I really wish stories like this traveled farther. As the world fraud economies have grown, most people have remained mostly uninformed about how fraudsters and Ponzi schemes operate -- how they sound, what their founders act like, and how they can go on for far longer and trap far smarter people than you'd expect. With the constant weakening of serious consumer protections (at least in America), sharing these cautionary tales is more important than ever.

On a tangent, I wonder how much of "Uncut Gems" was inspired by this story.

I would go one step further and say people are not uninformed, they're primed to fall for it.

We live in a world where a person can believe whatever they want and find sources to back it up. With the lack of critical thinking in a large amount of the public, people willfully fall for scams because the scammers say whatever people want to hear and that messages goes out to millions of people thanks to social media.

The current conditions are perfect for scammers. Look at the US President

  > people are not uninformed, they're primed to fall for it

Maybe you are, but I'm smart and only an idiot could fall for such a definitely super obvious trap! I know because I read this post hoc and with all the insights and context given via an article!

I think the biggest trap is ourselves. Maybe the best thing that needs to change culturally is admitting that anyone can be caught by these traps. Doesn't mean you're dumb, naive, or anything is wrong with you. It's a game of asymmetry and it's always much easier to see when all the cards are face up on the table. We're not always operating at 100% either. It'd be crazy to expect someone to be operating at full capacity at all times. We all make mistakes, right? Nothing to be embarrassed about.

The belief that there's something wrong with you for falling for such a trap only helps the conman. In fact, it is something they rely on!

  > Americans have a very serious ego problem.

No need to make this political. Relevant to the article, the issue of ego is a human problem, not unique to any particular country or culture. It does not matter if you're America, French, German, European, Chinese, Japanese, Asian, South African, Nigerian, Egyptian, African or such affiliation: people have difficulties admitting mistakes. Doesn't matter the color of your skin or the holy text you do or don't read, the problem persists. You're right that it is most harmful and most frequent in those with power, but it would be naive to pretend that this isn't in part perpetuated by the shame that public casts for such mistakes. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If we're unwilling to admit this then I think it is impossible to prevent such atrocious leaders from rising to power. It is no coincidence that at the head of any authoritarian regime sits a leader who "can do no wrong." Because to admit that they did wrong means we must also admit we did wrong in siding with them, instead of being duped by them. It's the same problem, but it is not remotely unique to America. A pick-pocket will gladly point your attention to another, if only to keep your attention on them while they rob you blind. Don't let one failure make another.

Important article about this exact thing: https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/