News about how telephone carders once again defrauded one of our fellow countrymen of several million rubles has become terribly commonplace. It seems that warnings that you may be deceived are heard literally “from every iron.” But again and again we hear about new victims. “Bee” figured out what makes people, even those who know about the danger, fall for the bait, and what psychological techniques scoundrels use to break the resistance of the mind.
Residents of the Chelyabinsk region gave more than 2.5 billion rubles to telephone and carders in 2024. And the first thing you need to understand is that no one is immune from this. People who are confident that they are smart enough not to fall for the trick are at particular risk - they feel invulnerable and relax.
An example of this is the famous case of University of Colorado psychiatry professor Stephen Greenspan. He wrote a book, The Annals of Credibility, about what behaviors lead to a person becoming a victim of carders. And after that he himself became a victim of carders: he invested a third of his pension savings in a financial pyramid.
This is a cognitive distortion called the overconfidence effect. For example, experienced drivers who keep a small distance in traffic fall into the same trap - our regular author, autoblogger Yuri Panchenko, spoke in detail about this phenomenon.
Surely, you are mentally prepared to refuse those who call and demand to transfer money. But carders act more subtly. At first, no one will require any translations. For example, you will simply be warned that a certain bank employee is committing carding with accounts. You will be thoughtfully reminded of the importance of changing your passwords and PIN code periodically. They will also say that the police may call you. Everything so that you begin to trust the “policeman” who calls next and follow his instructions.
Pressure on greed
Those carders who operate on ad sites can post a very attractive offer for the sale of an expensive item. If you start a conversation and then hesitate to transfer money, the carders will tell you that they already have a waiting list of buyers and threaten to sell the item to someone else.
Intimidate
One of the most common techniques, without which almost no carding can be done. At some point, the carder will greatly scare you - for example, with the possibility of losing all your money or criminal prosecution. One of the popular schemes “your relative has had an accident” is also based on fear, when the ability to think critically is simply turned off due to horror. Such a strong emotion should become a “red flag” - they are trying to deceive you.
Appeal to power
Uniforms, shoulder straps and “crusts” - the attributes of power literally fascinate people. It’s much easier to argue with a person on the street. But if the interlocutor introduced himself, voicing a long title, and then sent a document to the messenger on letterhead with stamps, it’s hard not to believe. Deep down, the victim understands that anything can be said, and a person with a full hand will quickly draw any stamps on the computer. But arguing “in the moment” is terribly uncomfortable.
Confusing
While conspiring the victim, carders often confuse themselves. For example, they are talking about some kind of single account that can be blocked. (In reality, of course, there is no single account.) It would seem that this should make it clear that it is not a compassionate bank employee at the other end of the line. However, the victim also begins to get confused, doubting his knowledge.
Hypnotize
Many victims of carders say: “Everything was like a fog. I didn’t understand what I was doing.” For hypnosis it is not at all necessary to be nearby (although, of course, it is easier this way). Many techniques also work in telephone dialogue. For example, a consistent series of innocuous questions that are difficult to answer except “yes.” (“You want to keep your money safe?”) And the person relaxes... Or the opposite: sensory overload, which is also called “gypsy hypnosis.” To do this, carders give a person a lot of information at once - the effect is as if they are shouting something important, different, and into both ears at once. At the same time they also adjust it. And then the person decides to “think about everything else tomorrow” and tunes in, as it seems to him, to the most important thing - transferring money to a “safe account”.
Exhausting
Another phrase that victims say is “I just wanted it to end quickly.” Carders can carry on a conversation for a very long time, on and off topic, using complex financial terms and reading out fictitious regulations with long titles. At the same time, they make it clear that everything will end, you just need to transfer the money to where it is needed.
The fact that only naive pensioners become victims is just a stereotype.
So, the scoundrels have a whole arsenal to defraud people. Often, carders act like magicians in a circus - you may know for sure that you put your wallet in your trouser pocket, but in the end it will end up behind the trickster's ear. Therefore, the ideal option for how to resist carders is “not to go to the circus and not to watch a magic trick” - that is, not to pick up the phone at all if there is an unfamiliar number on the caller. The exception is when you are waiting for a courier. Just think about all the last times a stranger called you. Surely, these were either notorious carders, or marketers who either asked you about a service or tried to sell you something. Either way, you just wasted your time. At the same time, if they really try to contact you on business, they will write you an SMS or find you in the messenger.
And here’s another reason why you don’t need to talk to criminals at all - even if you think you’ll “troll” them or laugh.
If you are not yet ready to not answer unfamiliar numbers at all, then remember that you can hang up the phone at any time and call back - to a relative who allegedly had an accident, or to a bank where someone is supposedly emptying your account. Or don’t call back at all, but simply turn off the phone and “ground yourself” by talking with someone in your household.
Finally, a strong emotion—acute anxiety or fear—should serve as a “red flag.” Carders will force you to rush, but it is at this moment that you should pull your internal stop valve.
Those who do become victims of carders tend to fall into self-flagellation. However, psychologists urge us not to be ashamed. A serious crime has been committed against you, and only the criminal is to blame. Seek support from your loved ones, and if possible, from a specialist.
For many examples of how students and pensioners, doctors and teachers, programmers, engineers and anyone else were defrauded of millions, read on the “Bee” under the “carding” tag.
To prepare the material, we used retellings and stories about negotiations with carders, advice from psychologists, hypnologists and psychotherapists that are in the public domain, as well as psychological literature, in particular, “The Psychology of Influence” by Robert Cialdini.
(c) Author: Elena Mazeeva
pchela.news
Residents of the Chelyabinsk region gave more than 2.5 billion rubles to telephone and carders in 2024. And the first thing you need to understand is that no one is immune from this. People who are confident that they are smart enough not to fall for the trick are at particular risk - they feel invulnerable and relax.
An example of this is the famous case of University of Colorado psychiatry professor Stephen Greenspan. He wrote a book, The Annals of Credibility, about what behaviors lead to a person becoming a victim of carders. And after that he himself became a victim of carders: he invested a third of his pension savings in a financial pyramid.
This is a cognitive distortion called the overconfidence effect. For example, experienced drivers who keep a small distance in traffic fall into the same trap - our regular author, autoblogger Yuri Panchenko, spoke in detail about this phenomenon.
What psychological techniques do carders use?
Putting vigilance to sleepSurely, you are mentally prepared to refuse those who call and demand to transfer money. But carders act more subtly. At first, no one will require any translations. For example, you will simply be warned that a certain bank employee is committing carding with accounts. You will be thoughtfully reminded of the importance of changing your passwords and PIN code periodically. They will also say that the police may call you. Everything so that you begin to trust the “policeman” who calls next and follow his instructions.
Pressure on greed
Those carders who operate on ad sites can post a very attractive offer for the sale of an expensive item. If you start a conversation and then hesitate to transfer money, the carders will tell you that they already have a waiting list of buyers and threaten to sell the item to someone else.
Intimidate
One of the most common techniques, without which almost no carding can be done. At some point, the carder will greatly scare you - for example, with the possibility of losing all your money or criminal prosecution. One of the popular schemes “your relative has had an accident” is also based on fear, when the ability to think critically is simply turned off due to horror. Such a strong emotion should become a “red flag” - they are trying to deceive you.
Appeal to power
Uniforms, shoulder straps and “crusts” - the attributes of power literally fascinate people. It’s much easier to argue with a person on the street. But if the interlocutor introduced himself, voicing a long title, and then sent a document to the messenger on letterhead with stamps, it’s hard not to believe. Deep down, the victim understands that anything can be said, and a person with a full hand will quickly draw any stamps on the computer. But arguing “in the moment” is terribly uncomfortable.
Confusing
While conspiring the victim, carders often confuse themselves. For example, they are talking about some kind of single account that can be blocked. (In reality, of course, there is no single account.) It would seem that this should make it clear that it is not a compassionate bank employee at the other end of the line. However, the victim also begins to get confused, doubting his knowledge.
Hypnotize
Many victims of carders say: “Everything was like a fog. I didn’t understand what I was doing.” For hypnosis it is not at all necessary to be nearby (although, of course, it is easier this way). Many techniques also work in telephone dialogue. For example, a consistent series of innocuous questions that are difficult to answer except “yes.” (“You want to keep your money safe?”) And the person relaxes... Or the opposite: sensory overload, which is also called “gypsy hypnosis.” To do this, carders give a person a lot of information at once - the effect is as if they are shouting something important, different, and into both ears at once. At the same time they also adjust it. And then the person decides to “think about everything else tomorrow” and tunes in, as it seems to him, to the most important thing - transferring money to a “safe account”.
Exhausting
Another phrase that victims say is “I just wanted it to end quickly.” Carders can carry on a conversation for a very long time, on and off topic, using complex financial terms and reading out fictitious regulations with long titles. At the same time, they make it clear that everything will end, you just need to transfer the money to where it is needed.
The fact that only naive pensioners become victims is just a stereotype.
So, the scoundrels have a whole arsenal to defraud people. Often, carders act like magicians in a circus - you may know for sure that you put your wallet in your trouser pocket, but in the end it will end up behind the trickster's ear. Therefore, the ideal option for how to resist carders is “not to go to the circus and not to watch a magic trick” - that is, not to pick up the phone at all if there is an unfamiliar number on the caller. The exception is when you are waiting for a courier. Just think about all the last times a stranger called you. Surely, these were either notorious carders, or marketers who either asked you about a service or tried to sell you something. Either way, you just wasted your time. At the same time, if they really try to contact you on business, they will write you an SMS or find you in the messenger.
And here’s another reason why you don’t need to talk to criminals at all - even if you think you’ll “troll” them or laugh.
If you are not yet ready to not answer unfamiliar numbers at all, then remember that you can hang up the phone at any time and call back - to a relative who allegedly had an accident, or to a bank where someone is supposedly emptying your account. Or don’t call back at all, but simply turn off the phone and “ground yourself” by talking with someone in your household.
Finally, a strong emotion—acute anxiety or fear—should serve as a “red flag.” Carders will force you to rush, but it is at this moment that you should pull your internal stop valve.
Those who do become victims of carders tend to fall into self-flagellation. However, psychologists urge us not to be ashamed. A serious crime has been committed against you, and only the criminal is to blame. Seek support from your loved ones, and if possible, from a specialist.
For many examples of how students and pensioners, doctors and teachers, programmers, engineers and anyone else were defrauded of millions, read on the “Bee” under the “carding” tag.
To prepare the material, we used retellings and stories about negotiations with carders, advice from psychologists, hypnologists and psychotherapists that are in the public domain, as well as psychological literature, in particular, “The Psychology of Influence” by Robert Cialdini.
(c) Author: Elena Mazeeva
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