Ray Buursma: Scams and SCOTUS
Scam: A dishonest scheme. A fraud.
Scammers have always been with us. A serpent scammed Eve and Adam into eating the forbidden fruit. Abram, fearing for his life when jealous monarchs took interest in his wife, convinced them she was his sister. A pharaoh married her and lived to regret it, and a king would have bedded her had he not been supernaturally warned.
Lot’s daughters, craving children, scammed their father by intoxicating him and committing incest. David, future king of Israel, feigned insanity to convince Achish, Philistine king of Gath, that he could not possibly be the courageous slayer of numerous Philistines.
Hegestratos, a Greek merchant, insured his ship laden with corn in 300 BC. He planned to unload the cargo before reaching port, sell it on the sly, sink the ship, and collect the insurance payment.
Zhuge Liang, a Chinese military leader, found himself and a few hundred soldiers greatly outnumbered by thousands of enemy warriors besieging their city. He could not prevail in pitched battle, so he did the unthinkable. He opened the city gates, an invitation for his enemies to enter. Liang, accompanied by two servants, sat on a platform above the city walls, played a lute, and waited. The enemy commander suspected an ambush and withdrew, even though victory was in his grasp.
My first experience with scammers came decades ago when a fake Microsoft agent informed me my computer had a virus. Fortunately, I knew my Apple computer did not use Windows software and therefore its software was not infected.
Another failed scam occurred when my wife instructed me, “Listen to the answering machine.” An IRS “agent” said I owed money and a warrant would be issued for my arrest. I called the number, asked a few questions, and exposed the charlatan.
Today, scams are everywhere. There are Ponzi and pyramid schemes, fake charity and debt collection scams, and mail frauds. There are romance scams, Nigerian prince scams, lottery and prize scams. There are phishing and vishing. There are investment scams and even scams offering to protect people from scams.
Scammers pose as teenage grandchildren, call senior citizens and say they are in big trouble. They need money immediately. “Wire the funds right away, but don’t tell Mom and Dad. They would be so distraught. I’ll call again in two days and explain everything. Please hurry! This is an emergency.”
A scam has at least two elements. A scammer attempts to:
Influence his victim to commit an action, which is ...
beneficial to the scammer.
The influence might involve money, love or desire to avoid trouble. The benefit is whatever the scammer desires as the outcome of the scam.
As horrible and manipulative as the above methods are, they pale in comparison to the king of scams. Let me first provide a basic example.
While touring a large foreign city, a street vendor asked whether someone in my group would like to buy some “handmade” bracelets. We declined, despite persistence from the seller.
A day later, another vendor approached us with bracelets. This guy didn’t try to sell us bracelets. He gave them to us. No charge! A free gift! A souvenir! He also struck up a conversation with us. He smiled and laughed. Just before we parted ways, he asked if we might be able to help him out since his wife and children were hungry. Any amount would help. Of course, this was a scam, and we knew it. Nevertheless, my cousin forked over a small amount of money. The Reciprocity Scam worked.
Our human brains are wired for reciprocity. If someone assists us, we feel obligated to return the favor. This trait, wired deep within us, usually manifests itself at a subconscious level. Don’t believe me? Check out the episode devoted to this phenomenon on the podcast "Hidden Brain."
The best scam of all is befriending someone to influence their behavior for your eventual benefit.
But why is this important? Not long ago, we learned Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted gifts from Harlan Crow, a billionaire friend, to the tune of many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their friendship developed only after Thomas was seated on the Supreme Court. That friend spent almost $15 million on ideological causes, some of which involved court decisions.
We also learned Justice Gorsuch, who had tried selling a 40-acre parcel of land since 2017, sold that land to the CEO of a law firm nine days after becoming a justice. Gorsuch cleared close to a half million dollars. The law firm often had cases before the court.
Believing these justices can completely separate their rulings from their relationships is naive. They may be the biggest marks around.
The judicial system must have safeguards. There must be precautions. Right now, there aren’t.
— Community Columnist Ray Buursma is a resident of Holland. Contact him at writetoraybuursma@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ray Buursma: Scams and SCOTUS
