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These are recent news headlines about victims of fraud. What they share: language that subtly blames the victims and therefore downplays the severity of the crime. And it’s all too common in discussions of financial fraud, says “Blame and Shame in the Context of Financial Fraud,” a new report from the AARP Fraud Watch Network and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. Heart + Mind Strategies facilitated the project.

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“We don’t mean to cause harm with our words,” says Kathy Stokes, AARP director of fraud prevention programs. Nonetheless, we often inadvertently blame the victim, she explains, and this can exacerbate feelings of shame that contribute to their reluctance to report these crimes.
Sometimes victims use self-blaming language as well — I was duped, tricked, bilked — Stokes says, “but they need to understand that it’s not their fault.”
The authors argue that shifting how our society discusses financial fraud — ending the victim blaming — could lead to a much-needed change in how we think about and battle this growing crime, which already costs Americans billions of dollars a year. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), financial fraud totaled $5.9 billion in 2021, though experts like Stokes believe the real cost is much higher because many victims are too ashamed to come forward.