Fraudsters often attempt to evoke strong emotions in their target victims to convince them to pay money, and seniors may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of high-arousal emotions on decision-making. With funding from AARP and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, psychologists at Stanford University conducted a study that found that inducing high-arousal emotions in older adults made them more susceptible to misleading advertisements, increasing their intention to buy the falsely advertised items.
CENTER PUBLICATIONS
The Impact of Survey Context on Self-Reported Rates of Fraud Victimization
research in brief
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The Scope of the Problem
an overview of fraud prevalence measurement
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Scams, Schemes, & Swindles
a review of consumer financial fraud research
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FEATURED RESEARCH
Financial Fraud and Fraud Susceptibility in the United States
Research Report from a 2012 National Survey
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Consumer Fraud in the United States
the third FTC survey
Read moreCENTER CONFERENCES
The True Impact of Fraud: A Roundtable of Experts
Washington, DC 2014
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The State and Future of Financial Fraud
Washington, DC 2011
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