Who Can You Trust? Assessing Vulnerability to Digital Imposter Scams.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Cybersecurity
• Public Policy

Background:

• Government imposter fraud, particularly Social Security scams, causes significant financial losses annually.
• These scams undermine public trust and the Social Security Administration's (SSA) ability to communicate with citizens.
• There is a need for effective methods to help individuals distinguish fraudulent communications from legitimate ones.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of inoculation theory techniques in enhancing individuals' ability to detect government imposter scams.
• To assess whether fraud detection training impacts trust in genuine communications from the SSA.
• To determine the scope of protection offered by the training against various types of scams and communication modes.

Main Methods:

• A nationally representative sample of over 4,000 US adults participated in a series of experiments.
• Participants were randomly assigned to one of four training conditions, ranging from general scam tips to targeted experiential learning.
• Fraud detection rates and trust in communications were measured post-training.

Main Results:

• The inoculation training significantly increased participants' ability to detect fraud.
• The training provided protection against both Social Security Administration (SSA) scams and non-SSA imposter scams (e.g., Amazon).
• The effectiveness of the training was specific to the communication mode (email, letter, SMS) and diminished over time.

Conclusions:

• Inoculation theory-based training is a viable strategy for improving public resilience against government imposter scams.
• Fraud detection training can be implemented without eroding trust in official government communications.
• Future training programs should consider the mode of communication and potential decay in effectiveness over time for optimal impact.