In this episode of Take Five Deep Dive, Doug Kerr, Vice President in the Supervision division at the St. Louis Fed examines confidence scams—fraudulent schemes that exploit trust through a calculated three-stage process of building rapport, gaining control, and ultimately disappearing with victims' assets. We break down how these scams work, highlight the alarming rise in losses (particularly among older adults, which quadrupled from 2020 to 2024), and outline key steps banks can take to detect, prevent, and educate customers against this growing threat.