Ahead of National Poetry Day on October 1st, financial services company Santander tasked two British poets with creating Scam Sonnets to raise awareness of investment fraud. Pam Ayres and Suli Breaks set out on a mission to turn "financial crimes into rhymes" and help the public become better equipped to spot the signs of an investment scam.
The Scam Sonnets use the same language as scammers do, including phrases like "Are you heading for retirement?" or "Are you looking for investments?" The poems even include words and phrases from real scam emails, online ads and telephone calls received by Santander customers.
On average, £10,000 is lost in investment scams and 25% of Brits have been affected or know someone who has fallen prey to a scam.
Image Credit: Santander
What's Driving This Trend
- Investment Fraud Awareness
- Financial companies can create innovative ways such as poetry to make the public more aware of investment fraud scams.
- Consumer Protection
- Improving consumer protection policies in financial services can reduce the number of victims of investment scams.
- Language Analysis Tools
- The development of language analysis tools that monitor and identify suspicious patterns and phrases in online ads can help prevent investment fraud scams.
Who This Affects Most
- Financial Services
- Financial services companies can benefit from raising greater awareness of investment scams among their clients and develop protective policies to reduce the extent of investment scams.
- Poetry and Creative Writing
- Creative industries can be utilized to help bring greater attention to the serious issue of investment fraud and help victims seek justice.
- Data Analytics
- The development and use of data analytics and artificial intelligence in tracking and identifying patterns in online ads can help reduce the viability and impact of investment fraud scams.
