Can Oprah Stop Fraud?
I was disappointed with Oprah's recent show on scams, Cunning Cons. I have purchased Sid Kirchheimer's book, Scam-Proof Your Life. Sid Kirchheimer was one of the experts on the show. The book has some decent advice, but it is more of a consumer protection book than a detect fraud book.
Oprah failed to explain the essential mystery of all fraud: After the fraud is discovered, it seems incredible that anyone could have fallen for the scam. The victims are trotted and my, my my don't they all look mental. The woman who sent money overseas, the woman who thought she had won the lottery, and others. All look pathetic, but only after the fact.
How is it possible that after we discover the fraud, it becomes incomprehensible how we got taken? A television show would be the perfect vehicle to recreate the sense of urgency, the phantom dreams, and the compliance techniques in place. Instead, we were given some perfectly presentable and forgettable victims. Fraud becomes too easy: blame the victim, who was too greedy or didn't do their due diligence.
We don't blame victims of criminal acts for their own states of mind; why do we blame the victims of economic crimes?
Equally lame, in my opinion, was Brian Ross, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent's explanation of why Nigeria is a source of so many scams.
"Brian says one of the reasons Nigeria is a source of so many scams is because a large number of citizens are living below the poverty level. "This is a desperately poor country with wonderful people who are very intelligent, a good school system [but] no jobs," Brian says. "It's [also] a corrupt country where the leaders have been corrupt for years. They've doomed their people to a life of poverty, and the lesson has been taught that you can get away with crimes and nothing happens."
For years, Nigerian con men got away with their crimes and made small fortunes…but not anymore. Pressure from the United States and Great Britain has prompted the government to start cracking down. The men caught during Brian's investigation are facing criminal charges."
This is not a convincing explanation, given the number of countries with "large numbers of citizen living below the poverty level."
I would like to see Oprah will take on the fraud inherent in many network marketing schemes. Now that would be a worthwhile project, and aimed directly at her core audience.
