About this seminar

Abstract:
Fraud (or scams) is the most common crime, representing almost half of all reported crimes in the UK. The financial cost to consumers and organisations is estimated to be a staggering $5 trillion per year (roughly 4 times the 2024 UK budget), as well as having a devastating emotional and psychological impact on victims. Despite these grim statistics, we still have limited knowledge of why people fall prey to scams and what preventive measures can be employed to reduce compliance. In this talk, I will present experimental data from a range of studies that examine factors associated with falling prey to scams as well as ones that might help reduce compliance. 

Short Bio
Yaniv Hanoch is a Professor of Decision Science at the University of Wolverhampton. His research examines consumers’ decision-making and risk-taking across the lifespan and domains. In particular, he has been investigating the underlying mechanisms involved in falling prey to scams/frauds and what can be done to improve resilience to scam solicitations. He is also involved in projects focusing on spreading misinformation and on what can be done to protect individuals from misinformation. In addition, he is interested in questions regarding health/medical decision-making, such as the impact of optimism bias on risk perception; how lifespan changes impact risk-taking and decision-making across domains; and decisions regarding sustainability (e.g., meat consumption). His research has been published in leading journals such as American Psychologist, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Health Psychology, Health Service Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process, Psychological Science, Risk Analysis, and many others. He currently serves as an Associate Editor in the Journal of Judgment and Decision Making and Co-Chief Editor of the Journal of Economic Psychology.

Google Scholar: Yaniv Hanoch