The “Body Language” of phone scammers: protecting yourself from criminals looking to exploit you

Body Language…..on the phone??

Nonverbal communication is a broad subject and includes everything that goes into the transmission of messages using paralanguage, kinesics, proxemics etc.

In this article, we will delve into the common nonverbals of phone scammers, and provide you with tips on how to safeguard yourself from these criminals. With a deeper understanding of their techniques, you will be better equipped to stay ahead of phone scams and prevent them from exploiting you. So let’s get started!

Emotional Triggers and Validation plays

Our brains are made up of three parts; the neocortex, the limbic system, and the basal ganglia or reptilian brain. The neocortex represents our logical and critical thinking brain and helps manage day to day tasks, the limbic system represents our emotional brain, it contains things like the amygdala and hippocampus for emotions such as fear, pleasure, etc. Finally, the basal ganglia or reptilian brain is our primitive brain responsible for fight-or-flight responses and reactions without reason or thought.

When ever we have a large amount of emotional stimuli our limbic system takes charge and overrides our critical thinking brain in favour of our reptilian brain. What this means in a round-about way, is that we are more open to suggestions ad “going along with the scam”. Emotional triggers are designed to trigger a heightened emotion, usually fear or joy so come in the form of a competition you have won, an overdue bill, dodgy activity etc.

We tend to like people who like us, and respond well when we are complemented and validated, so be on the lookout when the person at the end of the phone is using phrases such as:

“You are a valued customer and as such we have decided to give you a…….”

“We understand the financial pressures put on customers and want to give you a discount on your package…”

“We know you have been waiting for X for a number of months now so want to make it up to you by paying for your next bill”

“We are aware of scammers and fraudsters impersonating our staff, so to prove that I am genuine we have sent you a text with a special code on it….”

All of these are are designed to validate you as a person, address any concerns you have and build trust.

If the call comes with a theme like any of the topics above then I would immediately put my guard guard up.

Artificial Time Constraints

One of the most common nonverbal cues of a phone scammer is their use of time. Now these people are professional, and understand the role that chronemics play in persuasion but they nearly always leak their true intentions as they get closer to “closing the deal”.

They will usually preface the call with an artificial time constraint such as a “limited time offer” or a “charge that will be debited this afternoon unless action has been taken now”, these are designed to keep you in that limbic thinking state.

Be on the look out for incongruence with their use of time. You’ll notice that their speech is likely to be controlled, clear, and consistently on the slower end of the scale when they are running through their pitch. This is because we are more likely to associate authority and trust with a slower, controlled rate of speech. As we approach the crux of the call, you will notice this change, and as the pressure mounts we see the paralanguage alter and you get an increase in the rate of speech, the pitch and sense of urgency being introduced.

This is due to to emotional leakage from the scammer themselves, this can be joy ( AKA dupers delight) as the potential scam comes to a conclusion, fear of being caught, and/or frustration or anger if the scammer suspects you are onto them. This manifests with an increased pitch and rate of speech, and an increase in the time constraints (“our system will time out if we don’t get this done within 10 minutes) . It’s this change of pace that should be a red flag, as you have to be asking yourself why there is emotional leakage during a routine call.

Pressure to Break procedures:

Companies are switched on to fraud and have set up a number of failsafe’s to limit the scammers ability to break into the system. In fact our experts help hundreds of companies set up such procedures, but ultimately you will hold the keys to your kingdom and so long as you are able to be persuaded, your information will be vulnerable.

Scammers will try everything in their power to get you to break protocol and give you something they should never be able to get, so look out for phrases like this:

“Now we have just sent you a text with a security code, the first one is warning you of scammers and fraudsters, but as we have discussed you have already passed through the security questions and are free to give the code to our fraud department”

How to Protect yourself

The best way to protect yourself from phone scammers is by being aware of their tactics and understanding the nonverbal cues that they are using. Monitor your emotions, be wary of any emotional triggers or validation plays, listen out for any artificial time constraints, and never break procedure when asked to do so. Finally, always trust your gut instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t. Hang up the phone and contact the company yourself if you are concerned about any potential threats.

Remember that knowledge is power and with these tips in mind, you will be better equipped to stay ahead of phone scammers and protect yourself from their exploits. Good Luck