Avoid Being Low Hanging Fruit During Holidays

If you have to go shopping in those crazy crowds, read this first. It applies to everyday, but especially during the holidays. This is a guest post by Norseman over at WilderWolf.net.

How NOT to become a Holiday Season Victim

By Norseman On December 14, 2011

Some simple things that we can do on a daily basis to avoid scams, crooks and all manner of misfortunes during the season for taking. Well, it is that time of the year again, the holiday season and the time for the last rush to get the shopping done. This is the premiere time for criminals and crooks to take advantage of those hard working Americans that are already stressed. There are few people that can claim no extra stress during the holidays, and there is no coincidence that this is the highest suicide season of the year. Along with that stress and last minute rush is born an opportunity for the dregs of society to apply their trade, they too are under holiday stress and this is the season to take advantage.

Handing Over The Cash

There are a number of different techniques that thieves and scammer use to liberate you from your possessions. I cannot possibly cover all of them in the context of a blog post but I can cover some of the more common ones. Additionally I can cover some of the main techniques that you can use to avoid becoming the mark. Let’s begin with personal perception. It is basic human nature to assume until proven otherwise, that the person you are talking too is just like you. If you are a good hearted person that cares about the welfare of others, it is natural to believe at least initially that the people you come in contact with are the same. Inversely, if you are a crook or a criminal you tend to think that everyone you come in contact with is motivated by the factors. So before we begin you need to cast off those perceptions and make no assumptions about the people you meet either way. Allow them to “show” you who they are and consider dealing with them based on that initial engagement.

In order for someone to take advantage of your good nature they must first select you as a potential target of opportunity. This is done through surveillance and later mild contact. These criminals have very finely honed perception skills and will pick only the easiest of targets. The targets are selected based on awareness, threat, and potential gain. Your first defense is to make yourself a “hard target” this is often the only deterrent that you need. The surveillance conducted by these criminals is not usually as elaborate as that of police and investigators, but is always well rehearsed and often conducted by small teams working in concert. The person or persons committing the scam or attack will not necessarily be the ones that are doing the surveillance.

Read the rest here