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Q1.
Fastest and quickest way to "earn"
Greed for money
Thrill to continue scamming, as long as they do not get caught
Peer pressure: scammers at times work in pairs or in a group; certain ppl have certain skills needed to scam e.g. hacking
Sweet talkers: scammers are usually persuasive or use scare tactics towards their victims in order to trick them

Q2.
Both sociological and pyschological are motivations for scammers. Especially in times of inflation, people are experiencing financial hardships. In order to achieve economic sucess at a short period of time, scamming seems to be the fastest way.
Wealth attainment is highly valued. Scammers are motivated to engage in fraudulent behaviour  to achieve social status. With the advancement in technology, scammers are motivated with the ease and convenience of engaging into scams.

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Q1:
To earn fast cash.
For the thrill. Scammers might feel that they will not get caught easily as they are anonymous by hiding behind their computers and are technologically sophisticated.
For greed.
Peer pressure. Friends can pressure each other to join them to scam others.

Q2:
Sociological best explains the motivations of scammers. Various societal influences one's temptation to commit a crime such as the desire to obtain wealth. Scammers might then feel that scamming others is the best and fastest way to make money and to achieve a high level of status and power over others. Furthermore, a scammer's environment and background can also affect the person to commit a crime. This is because they might be facing financial issues and scamming gives them a way out. As a result, the criminal behaviour is learned based on the scammer's surroundings.

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Ann
Q1. They themselves actually might be victims who got scammed by scammer to scam other people. Chinese syndicates 'recuit' job seekers from countries like Malaysian or Taiwan to scam ppl.

They have no choice, either they pay the scammer money (which they dont have in the first place) or scam money or scam labour (to replace them) in order to redeem themselves.

Q2. sociological factor
Government doesn't provide good job opportunities or maintain good political stability. Their citizen might believe that the grass is greener on the other side and seize that ' job opportunities' for survival .

Psychological factors
eg. Some news reports has claimed that some Taiwanese went to Cambodia with the knowledge that they will be working as  scammers in Chinese operated syndicate and still went ahead. They might just want to take a gamble and see how it goes.

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Adib
Q1:

Individuals resort to scams due to several reasons such as being financially unstable or wanting to earn quick cash. In other cases, they may be driven by greed or using funds from scams to fund other criminal activities such as gambling.

Q2:
Individuals scam due to having poor employment opportunities or facing financial difficulty. Often, scammers commit scams to pay off debts or ‘earn’ money through scams as means of survival.

Individuals may also scam due to the thrill of not getting caught and the desire to ‘beat’ the system. In scams, individuals are able to impersonate others or conceal their identity, making it difficult for authorities to trace them. When individuals succeed in scamming others, they may be driven even further to commit more scams due to the ‘thrill’.

Scammers can also boost their social status by buying luxury goods which may allow others to validate them.

Scammers can possess a manipulative attitude and think they are better than others. When successful at scamming, scammers’ feelings are validated as it proves how others can fall prey to their tactics and words.

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Yunxuan
Q1:
Several possibilities motivate an individual to commit fraud. One is experiencing pressure due to facing financial burden and low self-esteem. Fast money scam allows one to instantly earn easy profits with minimal efforts. An example is romance scams which the scammer established a relationship with the victim. Once trust is gained, they will then seek help for money. This shows that fraud criminals are motivated by greed financial need.

Q2:
For sociological aspect, the factors involve such as income, job and family stressors are reasons which motivate individuals to fraud. Due to the lack of employment, the critics received from external parties pressurized them into scamming as they have no alternative ways to gain a stable income.

Whereas psychological aspect, it emphasizes on the human behavior and emotions. Scammers usually continues to commit fraud acts due to the thrill of manipulation and achieving the final outcome of cheating victims. By lifting their own self-guilt and declaring that their behavior is acceptable is common among scammers and this in turns motivates them to continue scam victims.

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Q1: one of the easiest way to earn money if you have the digital knowledge. Given that digitalisation is so common now, online banking/online scams are one of the easiest way to earn money with lower chance of getting caught. Also, the human nature of greed prompt scammers to continue such acts and they get the thrill out of it.

Q2: sociological. There are many social factors, such as financial needs to maintain daily expenses, need for money for personal reasons and materialism, these are some of the social factors that attracts individuals to scamming.

Psychological: the thrill and accomplishment one gets with each successful ‘transactions’.

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Q1:
These individuals are usually motivated by greed for fast money as well as being aware that online scams are not easily caught as compared to physical crimes. Advance technology such as bitcoin wallets and telegram chat groups made it even more difficult for authorities to trace them, thus making it more alluring for these individuals to commit cybercrimes. They are also opportunistic individuals who make use of the current economic situations such as the loss of jobs during the pandemic lockdown, mass layoffs by tech companies as well as the current inflations to their advantage.

Q2:
Sociologically, these individuals are aware that the current situation will enable them to target a larger number of victims. Thus, increasing their chances of succeeding in their operations with a big sum of money. Being able to hide their identity behind advanced technology, makes it easier for them to operate and get away with it.

Psychologically, the fact that it is harder to trace the identity of these scammers will boost their ID which is their pleasure-seeking impulse of getting away without getting punished. These desirable outcomes seem to be the reason for the increase in cybercrimes.

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Q1
Motivations of scammers
- need for money (loss of job / increased expenses)
- keep up with extravagant lifestyles
- an easy and fast way of getting money
- 'catch me if you can' mentality
- coerced to do so by friends, families, or situational factors
- greed (increase material wealth)
- many ways to scam
- i did it once without getting caught, i can always do it again
- takes 2 hands to clap (one willing to scam and one willing to be scammed)
- thrill-seeking & risk-taking behaviours

Q2
Psychological
- convince themselves that what they are doing is not wrong (they have more money than me)
- denial of blame (it's not my fault that they are so naive to believe in "good" deals such as a fast way to earn money)
- the victims were asking for it

Sociological
- material wealth is seen as important (money talks)
- take shortcuts to achieve economic success in the fastest way possible
- increase social status
- easy & readily available pool of gullible victims
- suddenly faced with high expenses such as healthcare or childcare
- frustrations with job expectations, career progressions & pay

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Q1:
Many can be motivated by the idea of not having to put in actual hours to work still get money, in fact through scamming, they might get more money without having to put in as much effort/hours. Most might be aware that scamming is a crime, but the idea of completing the act of scamming behind the screens limits the traceability of individuals, making it more enticing for them to scam others online rather than traditional crimes that still allows them to get money (e.g. robbing, stealing etc.).

Q2:
Biological:
Individuals who are wired to enjoy adrenaline through such risky activities of committing a crime can increase the tendency of themselves being involved in such crimes.

Psychological:
Some might choose to scam because they were once a victim. Some individuals who are stressed about financial situation might develop tunnel vision and fail to assess the consequences if they are being caught for their crime as they are focused on the monetary gains.

Sociological:
Personal circumstances and social influence can be motivating factors. For example, one with stressful financial situation might resort to scamming as it is the way to get money. With the influence of internet, many observe that it is easy to get away with any suspicious behaviour when it is done online. The idea of scamming might also seem to be of less harm compared to other traditional crimes.

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Q1: What are the motivations of individuals who scam others online i.e., scammers?
Their motivation is often money. Scamming others allows them to earn quick cash. Another motivation could be that they enjoy the thrill or adrenaline rush of successfully scamming others. Alternatively, they might be pressured into scamming others because they themselves were scammed into taking up this job.

Q2: Which explanations (biological/psychological/sociological) are better at making sense of these motivations?
I think psychological and sociological explanations are better at making sense of these motivations.

Psychological: Scammers feel that they are not at fault and it is the victims who should blame themselves for being naive. They do sensation-seeking and risky activities because their brain lacks stimulation.

Sociological: Some scammers are unable to get a proper job due to factors such as little to no education, or societal stigma against them. Hence, they resort to anti-social and deviant behaviour to meet their needs for money. On the other hand, some scammers are technologically sophisticated and highly educated. They enjoy thrill-seeking experiences and could be greedy for more money due to a scarcity mindset.

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Q1: Motivations of scammers
- achieve luxurious lifestyles
- greed
- need for money (to make ends meet)

Q2: Explanation
Sociological factor
Institutional Anomie Theory: There are little to no support for people who are struggling to afford the lifestyle in their country. For example, in India, many people are left to fend for themselves, homeless and begging on the streets. Those with knowledge in the field and access to resources result to scamming. Moreover, call centres that make money on scams recruit these people knowing that they have nowhere else to turn to. They prey on their situations and emotions in times like these.

Merton: People face frustrations while trying to achieve economic success. These scammers may still want to achieve economic success, however, they may be unable to do so with the legitimate means. Therefore, they innovate and turn to scamming to achieve economic success.

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Q1)
The motivations of individuals who scam others online can vary, but they are typically motivated by financial gain or power. From a biological perspective, those who are predisposed to criminal behavior may seek out opportunities to take advantage of others. From a psychological perspective, individuals may be motivated by feelings of insecurity or low self-esteem, and may gain a sense of gratification from exploiting others. From a sociological perspective, those who are socially marginalized or disadvantaged may be more likely to seek out opportunities to scam others in order to gain money, power, or status.

Q2)
Psychological explanations are better at making sense of the motivations of individuals who scam others online. Psychological explanations suggest that the motivations for scamming are rooted in psychological needs and desires, such as the need for power, control, recognition, or revenge. Scammers may also be motivated by the thrill of getting away with something, or the desire to gain financial stability through illegal means.

However, The motivations of individuals who scam others online can also be best understood with a combination of psychological and sociological explanations. Psychological explanations focus on the individual's thought processes, emotions, and motivations, while sociological explanations focus on the broader context of the individual's environment, including cultural norms, values, and social systems. Both perspectives are needed to gain a fuller understanding of why someone would choose to scam others online.

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In the local context, scammers usually operate overseas. The ones that commit scams are intelligent enough to make themselves appear convincing to victims. Eg, Using technical terminology, use of emotional intelligence to build credibility/rapport with victims to gain their trust.

That would mean they have some level of formal education done. However, in their country, having a formal education may not be enough to make a decent living. Or they may feel that legitimate jobs may not be paying well enough for the lifestyle that they want to have. Hence, they may have chosen to turn to scamming others online to make more money for themselves.

Some scammers may have come from societies that have a mentally of "each man for himself". They may have experienced that living an honest life is neither rewarding nor puts food on the table. Hence, they may not even feel remorseful of their actions. Moreover, Singapore has an image of being a wealthy nation which might spur scammers even more. Therefore,the society that they're from has played a key part in their choice to be a scammer.