Researchers say that many people commit fraud unintentionally. And, they commit fraud not because they’re greedy, but because they’re nice! Great now sociopaths will say they’re only being nice!
Read Psychology of fraud: Why good people do bad things, on NPR.org.
So how will the researchers explain this?
Three Shoreline women charged with defrauding victims of more than $1 million in exclusive ‘Gifting Club’ pyramid scheme, on Courant.com.
Links supplied by a Lovefraud reader.
G1S
I found the cartoon illustrations in the first article over the top. I almost gagged on them.
Chapter 5 – We lie because we care (Huh?)
Really, how more sympathic could an article get?
The quote below from the second article is a classic P con, establishing creditability via somebody who sounds like they have authority.
“Einhorn insisted that the club did not involve any criminal intent and that Platt sought help from lawyers about the operation. In March 2010, according to the indictment, Bello sent an email to participants that said leaders had met with a woman “who is a lawyer on our table ” she teaches law also” and she assured them “we are not illegal.”
In statement analysis, one of the things that you look for is too much information. “She teaches law also” is too much information.
I doubt this female lawyer even exists. Pyramid schemes must be one of the first things that they go over in law school.
Look at the ages of these women. Nobody is going to convince me that Ps get less aggressive as they age.
Ox Drover
People commit fraud without realizing it?
HOW MANY WAYS CAN WE SAY BULL SHIAT?
Bull poop,
bull doo doo,
bull hockey,
bull splat
male bovine fecal matter
What a crock of shiat!
A lie on a mortgage application is a LIE. It is Illegal. It is a CRIME. He knew this. He CHOSE to do it. He committed FRAUD, he INTENDED TO COMMIT FRAUD. He did NOT intend to get caught!
Yea, the cartoons were pretty bad, G1S. I agree.
You know, I wonder about the PhDs that study psychology sometimes. I wonder if they have any sense at all.
Ox Drover
just for the record:
I do not think that this man was necessarily a psychopath because he chose to fraudulently execute a mortgage…however, he may have been, I can’t say he was NOT a psychopath either as there is not enough evidence either way.
darwinsmom
Can’t even stomach reading that article… just sounds like spaths sliming us to believe “they can’t help it!” “they were trying to be empathic and good”… BULL!
Ox Drover
The more I think about this “it ain’t their fault” the madder I get! LOL
They did not intend to GET CAUGHT is the crux of the matter. They thought they’d get away with it JUST THIS ONE TIME….but the bottom line is that if you are willing to lie, cheat and steal then you had better have a better reason than “I didn’t want my business to fail.”
I can see stealing a loaf of bread to feed your hungry kid if that was the only option or let the kid go hungry….but a false loan application is THEFT by FRAUD because you can’t pay it back.
G1S
I wonder if that article was written by a P? How stupid does the author think people are? We’re supposed to be so sorry for this guy because he broke his long-ago promise to his daddy?
Did you read the other article? The one about the three women? What did you think of that one?
Their lawyer is total bull, too.
darwinsmom
G1S,
I was thinking the same thing. Actually I’m certain of it! It was incredibly poorly written when it comes to journalistic standards… It’s
a) anecdotal
b) the supposed research to back it up isn’t referenced at all. It’s just called “Reserachers have found”; “They”, etc…
c) part of the story is written as a comic… The comic isn’t just an “extra”… but you need to read it to read the article.
And the spath red flag of course is that the whole article is a PITY-PLAY! The other red flag at the end is that it tries to make corporate business or banks responsible for reminding clients or employees not to engage into criminal activity. Euhm… Nobody is supposed to act criminally, because it is AGAINST THE LAW!
Ox Drover
Most of the time that ARTICLES are written ABOUT a medical research subject, the article is total BULL SHEET! Many newspaper snd magazines use twisted sheet and reference it with “researchers have found…” and unless you are reading the RESEARCH report itself you will frequently find it is BS.
It still makes me mad though that the article was even written.
G1S
I’m flabbergasted that they would publish it.
It’s National Public Radio. I know that has a liberal bias, but come on, that article is idiotic.
breckgirl
I am copying a comment posted on the article because it sums up my thoughts better than I could. I am sure some here will argue against the ideas posted because they do not like the implications. It is unfortunate because human nature is what it is and the difference supposedly between us and the animals is we are supposed to apply self control and rise above our natural greed, dishonesty and propensity to have situational ethics. I have failed on this myself as I shall never begin to approach my ideal. I believe this to be true of all but the extent to which this failure continues in our lives – unwillingness to right our wrongs and to own our failings is part of the problem. Claptrap like this article excusing it makes me want to vomit.
Comment by David Haddon (Ox2):
Alix Spiegel’s report on Toby Groves’s business fraud concludes with a flat rejection of an absolute morality such that “right is right and wrong is wrong and people should know the difference.” The reason for this flawed conclusion drawn from the economists and psychologists he talked to is the presupposition that human beings are basically good. This was not the presupposition of America’s founders who built checks and balances into the Constitution because they accepted a Christian anthropology that says we are all sinful and selfish.
Moreover, Christian theology beat the psychologists to the punch when they observe that people overlook their immorality when their interests and those of their friends are in play. Sin, says Christian theology, adversely affects the minds as well as the desires and the wills of human beings. Theologians even have a name for it: the “noetic effects of sin.”
So what is the solution? Checks and balances to be sure, but finally, nothing less than a spiritual conversion that heals the mind will suffice. A loving relationship not merely with a similarly flawed human father but with God the Father brings conscience to life.