Borrowed authority
The mechanism by which a scam caller uses a claimed title or institutional role, an attorney, an officer, an administrator, to make a request more credible than the caller's own unadorned claim would be, exploiting a normal human tendency to defer to apparent authority under time pressure.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 3 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Senior AI Scam Defense.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
The mechanism by which a scam caller uses a claimed title or institutional role, an attorney, an officer, an administrator, to make a request more credible than the caller's own unadorned claim would be, exploiting a normal human tendency to defer to apparent authority under time pressure.
A red-flag phrase pattern in which a claim implies more independent endorsement, certification, or academic backing than actually exists, for example citing an unnamed "leading researcher" or a certification the company has not actually completed.
The scam technique of invoking the name of a real, trusted organization, such as a technology company or bank, without any genuine connection to that organization, to make an urgent instruction feel more credible.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- The Family Emergency Call, from the Inside · Impersonation and Emergency Scams, Senior AI Scam Defense
- The Pop Up on Your Screen and the Stranger in Your Computer · Impersonation and Emergency Scams, Senior AI Scam Defense
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.