Psychologist Nigel Latta is fronting a new TVNZ series called You've Been Scammed. Photo / Supplied
Celebrity psychologist Nigel Latta has hit back at claims scam victims are all gullible or that they are easily taken in due to greed.
In fact, victims are often well-educated, savvy about the risks of being defrauded and not looking for unrealistic financial windfalls, Latta says.
“People aren’t just being greedy, they’re just trying to get the best return they can with the money they’ve got.
“It’s not just gullible people, it’s smart people who get sucked in.”
Latta is fronting a new four-part television series, You’ve Been Scammed, which debuts tonight on TVNZ at 8pm.
The series has been funded by the country’s banks, in association with the Banking Ombudsman, and comes during an exponential rise in the number of scams and growing calls for the banking sector to do more to protect Kiwi customers.
Latta told the Herald that scammers were effectively salespeople who had refined their spiels over years of trial and error.
They had become experts in identifying different sorts of people and quickly pinpointing what approach was best tailored to individuals.
“They very quickly get a sense about who you are. He’ll start making predictions about what you will or won’t say, what you are going to raise questions about, and like any algorithm, they have learned the things that are most likely to push you in the right direction.
“What they’re really good at is making people feel relaxed and making people feel safe. They just really really good at their craft.”
Tech commentator Russell Brown revealed on Friday he’d been “convincingly” scammed after speaking with a “very smooth English-accented man” who was impersonating a bank employee.
Latta said modern scammers were highly believable and very difficult to spot.
During the series, Latta spoke to a professional scammer and found himself questioning if the man was actually legitimate.
“In the middle of our conversation, we thought, ‘Have we got this wrong’?
“He was practised, he had his patter, he was friendly, he was relaxed. Nothing was a problem and he had an answer for everything. There was no hesitation.”
While victims are often labelled greedy for falling for the promises of big financial gains, Latta said many scams weren’t offering huge, unbelievable returns.
“I think what they’ve done is tested the numbers so they know it’s just enough above what everyone else is doing that it seems good without being suspicious, but not too high that it rings alarms bells.
“It’s within a range that it’s calculated to arouse your interest but not your suspicion.”
Asked if banks were doing enough to protect customers, Latta said he preferred not to weigh in given the sector had just funded the series, though he believed they had good intentions and were trying to raise awareness.
He hoped the series would arm people with information and prevent more of us losing money to professional criminals.
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