The art of falling for scams: something Americans are good at?

Question

I found it amazing how many people fall for scams (A scam is pre-meditated scheme for cheating people out of money, with one of the most famous being the Nigerian 419 email advance fee fraud. Hundreds of people have fallen for these 419er scams. Other 419er scams include the selling of fake dollars and miracle cures) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4853938.stm).

When looking for peoples opinions on why people fall for scams I found that people think the cause is people being stupid, greedy, and more greed. I want your opinions on scams though. I want your opinion on why people fall for them. Also, some interesting scam stories wouldn't hurt.

Answer 1

"Stupid" or "greedy" may be too broad to be of any use.

In no particular order:

1)  A number of us trust what people say.  If someone claims that a product will work, then those people believe it.

2) A number of us want to believe that the product works, or that the offer is good, or that they really have won a million dollars.  In one instance, for a few moments, I really hoped that the email I had been sent was legitimate, which leads to

3)  Some people will not do their homework.  To finish my example, I did a search and found, not to my surprise, that indeed, it was a documented scam.

Now, you might say that all of those consitute either stupidity or greed.  I prefer more specific descriptions.

Answer 2

Somebody wanted to get my steam password.

He failed hard.

Answer 3

that is a very dumb question. become a little smart first, otherwise i cannot understand questions that sorely lack intelligence. ignorance and stupiditiy is on your behalf as that blatant display biased bullsht  get out of our country. and stop being dumb. clearly racist profilers are the most knowledgable people. they even judge on geographs, race s*x religion and all that other sht how did they get so smart? how did you get so smart? you deserve a cookie. pat yourself on the back. problems with our society starts with stereotype and racism its highly  advisable to take up a different major "ignorance is the greatest evil"