In the Media: Stacey Wood Discusses the Gullibility of Experts in The Conversation

Portrait of Stacey Wood, Molly Mason Jones Chair in Psychology and professor of psychology at Scripps College in Claremont, California

Stacey Wood, Molly Mason Jones Chair in Psychology and professor of psychology, explains how the rich and famous are duped by scammers in a piece for The Conversation. Digital and social media-dependent scams, such as the recent FTX cryptocurrency collapse, have attracted a number of celebrity endorsements and investors, as did Elizabeth Holmes’ now-defunct company Theranos. “Depending on the type of fraud that researchers examine, it’s clear that sophisticated, well-educated, and young people are all vulnerable to scams,” Wood writes alongside co-author Yaniv Hanoch of the University of Southampton. ” . . . Experts and wealthy people may feel that the authority their knowledge or riches gives them acts as a shield.”

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