Why are we all so confident that we'll never fall for a scam?

"We all like to see ourselves in a positive light. We really like to have a good opinion of ourselves, and probably a slightly better one than we deserve. We’re all above average drivers, intelligence, et cetera. And people who are like that [believe they] are not people who fall for scams, because they’re also above average judges of character — they’re above average at being to able to spot deception. So no one wants to see themselves as the victim. It just doesn’t fit with our image of who we are."

What makes some people extra vulnerable?

"One thing is being in a situation in life where you’ve become unstable or where you’re experiencing some emotional vulnerability. That can often happen in points of transition. For instance, if you’ve just lost a job, someone you were close to just died, or you went through a breakup. But it could be positive as well — you could have just gotten a new job. It just disrupts your frame of reference. All of a sudden, things aren’t as stable as they used to be, they don’t make as much sense."

"But we really dislike uncertainty and hate ambiguity. We feel really uncomfortable in situations like that so we become really vulnerable to people who counteract that, people who make us feel better, who make us feel certain, who create stability where it’s missing. And those are the best moments for con artists to pounce."