ILLINOIS – Rookie Fraud Victimologist Taylor Henson is at it again with some stunning findings on social media scams. In her previous two-week study within the Amish community, she was astounded to learn that there were no reports of identity fraud.
“The answer on why the Amish don’t have identity fraud remains a mystery to me,” stated Henson. “But I still intend to find out. Until then, it was time to move on to something else. I noticed that a lot of social media scams were based on people using social media. I found this curious and decided it was time to look into it more.”
Taylor’s new study involved interviewing over 1,000 people who reportedly did not use any form of social media (she would have expanded but couldn't find anymore). Her study found that 0% of people not using social media were defrauded through social media scams. In addition to this, she also discovered that no social media scam attempts were even made on the individuals who decided to stay away from platforms like Mugtome, Whatsup, Instantpound, SynchedOn, and ClickClock.
“The people I interviewed generally tended to be happier. I didn’t know that was possible without social media constantly telling me what to think and feel and comparing my life to the lives of people I don’t really know and pushing me to buy stuff I don’t really need or take views that I didn’t have…okay, maybe I do understand how it could be possible.” Her phone bleated and she made for it quickly to see what notification awaited her. She determined that her existence was not threatened and went back to speaking.
“One woman who could have spent her time on her phone was a baker and made me some delicious cookies for the interview. Another man who had never even heard of ClickClock had a magnificent garden in his backyard and gave me a rose. They seemed completely disconnected from the rest of the digital world…but happy. The trouble is, I still don’t understand why this group of people were never victimized through these schemes.”
Taylor’s research then led her to interview another 1,000 people who used some form of social media. Subjects ranged from those checking one platform every week to some people who were virtually hooked up with multiple platforms. The latter were constantly checking feeds, commenting, and worrying about whether they would be liked for their contributions to the digital multiverse. They seemed to be dreaming in digital. Of those using social media, Taylor was astonished to learn that 119.3% of users had either been scammed or had a scam attempted on them through social media.
“I didn’t even know it was mathematically possible,” she stated. “There is a definite correlation between social media and social media-based scams. I think the answer is going to take more research. The answer is on the tip of my tongue, but I’m just not there yet.”
Until a conclusion can be reached, Henson recommends staying off of, or limiting social media. For those not wanting to give up their social media, she is alternatively promoting that people remain wary of others they are interacting with but don’t personally know, as “a few bad characters aren’t fully vetted through social media’s 'super rigorous' review processes.”
Henson’s prior findings on identity theft among the Amish can be found at https://www.fraudwit.com/post/rookie-fraud-victimologist-baffled-by-lack-of-identity-theft-among-the-amish.