It’s not just about the money, even if it is to the scammers.
Yes, scams cost people money. Online scams are estimated to cost people over $110 billion dollars a year. That’s a lot of money by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not the whole story. Blackmail scams for example, leave people in a perpetual state of fear. People have taken their own lives because of it. Romance scams steal a person’s self worth and trust in others. People have ended up homeless. They’ve even been jailed after cashing a fake cheque sent to them by the scammer. Being scammed can lead to people being hit with another scam, called a recovery scam. Just as they have no more to give, the scammer comes back as another person claiming they can get their money back for a fee. Where do they go for this money they don’t have? Sell the car? Sell the house? Steal from family members? Go to a loan shark? It’s not just money a person loses. They can lose everything, including their life.