Episode 1: Scam Stories, The Gift of Fear, and the OODA Loop

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CliffNotes

Unfortunately, scammers are everywhere these days, and they’re constantly finding new ways to manipulate people. It could be a fake charity asking for donations or a romantic interest trying to pull at your heartstrings, their tactics are designed to trick you into trusting them. It’s easy to think, “That won’t happen to me,” but it can happen to anyone. My great aunt, for instance, lost $45,000 to a charity scam because she genuinely believed she was helping build a church in Ghana. It wasn’t until she tried to wire another $100,000 that a banker noticed something was wrong and stepped in.

Scammers exploit trust, emotion, and often our personal interests (OPSEC OPSEC OPSEC). Take, for example, my college roommate who almost got conned while selling a laptop on Craigslist. She was contacted by someone claiming they needed the laptop for their son in Africa, a story that hit close to home for her since she had been on mission trips there, which I suspect was found out through looking at her social media. The scammer likely used that personal connection to try to make the story believable, hoping she wouldn’t question it. Luckily, she sensed something wasn’t right when they asked for money to cover shipping and backed out just in time.

Then there are romance scams which can be even more painful. In my hometown, a woman flew to the UK to meet a man she thought she had been in an online relationship with, only to realize he didn’t exist. Before she even made the trip, she had already sent him money, believing he needed it for his flight. Scammers in these situations spend months building trust before asking for financial help, making it harder for the victim to realize what’s happening until it’s too late.

The key to avoiding these situations is understanding how scammers operate. A great way to do that is by learning from two concepts: Pre-Incident Indicators (PINS) from The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker and the OODA loop developed by military strategist Col. John Boyd. De Becker emphasizes the importance of trusting your gut—our instincts are designed to protect us, but too often we ignore them. If something feels off, don’t rationalize it away, it’s probably off. Recognizing the early PINS, like someone pushing for urgency or refusing to take “no” for an answer, can help you catch a scam before it goes too far.

The OODA loop—Observe, Orient, Decide, Act—helps you take control of a situation by slowing things down. Scammers want you to feel rushed, so you don’t have time to think critically. The loop allows you to step back, assess the situation, and decide on the best course of action without being pressured into a decision.

The bottom line is this: scammers rely on confusion, emotional manipulation, and most importantly speed to achieve their objective. The more you can recognize their tactics, the better able you’ll be to avoid falling into their traps. If something feels wrong, trust yourself and take the time to verify the details.