss, a stranger may know your name, amount or payment history because victim information circulates. The FTC describes promised refunds that require fees or account details; the FBI's July 2026 IC3 warning includes impersonated officials, fake complaint sites and AI-generated video. Use official reporting addresses you find independently. FBI and IC3 do not charge a recovery fee. This does not mean every independently hired legitimate lawyer or professional works for free; the issue is an unsolicited, unverified recovery promise and its new demand.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-recovery", "ic3-recovery" ] } ] }, { "id": "checking-common-claims", "role": "findings", "title": "Check the claims people repeat", "items": [ { "label": "Check agencies independently even when impersonation is common", "text": "Claim: 'Imposter scams lead recent FTC fraud reports.' Established for the 2025 report category and period. It describes submitted reports rather than all crime or a probability for any particular message. Use the fact to take verification seriously, rather than assuming every unfamiliar agency contact is fraudulent.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-imposter" ] }, { "label": "Recognize a gift-card-code demand for a fine or prize", "text": "Claim: 'An unexpected caller demanding gift-card codes for a fine or prize is showing a recognized scam pattern.' Established in FTC guidance. A bank wire's legitimate everyday uses do not validate a separate unverified demand. Check the purpose, recipient and independent contact route.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-gift" ] }, { "label": "Examine the request without judging the victim's worth", "text": "Claim: 'Only greedy or careless people get scammed.' Not supported. Documented cons exploit kindness and social obligations, and scam-type research does not identify a single universal victim profile. Your confidence, qualifications or embarrassment cannot authenticate a request.", "source_ids": [ "scam-principles", "scam-type-study" ] }, { "label": "Check a familiar voice before relying on the emergency story", "text": "Claim: 'If it sounds like my relative, the emergency is real.' Not supported. Official FTC voice-cloning discussion explains why speech can resemble another person. A real-sounding voice is evidence of resemblance, not independent confirmation of identity or the destination for money.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-voice" ] }, { "label": "Treat the course as practice and the guarantee as unsupported", "text": "Claim: 'One awareness course will keep me from being scammed.' Not supported as a guarantee. A specific phishing intervention showed retained learning and improved simulated performance. How well different training generalizes remains uncertain; uncertainty about benefit does not make lifetime immunity a plausible finding.", "source_ids": [ "phish-study" ] }, { "label": "Confirm a workplace change even when the display name matches", "text": "Claim: 'If the display name matches my boss, the wire is safe.' Popular talk, not evidence. The FBI describes both spoofing and compromise of real accounts. Confirm the payment details on an established independent channel rather than treating matching appearance as approval.", "source_ids": [ "fbi-bec" ] }, { "label": "Use the protective habit with realistic expectations", "text": "Claim: 'Following these tips means I will never be scammed.' Not supported. Official guidance provides useful protective actions, while evolving impersonation and varied payment outcomes remain. A better verification process improves the decision you can make; it cannot certify every future contact or guarantee repayment.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-current-signs", "ftc-voice" ] } ] }, { "id": "your-next-check", "role": "next_steps", "title": "Make one independent check", "items": [ { "label": "Pause and verify the next high-stakes request", "text": "For the next unexpected request for money, a code or sensitive information, write the claimed person or organization and the requested action in one sentence. Leave the incoming conversation and use an established number or official channel to confirm it. Tell a trusted person if pressure or secrecy is making the decision difficult. This practical sequence adapts FTC guidance; it is not a validated screening test. If physical danger is immediate, contact local emergency services first.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-current-signs", "ftc-emergency" ] }, { "label": "Try the callback with a family or workplace example", "text": "Choose one past urgent message and identify a contact route you had before it arrived. Practise explaining what you would confirm: the person's identity, the actual need, the amount and the recipient. If the first contact is unreachable, identify another trusted person or official institution. A private question can be a fallback, not a substitute for the independent route. This rehearsal prepares an action; it does not prove the original message was fraudulent.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-emergency", "fbi-bec" ] }, { "label": "Try verifying an offer before accepting its payment story", "text": "Take a job offer and search the company and recruiter alongside 'scam' or 'complaint'; then check the opening through the employer's real site. No complaint history is not proof of legitimacy. Explain any deposit, forwarding instruction or task-unlock fee to a trusted person before acting. FTC job guidance makes those payment patterns central. At work, apply the same principle to a changed invoice: a familiar voice or video still needs the ordinary payment confirmation.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-jobs", "ftc-task", "fbi-bec" ] } ] }, { "id": "scope-and-support", "role": "cautions", "title": "Use the right kind of support", "items": [ { "label": "Choose safety when checking could increase danger", "text": "If someone is in immediate physical danger, call local emergency services first. If a person close to you controls money, access to work or accounts, that may be financial abuse rather than a stranger scam. The National Domestic Violence Hotline advises considering monitored devices and personal safety when seeking support. Use a safer device and an advocate if checking or documenting finances could increase danger. A fraud checklist cannot decide the safest response in an abusive situation.", "source_ids": [ "hotline-safety" ] }, { "label": "Use this reading companion within its boundaries", "text": "This is a reading companion, not legal, financial, tax, or law-enforcement advice, and not a promise that you will never be scammed. Named sources. Honest paraphrase of the finding. Not medical, legal, or financial advice. Agency routes here are U.S.-centered; use your country's regulators and police elsewhere. Romance-scam material explains fraud and provides no dating guide. For bills and accounts after a loss, see STUDmoney. Learn Personal finance covers household credit tools; Information covers circulating claims; Career covers work.", "source_ids": [ "ftc-paid", "ftc-freeze", "fbi-bec" ] } ] } ], "related": [ "finance", "information", "career" ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "ftc-signs", "title": "How To Avoid a Scam", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Four recurring signs; independent contact; trusted-person conversation; FTC reporting.", "limitations": "U.S. educational guidance, not a validated diagnostic test or immunity guarantee." }, { "id": "ftc-current-signs", "title": "What are the signs of a scam?", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/03/what-are-signs-scam", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Unexpected money/information contact, haste and specified payment; checking independently.", "limitations": "A combination of request features matters; legitimate transfers also use these payment systems." }, { "id": "ftc-jobs", "title": "Job Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Fake-check, placement-fee, reshipping and remote-work schemes; complaint searches; official federal hiring routes.", "limitations": "Consumer guidance does not prove every recruiter message fraudulent; absence of complaints is not certification." }, { "id": "ftc-task", "title": "How to spot and avoid task scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/08/how-spot-avoid-task-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Fake platform earnings, small initial payouts and deposits required to unlock work or withdrawals.", "limitations": "Illustrative scheme description, not prevalence or an assessment of an individual platform." }, { "id": "ftc-job-text", "title": "That job offer text is probably a scam", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/04/job-offer-text-probably-scam", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Current generic remote-assessor texts and pay-to-get-paid pattern.", "limitations": "The channel is context; the deceptive offer and payment demand are the substantive concerns." }, { "id": "ftc-emergency", "title": "Scammers Use Fake Emergencies To Steal Your Money", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/scammers-use-fake-emergencies-steal-your-money", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Cloned familiar voice, urgency/secrecy, known-number callback and independent trusted contact.", "limitations": "Does not evaluate the reliability of a family password or establish detector performance." }, { "id": "ftc-voice", "title": "Preventing the Harms of AI-enabled Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2023/11/preventing-harms-ai-enabled-voice-cloning", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Voice synthesis can imitate identity; protection requires technology, company responsibility and policy.", "limitations": "2023 policy discussion; challenge proposals are not proven deployed defenses." }, { "id": "ftc-check", "title": "How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Available funds precede detection of fake checks; forwarding payments exposes depositor to loss.", "limitations": "Cannot certify a particular deposit or supply a universally safe waiting interval." }, { "id": "ftc-romance", "title": "What To Know About Romance Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "False relationship, invented expenses/investments, trusted-person conversation, image search and reporting.", "limitations": "Used only for fraud literacy; copied photos are a clue and finding no copied image does not establish someone's identity." }, { "id": "ftc-social", "title": "New FTC Data Show People Have Lost Billions to Social Media Scams", "url": "https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/new-ftc-data-show-people-have-lost-billions-social-media-scams", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "2025 social-origin losses $2.1 billion; nearly 60% of romance-loss reporters identified social media; profile privacy.", "limitations": "Self-reported contact channels; not a probability sample or a causal platform ranking." }, { "id": "ftc-imposter", "title": "FTC Data Show People Reported Losing $3.5 Billion to Imposter Scams in 2025", "url": "https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/06/ftc-data-show-people-reported-losing-3-point-5-billion-imposter-scams-2025", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Imposters were most reported FTC fraud category; $3.5 billion losses; fake protect-your-money alerts.", "limitations": "Complaint totals, not population prevalence; do not combine with IC3 totals." }, { "id": "ftc-unit-conflict", "title": "New trends in reports of imposter scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/05/new-trends-reports-imposter-scams", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "The page displays a $1.48 million romance total, while the earlier source record gives the unit as billion.", "limitations": "The unit discrepancy remains unresolved, so this figure is not used to support the article's account of romance losses." }, { "id": "ic3-report", "title": "2025 Internet Crime Report", "url": "https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Employment 24,688 complaints/$362,934,762; BEC 24,768/$3,046,598,558; confidence/romance $929,287,469; age and AI tables; Appendix C caveats.", "limitations": "Complaint-based snapshot; optional age, possible repeated filings, analyst classifications and overlapping descriptors. Relevant tables and methodological appendix inspected, not every case narrative." }, { "id": "fbi-ai", "title": "Cryptocurrency and AI Scams Bilk Americans of Billions", "url": "https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/cryptocurrency-and-ai-scams-bilk-americans-of-billions", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "2025 AI descriptor 22,364 complaints/nearly $893 million; clones and fake videos; details needed in reports.", "limitations": "AI descriptor depends on reported information; not an estimate of every AI-assisted crime." }, { "id": "fbi-bec", "title": "Business Email Compromise", "url": "https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/business-email-compromise", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Spoofed and compromised email, invoice changes, directory-based verification, MFA and immediate institution contact.", "limitations": "Operational guidance, not a trial of every workplace policy." }, { "id": "ftc-paid", "title": "What To Do if You Were Scammed", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-you-were-scammed", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Immediate contact by payment type, request reversal, preserve gift-card receipt, IdentityTheft.gov and account/device response.", "limitations": "Recovery is not guaranteed; U.S. legal protections differ by payment and facts." }, { "id": "ftc-recovery", "title": "Refund and Recovery Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/refund-and-recovery-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Victim-list targeting, advance-fee refund stories and independent verification.", "limitations": "An unsolicited recovery scheme is different from independently hiring a legitimate professional." }, { "id": "ic3-recovery", "title": "FBI Warns of Scammers Impersonating the IC3", "url": "https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA260720", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "IC3 impersonation, fake sites and AI-generated officials; FBI/IC3 do not charge recovery fees.", "limitations": "Specific alert; genuine reporting does not guarantee funds recovered." }, { "id": "ftc-gift", "title": "Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/avoiding-reporting-gift-card-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Gift-card-code demands for fees/bills; contact issuer and keep receipt.", "limitations": "Gift-card guidance does not classify every bank wire or app transaction." }, { "id": "ftc-freeze", "title": "Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/credit-freezes-and-fraud-alerts", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Free freezes at three bureaus; new-credit scope; alerts require extra identity checking.", "limitations": "Does not protect an existing bank account or reverse a transfer." }, { "id": "ftc-phishing", "title": "How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams", "url": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-avoid-phishing-scams", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Credential-stealing messages; independent contact, software updates and MFA.", "limitations": "Layers reduce particular attack opportunities; approval of a fraudulent payment remains a separate risk." }, { "id": "cfpb-eft", "title": "Comment for 1005.2 Definitions", "url": "https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1005/interp-2/", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Comment 2(m)-3 includes transfers initiated by someone obtaining an access device through fraud or robbery.", "limitations": "Official interpretation does not determine an individual's claim; transfer initiator, authority, payment rail and facts matter." }, { "id": "phish-study", "title": "School of Phish: A Real-World Evaluation of Anti-Phishing Training", "url": "https://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2009/proceedings/a3-kumaraguru.pdf", "kind": "study", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "515 CMU faculty/staff/students; embedded simulated-email training; retention to 28 days and benefit from reinforcement.", "limitations": "2009 university sample and simulated phishing outcomes; not lifetime protection or evidence about romance/AI emergencies." }, { "id": "scam-principles", "title": "Understanding scam victims: seven principles for systems security", "url": "https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/papers/2011-StajanoWil-scam.pdf", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Stajano/Wilson seven principles, ordinary motivation and attention exploited by cons.", "limitations": "Qualitative conceptual security analysis from documented cons/TV reconstructions; not an intervention trial." }, { "id": "attacker-economics", "title": "Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They are From Nigeria?", "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria-2/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Herley's 2012 attacker-economics model: implausible pitches can screen out unprofitable follow-up.", "limitations": "Model/abstract inspected; not contemporary crime geography or a general portrait of victims." }, { "id": "scam-type-study", "title": "Correlates of responding to and becoming victimized by fraud: Examining risk factors by scam type", "url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijcs.12886", "kind": "study", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "DeLiema/Li/Mottola retrospective BBB-reporter survey: response and money loss have different correlates across scam categories; methods/conclusion/limitations opened.", "limitations": "1,407 completed surveys, low response and self-selection, U.S./Canadian reporters; cross-sectional associations cannot establish cause or population rates." }, { "id": "burnes-review", "title": "Prevalence of Financial Fraud and Scams Among Older Adults in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5508139/", "kind": "review", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "12 studies/41,711 adults; annual pooled estimate 5.4%; wording changes estimates.", "limitations": "The review used the manuscript text available through the search index. Participants were mostly cognitively intact older adults living in the community; the older data, varied methods and moderate-to-high risk of bias limit interpretation." }, { "id": "hotline-safety", "title": "What is Financial Abuse?", "url": "https://www.thehotline.org/resources/financialabuse/", "kind": "guideline", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Control of money/employment can be abuse; personalized advocacy and monitored-device caution.", "limitations": "Domestic-abuse guidance, distinct from stranger fraud; a generic scam checklist is insufficient." }, { "id": "carpenter-interview", "title": "Perry Carpenter KB4-CON 2026 Q&A: Deepfakes & Deception", "url": "https://blog.knowbe4.com/kb4-con-2026-perry-carpenter-deepfakes-interview", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "May 2026 interview: short convincing fakes, detection limits and slowing down.", "limitations": "Commercial security-awareness vendor interview; no independent detector accuracy or prevention trial." }, { "id": "fcc-ruling", "title": "FCC 24-17: Declaratory Ruling on AI-generated voices", "url": "https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-17A1_Rcd.pdf", "kind": "official", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Official indexed ruling text includes AI voices under TCPA artificial/prerecorded-voice restrictions, with exceptions.", "limitations": "The account relies on indexed text from the official introduction and ruling; the full PDF was unavailable for review. The consent classification does not authenticate identity or ban all uses of AI." }, { "id": "aarp-experts", "title": "Meet AARP Fraud Experts Fighting to Protect You", "url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/aarp-fraud-experts/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Official search-indexed full role text verifies Kathy Stokes, Amy Nofziger and Doug Shadel; public education and victim support.", "limitations": "The roles are documented in indexed text from AARP's official page. Professional titles are not evidence that a particular intervention works." }, { "id": "aarp-help", "title": "About AARP Fraud Watch Network", "url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/about-fraud-watch-network/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Official indexed result verifies free helpline 877-908-3360 and public support role.", "limitations": "The support service is documented in indexed text from AARP's official page. It is not law enforcement and does not guarantee repayment." }, { "id": "community-questions", "title": "AARP fraud-expert AMA in r/Scams", "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1w6c3td/hi_reddit_im_kathy_stokes_fraud_expert_at_aarp/", "kind": "question_signal", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Opened questions about practical verification, AI impersonation, helping relatives and recovery; informs article emphasis.", "limitations": "Nonrepresentative comments; no credential or factual claim rests solely on this thread. Relative timestamps conflict with indexed date, so no event-date inference." }, { "id": "stokes-role", "title": "Kathy Stokes — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/aarp-fraud-experts/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Senior Director, Fraud Prevention Programs, AARP Fraud Watch Network; official indexed role text verified. Pause education, public testimony and community fraud questions.", "limitations": "Her role is documented in indexed text from AARP's official page. Education and advocacy are not evidence from a prevention trial." }, { "id": "nofziger-role", "title": "Amy Nofziger — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/aarp-fraud-experts/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Senior Director of Victim Support, AARP Fraud Watch Network; Certified Fraud Examiner, per official indexed biography. Oversees the public free Fraud Watch Network Helpline and supplies media education.", "limitations": "Her role is documented in indexed text from the official biography. The helpline does not guarantee recovery." }, { "id": "shadel-role", "title": "Doug Shadel — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.finrafoundation.org/recognizing-leaders", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Former AARP Washington state director; 2023 FINRA Foundation Ketchum Prize recipient. FINRA recognition page links public fraud-fighting video and research recognition.", "limitations": "Historical investigator/research contribution; no claim of a current agency enforcement post." }, { "id": "deliema-role", "title": "Marti DeLiema — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://ssw.umn.edu/marti-deliema", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota School of Social Work; PhD gerontology. Agency collaborations, public research-to-practice presentations and fraud measurement.", "limitations": "Retrospective/self-selected research cannot diagnose a household or prove causal protection." }, { "id": "burnes-role", "title": "David Burnes — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://socialwork.utoronto.ca/research-team/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Professor and Canada Research Chair in Older Adult Mistreatment Prevention, University of Toronto. Public-health research and advice to WHO, NIH and protective-services bodies.", "limitations": "Older-adult populations and definitions do not represent all ages or current AI schemes." }, { "id": "cross-profile", "title": "Cassandra Cross — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/ca.cross", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Professor, QUT School of Justice; Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching). Public fraud teaching, guest lectures, listed victim-support and reporting work.", "limitations": "The 2023 study examines Australian reports qualitatively; its proposed educational changes are not demonstrated intervention effects." }, { "id": "whitty-profile", "title": "Monica Whitty — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/monica-whitty/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security and Head of Department, Monash University; PhD psychology. Official biography records media interviews, invited talks and fraud expert-witness work.", "limitations": "The 2013 original paper was unavailable for review. Its model is described through Cross's 2023 discussion and is not treated as universally applicable." }, { "id": "button-role", "title": "Mark Button — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/mark-button", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Professor of Criminology; Director, Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime, University of Portsmouth. Counter-fraud research and public knowledge services; coauthored victim-centered book.", "limitations": "Crime measurement and practice research do not decide individual recovery rights." }, { "id": "cranor-role", "title": "Lorrie Faith Cranor — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/cranor-lorrie.html", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "CyLab Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor; FORE Systems University Professor, Carnegie Mellon; former FTC Chief Technologist. Usable-security research, freely available academic teaching and policy service.", "limitations": "2009 training does not establish lifelong protection. Cofounded a commercial training firm later acquired by Proofpoint." }, { "id": "carpenter-role", "title": "Perry Carpenter — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.knowbe4.com/speakers/perry-carpenter", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Chief Deception Strategist, KnowBe4; official speaker biography. Books, podcasts and opened May 2026 deepfake interview.", "limitations": "Commercial vendor educator; commentary and simulated metrics are not independent effectiveness proof." }, { "id": "velasquez-role", "title": "Eva Velasquez — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.idtheftcenter.org/key-staff-and-board-of-directors/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "CEO, Identity Theft Resource Center; prior 21 years at San Diego District Attorney's Office. Public identity-crime education, agency briefings and victim-support leadership.", "limitations": "Organization's support is not counsel, criminal adjudication or guaranteed compensation." }, { "id": "mottola-role", "title": "Gary R. Mottola — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.finra.org/compliance-tools/weekly-archive/01072026", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Research Director, FINRA Investor Education Foundation; PhD social psychologist, verified in opened research biography and current FINRA notice. FINRA Unscripted research explanation and national financial-capability reporting.", "limitations": "Investor education research is not a financial-product recommendation or causal victim-risk score." }, { "id": "stajano-role", "title": "Frank Stajano — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Professor of Security and Privacy, University of Cambridge; academic page and official indexed faculty role. Public lectures and openly available security papers.", "limitations": "Conceptual cons analysis, not a prevention trial; academic and consultancy roles are distinct." }, { "id": "herley-role", "title": "Cormac Herley — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria-2/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Named security-research author of the Microsoft Research WEIS 2012 publication. Publicly accessible attacker-economics explanation.", "limitations": "Historical verified contribution; current job title not inferred, and model is not crime geography." }, { "id": "breyault-role", "title": "John Breyault — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://fraud.org/contact-our-experts/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud; Fraud.org director. Fraud alerts, legislative testimony and media consumer education.", "limitations": "Advocacy cannot determine a bank's legal duty in a specific transaction." }, { "id": "terry-role", "title": "Mona Terry — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://www.idtheftcenter.org/key-staff-and-board-of-directors/", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Chief Operating & Programs Officer, Identity Theft Resource Center. Leads victim-service approaches, recovery plans and public education programs.", "limitations": "Service expertise is not law-enforcement power or a measured universal intervention effect." }, { "id": "kumaraguru-role", "title": "Ponnurangam Kumaraguru — professional role and public contribution", "url": "https://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2009/proceedings/a3-kumaraguru.pdf", "kind": "professional", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Named Carnegie Mellon researcher/coauthor in the official 2009 School of Phish proceedings. Open empirical anti-phishing teaching and usable-security research.", "limitations": "Historical paper affiliation only; no current appointment inferred and no transfer to all fraud assumed." }, { "id": "cross-recognition-study", "title": "“I knew it was a scam”: Understanding the triggers for recognizing romance fraud", "url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9133.12645", "kind": "study", "accessed_at": "2026-10-01", "supports": "Opened primary abstract, methods and contextual sections: qualitative narratives in 1,015 Australian Scamwatch romance-loss reports July 2018–July 2019; five recognition-trigger categories.", "limitations": "Selected reports from people recognizing/reporting losses, not everyone targeted; qualitative analysis and proposed messaging benefits do not prove prevention effectiveness." } ], "professional_panel": [ { "name": "Kathy Stokes", "credential": "Senior Director, Fraud Prevention Programs, AARP Fraud Watch Network; official indexed role text verified.", "official_url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/aarp-fraud-experts/", "public_usefulness": "Pause education, public testimony and community fraud questions.", "contribution": "Normalizes a pause, independent check and non-blaming discussion.", "boundary": "Her role is documented in indexed text from AARP's official page. Education and advocacy are not evidence from a prevention trial.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Amy Nofziger", "credential": "Senior Director of Victim Support, AARP Fraud Watch Network; Certified Fraud Examiner, per official indexed biography.", "official_url": "https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/aarp-fraud-experts/", "public_usefulness": "Oversees the public free Fraud Watch Network Helpline and supplies media education.", "contribution": "Provides support after a loss through a service separate from criminal reporting.", "boundary": "Her role is documented in indexed text from the official biography. The helpline does not guarantee recovery.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Doug Shadel", "credential": "Former AARP Washington state director; 2023 FINRA Foundation Ketchum Prize recipient.", "official_url": "https://www.finrafoundation.org/recognizing-leaders", "public_usefulness": "FINRA recognition page links public fraud-fighting video and research recognition.", "contribution": "Investment-fraud research adds specificity to persuasion and victim profiles.", "boundary": "Historical investigator/research contribution; no claim of a current agency enforcement post.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Marti DeLiema", "credential": "Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota School of Social Work; PhD gerontology.", "official_url": "https://ssw.umn.edu/marti-deliema", "public_usefulness": "Agency collaborations, public research-to-practice presentations and fraud measurement.", "contribution": "Distinguishes the factors associated with answering a scam from those associated with losing money, across different scam types.", "boundary": "Retrospective/self-selected research cannot diagnose a household or prove causal protection.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "David Burnes", "credential": "Professor and Canada Research Chair in Older Adult Mistreatment Prevention, University of Toronto.", "official_url": "https://socialwork.utoronto.ca/research-team/", "public_usefulness": "Public-health research and advice to WHO, NIH and protective-services bodies.", "contribution": "Explains pooled older-adult prevalence and why measurement matters.", "boundary": "Older-adult populations and definitions do not represent all ages or current AI schemes.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Cassandra Cross", "credential": "Professor, QUT School of Justice; Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching).", "official_url": "https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/ca.cross", "public_usefulness": "Public fraud teaching, guest lectures, listed victim-support and reporting work.", "contribution": "Explains why recognizing a crime may not immediately end emotional attachment, and why support should avoid blame.", "boundary": "The 2023 study examines Australian reports qualitatively; its proposed educational changes are not demonstrated intervention effects.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Monica Whitty", "credential": "Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security and Head of Department, Monash University; PhD psychology.", "official_url": "https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/monica-whitty/", "public_usefulness": "Official biography records media interviews, invited talks and fraud expert-witness work.", "contribution": "Explains psychological development of fraud attachment before money demands.", "boundary": "The 2013 original paper was unavailable for review. Its model is described through Cross's 2023 discussion and is not treated as universally applicable.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Mark Button", "credential": "Professor of Criminology; Director, Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime, University of Portsmouth.", "official_url": "https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/mark-button", "public_usefulness": "Counter-fraud research and public knowledge services; coauthored victim-centered book.", "contribution": "Frames fraud as economic crime with institutional response and support needs.", "boundary": "Crime measurement and practice research do not decide individual recovery rights.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Lorrie Faith Cranor", "credential": "CyLab Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor; FORE Systems University Professor, Carnegie Mellon; former FTC Chief Technologist.", "official_url": "https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/cranor-lorrie.html", "public_usefulness": "Usable-security research, freely available academic teaching and policy service.", "contribution": "Coauthored empirical phishing-training work with clear tested outcomes.", "boundary": "2009 training does not establish lifelong protection. Cofounded a commercial training firm later acquired by Proofpoint.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Perry Carpenter", "credential": "Chief Deception Strategist, KnowBe4; official speaker biography.", "official_url": "https://www.knowbe4.com/speakers/perry-carpenter", "public_usefulness": "Books, podcasts and opened May 2026 deepfake interview.", "contribution": "Explains why even a short, convincing impersonation calls for independent verification.", "boundary": "Commercial vendor educator; commentary and simulated metrics are not independent effectiveness proof.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Eva Velasquez", "credential": "CEO, Identity Theft Resource Center; prior 21 years at San Diego District Attorney's Office.", "official_url": "https://www.idtheftcenter.org/key-staff-and-board-of-directors/", "public_usefulness": "Public identity-crime education, agency briefings and victim-support leadership.", "contribution": "Recovering from misuse of personal information involves different steps from requesting a payment reversal.", "boundary": "Organization's support is not counsel, criminal adjudication or guaranteed compensation.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Gary R. Mottola", "credential": "Research Director, FINRA Investor Education Foundation; PhD social psychologist, verified in opened research biography and current FINRA notice.", "official_url": "https://www.finra.org/compliance-tools/weekly-archive/01072026", "public_usefulness": "FINRA Unscripted research explanation and national financial-capability reporting.", "contribution": "Coauthored scam-type study and explains financial-risk measurement.", "boundary": "Investor education research is not a financial-product recommendation or causal victim-risk score.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Frank Stajano", "credential": "Professor of Security and Privacy, University of Cambridge; academic page and official indexed faculty role.", "official_url": "https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/", "public_usefulness": "Public lectures and openly available security papers.", "contribution": "Seven-principle analysis of how ordinary motives can be exploited.", "boundary": "Conceptual cons analysis, not a prevention trial; academic and consultancy roles are distinct.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Cormac Herley", "credential": "Named security-research author of the Microsoft Research WEIS 2012 publication.", "official_url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria-2/", "public_usefulness": "Publicly accessible attacker-economics explanation.", "contribution": "Explains why implausible advance-fee pitches can filter follow-up targets.", "boundary": "Historical verified contribution; current job title not inferred, and model is not crime geography.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "John Breyault", "credential": "National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud; Fraud.org director.", "official_url": "https://fraud.org/contact-our-experts/", "public_usefulness": "Fraud alerts, legislative testimony and media consumer education.", "contribution": "Payment-system protection and reporting-gap advocacy.", "boundary": "Advocacy cannot determine a bank's legal duty in a specific transaction.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Mona Terry", "credential": "Chief Operating & Programs Officer, Identity Theft Resource Center.", "official_url": "https://www.idtheftcenter.org/key-staff-and-board-of-directors/", "public_usefulness": "Leads victim-service approaches, recovery plans and public education programs.", "contribution": "Explains practical recovery steps and how they differ from unverified promises of reimbursement.", "boundary": "Service expertise is not law-enforcement power or a measured universal intervention effect.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" }, { "name": "Ponnurangam Kumaraguru", "credential": "Named Carnegie Mellon researcher/coauthor in the official 2009 School of Phish proceedings.", "official_url": "https://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2009/proceedings/a3-kumaraguru.pdf", "public_usefulness": "Open empirical anti-phishing teaching and usable-security research.", "contribution": "Shows what embedded training, reinforcement and 28-day follow-up actually tested.", "boundary": "Historical paper affiliation only; no current appointment inferred and no transfer to all fraud assumed.", "reviewed_at": "2026-10-01" } ] }