Coping with Consumer Fraud: The Need for a Paradigm Shift

A review of recent informational initiatives to help consumers avoid being defrauded revealed that advice offered draws heavily on past fraud cases in which swindlers were successful in victimizing consumers. This article draws upon behavioral theory to argue that such case studies are limited in usefulness. It is further argued that a paradigm shift is needed to focus on unsuccessful efforts by swindlers to defraud consumers. An investigation that surveyed such case studies is summarized with illustrations presented of how its findings could be used to help consumers cope more effectively with threats posed by swindlers.