Five pressure tactics every scam uses

The five pressures

• Urgency. “Today,” “within the hour,” “before your account is closed.” Time pressure stops people checking. Real organizations rarely need something done in minutes.
• Authority. The message claims to come from your boss, the CEO, the bank, the tax office or the police. People do what authority asks without questioning it.
• Secrecy. “Keep this between us,” “I’m in a meeting, just text me.” This stops you asking the one person who would spot the scam.
• Fear or reward. Your account is compromised, you owe money, you are in trouble. Or you have won something, or a refund is waiting.
• An unusual way to pay or act. Gift cards, a new bank account, cryptocurrency, a code read out over the phone, software you have never used.

How to use this

When a message or call has two or more of these at once, slow down. Stop and verify through a separate channel: call the person on a number you already have, or walk over to their desk.

A real request survives a five-minute check. A scam usually does not.

Make it normal to check

Tell your team, especially those who handle payments or accounts, that they will never be in trouble for double-checking a request. Scammers count on people being afraid to question someone senior.