collective insight
level of suspicion. Simplifying the decision to lower their
need for research validation or chatting to others. And
then – BAM – rush them with a quick, limited-time offer
to shepherd them in the trap. Let’s not forget you also
need to work on the greed element. Plus,” Ms X purred, “I
like adding a tinge of something illicit, inside information
or buying something discounted as it is stolen, so they
don’t rush to the authorities.”
[Fly note: Research by Pressman (1998) revealed the
victims could have “bridged” the asymmetries themselves.
“The skill of the con artist relies on the ability...to induce
the mark to make a leap of faith,” wrote Arjan Reurink in
a literary review on financial fraud that appeared in the
Journal of Economic Surveys last year.]
“Mmm. We are going over old ground. Any ideas from
the other end of the table?” harried the chair.
The Red Baron cleared his throat, and all fell silent. He
hardly spoke, but when he did, it paid to listen.
“Da. You are ALL right. Chair, if I may?” It was more a
command than a question.Data-driven attacks and the treasure
trove on your phone
“People are trustink zeirrr phones
and advice from strangers more
zan face-to-face advisers (Sorry
Ms X). Da, fintech is the way
to go but we need a two-
pronged attack,” the old Soviet
strategised.
“Doktorrr Data, first give
us a list of people with high
disposable income, whittle out
the very financially literate, bias to
the elderly.
“Cipher, develop us an app or two
zat vill appeal to zem. People never check
ze digital signatures. We vill move from the
shadowz and hide in plain sight. Ziss Trojan horse will
monitor the victim’s SMS trail to see bank details and
payments. We vill let zose silly helpful banks do the work
for us. Muhaha!” the Red Baron chuckled.The Genie of Technology... in the wrong hands
“We record zeirrr voices. If zeirrr phone’s security says
nyet, zen we ping zem with computerised calls ‘Can You
Hear Me?’ and zen when zey answer ‘yes’, we record zem.
We repeat with other questions, like ‘Is that Mr X? Pleaserepeat your name so I can pronounce it right.’ After a few
calls, we have zeirrr whole voice library of zeirrr identity
to spoof bank verification systems. My AI comrades can
duplicate speech from only 60 seconds of voice!”
[Fly note: Lyrebird’s AI system claims to replicate
someone’s voice with just a minute of data.]
“Oh yes,” Ms X cackled. “After fooling their banks, we
then do a reverse of the `Grandchild in trouble’ and scam
the out-of-town grandchild who gets called the most
and lives furthest away!”
“Easy peasy with call history an’ location data. Gonna
call it the Doubledecker. Wicked!” puffing Cipher blows
two vape rings at once in his excitement.Dark side of behavioural finance – exploiting
group trust and steering behaviour
When the smoke cleared, the Red Baron continued:
“Zen with ze young, we subset zose in financial distress
like most student debt, or late with car payments. Cross
correlate and assess ze wealth of friends and family zey
can draw on for funds. Key is building a fake social
affinity group network to induce trust. Ms
X can craft a decadent, upbeat ‘save the
world and get rich easy’ marketink
newsletter, filled with fake stories of
lucky breaks by taking risks.”
[Fly note: Academic research
notes you need to lower the victim’s
defences by appealing to trust, or
to greed or leveraging distressed
financial situations. See Reurink’s
Survey 2018. Don’t be rushed!]
“Dok Data can, from ze
reader’s history, customise ze right
vector of attack for each victim.
Wait some time for ze trust to build,
zen pump in scam. Ze victim vill be
‘psychically’ primed to take risk...and ze bait
appeals. Use something time honoured ‘The Spanish
Prisoner’ or a famous concert ticket ‘GlimDropper’. Take
your pick. It’s simple.” (See https://bit.ly/1KKRyOP for a
good list of scams.)
The chair commended the Baron. “Excellent stuff.
Time to wrap up! One step closer to world domination –
greed is good!” ■
Dr Michael Streatfield, CFA, is founding partner and chief scientist of global
hedge fund advisory Fortitudine Vincimus Capital (fvcadvisors.com). He
Pho writes in his personal capacity.
tos
:^ Sh
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“You have to lower your mark’s level of suspicion. Simplifying the decision
to lower their need for research validation or chatting to others.”
@finweek finweek finweekmagazine finweek^ 15 August 2019^33