Con victims fall under the 'spell' of scammers

SCAMMERS are putting people under "The Spell" to win their trust and get them to do anything they ask.

-  Emily Braeger

Once spellbound, victims willingly give criminals access to their personal information and funds, and even lie to their banks.

Experts warn this practice contributed to the £580million stolen through fraud in the first half of 2023.

Dr Elisabeth Carter, associate professor of criminology and forensic linguist at Kingston University, told the Express: "Fraud criminals use language that is designed to manipulate.

Abuse

"Once they create a sense of normality, trust and safety, they then subtly develop the communication by adding requests that do not cause alarm, but devastatingly, end up in financial and psychological harm.