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Hook, line, and sinker: the mechanics of fraud

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

DOI: 10.4337/9781800886643.00009
Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Global
Tags:   fraud, con, scam, social-engineering, narrative, cybercrime, deception, psychology, fraud mechanics, confidence schemes, social engineering, romance fraud, catfishing, cognitive biases, online fraud, fraud prevention, cognitive bias

Synopsis (AI-Generated)

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 (AI-Generated)

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 (AI-Generated)

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 (AI-Generated)

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 (AI-Generated)

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.

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AI-Generated Content Notice

The synopsis and research notes on this page were generated with AI from available publication information and, when available, the uploaded paper text. They may contain errors, omissions, or interpretation issues. Readers should follow the DOI or source link, review the original publication, and make their own judgment about the content.

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