The anatomy of scams - trust, hope and deception

From tech-savvy professionals to seasoned public officials, stories of people being duped by online and phone scammers are alarmingly frequent

Let’s be honest: if you have ever received a call telling you that you've

won a lottery you never entered, or an email from a distant relative you didn’t know existed leaving you a fortune, you've probably paused for a moment. Yes, you, the educated, internet-savvy, cautious citizen. For just a split second, you may have wondered, “Could this be real?” And that’s where it starts — the tiny, fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe, you have struck gold.

In an age where our smartphones have become extensions of ourselves, and news cycles constantly highlight the latest fraud schemes, one would think we are all too wise to fall victim to scams. Yet, in India, the reality is sobering. From techsavvy professionals to seasoned public officials, stories of people being duped by online and phone scammers are alarmingly frequent. Despite the barrage of awareness messages, it seems our vulnerability is only increasing. The question arises: Why are we still so gullible?

India, a country that seems to thrive on WhatsApp forwards, bursting with advice on how to avoid getting scammed, remains paradoxically vulnerable to the most outlandish cons. The scam engines seem more innovative than others, with newer ones, be it the Customs scam to FedEx scam to more. Every day, we're bombarded with stories of people being duped — stories that range from the mundane to the downright absurd. You’d think by now we'd be immune to these tricks.

Let’s not just point fingers at the elderly, who are often seen as the