Skip to main content

Hook, line, and sinker: the mechanics of fraud

Max M. Houck (2023) — Handbook on Crime and Technology

Citation activity

Total citations · Google Scholar
5
Average per calendar year
1.3

Count checked .

5 citations ÷ 4 calendar years (2023–2026). The first and last years may be partial. This is a lifetime average, not a year-by-year citation history.

Counts reflect Google Scholar’s coverage and do not measure research quality. Source, calculation and limitations

View Original Source (opens in a new tab)

DOI: 10.4337/9781800886643.00009 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Global
Tags:   Catfishing, Cognitive Bias, Cognitive Biases, Con, Confidence Schemes, Cybercrime, Deception, Fraud, Fraud Mechanics, Narrative, Online Fraud, Prevention, Psychology, Romance Scams, Scam, Social Engineering
What do these research terms mean?
Preprint
A manuscript shared before formal peer review and publication. Check whether a later published version is available.
Dataset
A collection of data or examples for others to inspect or reuse. It can appear in Library search and topic mapping, but RSRC does not use dataset records as evidence in Research Insights.
Dissertation or thesis
Research submitted for an academic degree. This describes its format, not its reliability.
Journal article
An article published in a journal. This label alone does not establish peer review, study quality, or how well the findings apply elsewhere.
Qualitative research
Examines experiences, meanings, or processes, often through interviews or observations. It can explain how something happens without estimating how common it is.
Quantitative research
Uses numerical measurements to describe patterns or test relationships. A relationship between two measurements does not by itself show that one causes the other.
Systematic review
Uses a planned, documented method to find and assess research addressing a question. Its conclusions still depend on the included studies and what the search covered.
Meta-analysis
Statistically combines results from multiple studies. Combining studies does not remove weaknesses in their design or make unlike populations interchangeable.
Not classified
This record has no recognized label in this filter. It does not mean the publication used no method, or that no research exists.

Definitions draw on DataCite resource types; Cochrane review methods; NLM: association and causation. RSRC’s dataset and classification rules are explained in our methodology.

Citation tools
Download RIS Download BibTeX 


              
              

            

          

        


      

      

    

        
Transparency

        
Evidence and review status

        
This page contains AI-generated content. No human content review or subject-matter-expert review is recorded.

    


    

                    

                
Source basis

                

                    Downloaded PDF
                

            

                    

                
Source updates

                

                    No notice found at last check
                

            

                    

                
AI-generated page content

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Automated checks

                

                    Passed
                

            

                    

                
Administrative approval

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Human content review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

                    

                
Subject-matter-expert review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

            


    

        
            How this was prepared
        
        

                            

                    
Source basis

                    

                    
RSRC downloaded and privately stored a copy of the paper for internal analysis. The PDF is not offered to viewers from this page.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    PDF added to RSRC:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Source updates

                    

                    
No incoming update notice was found in the dated Crossref response. Coverage is incomplete, particularly for corrections and expressions of concern; this is not a guarantee that the source is valid or unchanged.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Last source-status attempt:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
AI-generated page content

                    

                    
AI-generated research notes displayed on this page: Synopsis, Identified gaps, Methods, Limitations, Future work. The paper itself is not described as AI-generated.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Document analysis recorded:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                            
  • 
                                    Page record updated:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Automated checks

                    

                    
The current, source-bound synopsis passed the recorded versioned publication checks.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Checks completed:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                            

                            
                                View passed checks (3)
                            
                            
    
                                                                    
  • Length, completeness, repetition, refusal, boilerplate, and active-markup screening
    • 
                                                                    
  • Numerical claims checked against the available source text
    • 
                                                                    
  • English-source lexical grounding check
    • 
                                                            

                        

                                        

                

                            

                    
Administrative approval

                    

                    
An authenticated administrator approved the bibliographic record for public Library display. This is not a review of every research claim.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Approved for public display:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Human content review

                    

                    
No human review is recorded for the AI-generated content displayed on this page.


                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Subject-matter-expert review

                    

                    
RSRC has not recorded review of this content by a subject-matter or methods expert.


                    
                                        

                

                    

    


    

        Review-state definitions

        Found a possible error?
        Request a correction.
    



    



              

        
                  

            
Synopsis

            
This conceptual handbook chapter explains fraud through narrative structure, social engineering, cognitive biases, and a hook-line-sinker-cool-out model. The hook attracts attention, the line develops a persuasive story and commitment, the sinker secures the victim's compliance, and the cool-out helps contain resistance or reporting after the loss. Romance fraud illustrates a long con: fabricated profiles and remote occupations support intensive trust building, urgent money stories, and repeated requests as the supposed relationship deepens. The chapter also links shame, guilt, embarrassment, and disbelief to underreporting. It synthesizes prior frameworks, cases, historical examples, and reported statistics rather than presenting an original sample, causal test, or prevalence estimate across fraud types.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
No universal taxonomy of fraud exists. The chapter presents a general short-con/long-con and hook–line–sinker–cool-out framework, but does not empirically compare fraud types, victim outcomes, or the effectiveness of prevention approaches. It also notes that better confidence games may remain undetected and unprosecuted, limiting knowledge of their prevalence.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
Conceptual handbook chapter synthesizing prior literature, fraud frameworks, illustrative cases, historical examples, and reported statistics. It explains fraud through narrative structure, social engineering, cognitive biases, and the hook–line–sinker–cool-out model. Romance fraud is treated as one example of digitally enabled fraud.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The text reports no formal study design or explicit limitations. As a conceptual synthesis relying on illustrative examples, cited reports, and secondary sources, it does not provide original sampling, systematic measurement, causal tests, or prevalence estimates across fraud types. Its general fraud framework may not capture differences between specific schemes or jurisdictions.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
The chapter does not state a formal research agenda. It implies a need to test whether teaching the universal hook–line–sinker–cool-out structure improves recognition and prevention of fraud, including repeat victimization.

          

              

    
    

        
Related Research Insights

        

            See how this publication connects to RSRC's living evidence syntheses through current citations and research-topic mapping.