Yes, You Can be Trained to Detect Imposter Scams

It is not difficult to find people who have received a fake email claiming to be from the government or a retailer asking them to clear up a problem with their Social Security number, tax filing, or recent purchase. The scammers behind these emails are after personal information or just want the recipients to send money to clear up the issue. 

But people can be trained to resist this online fraud. All they need is a little help recognizing some of the common tricks scammers use, by looking for fake URLs – say, amazon.com.tv – or hovering over a link to see where it leads before accidentally clicking into a fraudulent website. In a new study, researchers found that the individuals who received interactive online training were better at spotting a scam than people who read written information about fraud.

The study also identified who is most susceptible to government and business imposter scams: women, young adults and retirees. In fact, the ability to pick up on a scam peaks around age 49.  

This research was launched out of a concern that imposters posing as the U.S. Social Security Administration are contributing to the general trend of growing distrust of government institutions. A kernel of good news in the findings is that someone’s experience with internet fraud does not seem to be increasing their level of distrust in the agency.

But online fraud still costs Americans millions of dollars a year. This new study is a second experiment by these researchers to show that fraud can be tackled – if individuals are given the right tools.

The heart of this study was interactive training in which individuals were walked through several fraudulent emails or websites, mixed in with legitimate ones. Participants had to decide whether the email or website they were shown was real or a scam. After each of these, the participants were shown various clues that the email or website links were either trustworthy or fake.

One example of a fake email claiming to be from Social Security asked people to sign up online to get an alert in the event the agency learns that the recipient’s Social Security number has been misused. The agency sends out very few emails and only for a few specific purposes. Another fake email was from the IRS, which has a policy of never initiating contact with taxpayers online or by phone.

After completing the training, the participants’ skills were tested – some immediately and some more than two weeks later. The test had ten emails, websites and letters. Half were fake. The people who completed the interactive training were much more likely to spot a scam than people who received fraud-detection tips in writing or general information about Internet addiction or trust.

The interactive training had other benefits too. The people who received it engaged in more behaviors to detect government imposter scams, such as opening fewer suspicious links – an indication that it was working. Also, the training didn’t cause people to become overly cautious and mistrust legitimate emails and websites. Unfortunately, the fraud detection benefits of the interactive training declined after two weeks, indicating that people need booster trainings for the effects to last.

Left unsaid in this study is how the training might be implemented to benefit the broader public. But the researchers have established that “interactive fraud detection training can help consumers discriminate between real and fraudulent online communications from both government agencies and retailers.”

To read this study by Marti DeLiema, Clifford Robb, and Stephen Wendel, see “Enhancing Trust in the Social Security Administration and e-Government among People Targeted by Fraud.”

The research reported herein was derived in whole or in part from research activities performed pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) funded as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium.  The opinions and conclusions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not represent the opinions or policy of SSA, any agency of the federal government, or Boston College.  Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the contents of this report.  Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.