Nick Harris explains why vigilance, the South African skill we use every day, is one of our best defences against scams.
South Africans are surprisingly good at spotting when something doesn't look right. We know that taxi isn't stopping at the red robot, but not because we've conducted a detailed analysis. We’ve just seen it enough times to recognise the signs: The taxi drifting across 3 lanes, the indicator that’s been on since 2019 and the driver's body language that suggests traffic laws are more of a recommendation than a requirement. So, we adjust.
The same thing happens at a four-way stop. We know exactly who’s about to claim they were there first. We know when a politician is pointing at colourful charts and making grand promises that reality may have other plans.
In short, we’re good at spotting patterns. Which makes it interesting that so many intelligent people still fall victim to scams.
Part of the answer lies in something called vigilance. In Martina Dove's research on fraud vulnerability, vigilance refers to our ability to notice when something doesn't quite make sense and then take the extra step to verify it.
The challenge is that modern scams no longer look suspicious. Years ago, scam emails were easy to spot. The spelling was terrible, the stories made no sense and the email address looked like it had been created during load shedding.
Today, scams look far more convincing. You might get an SMS that appears to come from your bank, warning you about suspicious activity. A few minutes later, a consultant who knows your name and references the SMS, phones you. They sound professional and reassuring. Everything feels normal. And that's exactly the point.
Modern fraudsters don't try to shock you. They try to make you comfortable.
The same applies to romance scams. Most people think scams begin when someone asks for money. In reality, many fraudsters spend months building trust before asking for anything at all.
They remember birthdays, ask about your family and check on you when you've had a bad day. They become part of your routine. In fact, some of these scammers put in more effort than your actual family and somehow reply to messages faster than your cousin who still owes you R500 from December.
They’re slowly building trust, and that's what makes them dangerous. By the time money enters the conversation, it no longer feels like helping a stranger.
This is why vigilance matters. Vigilance isn't about being suspicious about everything. It's simply maintaining the same healthy skepticism online that we already use in the real world. If someone arrived at your gate at 10pm claiming to be from the municipality, you would probably ask a few questions. Yet online, we sometimes trust the logo, profile picture or the story without stopping to verify.
The most vigilant people aren't suspicious of everything. They're simply curious enough to ask one important question: "How do I know this is genuine?" That small question has saved more people from fraud than any piece of technology ever invented.
Most scams don’t depend on you ignoring obvious warning signs. They rely on you missing the smaller ones. They just need you to stop noticing the small ones.
And just like that taxi approaching the red robot, sometimes your first clue is not what you're seeing, it's that little voice telling you something doesn’t feel quite right.
