“Three Breaths”: the anti-scam gesture financial advisers can teach clients

An initiative against online frauds that target thousands of financial advisers’ clients. An appeal to professionals: “We need to be there before the click, not after”.

As online scams continue to grow across Europe, hitting savers, families and young people looking for work through romance scams, fake trading and bogus freelance offers, “Tre Respiri” is born, an initiative that proposes a radically different approach to prevention. Promoted by financial adviser Nicola Scambia, the project starts from one clear observation: traditional financial education is not enough. Scams do not strike when knowledge is lacking, but at the moment of impulse — that hurried click, the fear of missing out on an opportunity, the emotional pressure of an urgent message.

Three breaths. Thirty seconds. Then the choice. A small physical gesture, within everyone’s reach, that breaks the automatic response and restores control before deciding. The origin of the project is deeply personal, and it took shape when a young relative of the initiative’s promoter fell victim to a scam disguised as a freelance job offer. “The first rule in finance is simple: never scam the wrong person,” explains Scambia. “We need to make sure every citizen becomes ‘the wrong person’ for criminals. And that comes through a concrete gesture, not just information.”

“Tre Respiri” is a grassroots initiative, with no institutional sponsors, driven by the belief that prevention must be accessible, immediate and easy to replicate. The project launches with two videos already available and will expand from January with content dedicated to the main digital scams, translated into 7 languages to reach different communities. Applications close on December 9 for financial advisers who want to record their own “breath” and join the initiative. “Our work does not end in the client’s wallet,” says Scambia. “We need to be there before the click, not after. If that trust is betrayed by a criminal, we all lose. First and foremost, the client loses.”

The invitation also extends to anyone who wants to create a “breath” in their own mother tongue, multiplying the reach of the message. A gesture against speed, distraction and emotion. “Tre Respiri” is not a traditional educational campaign. It is a physical, repeatable gesture designed to neutralise what scams exploit best: the speed of decision-making, distraction, the emotion of the moment. A brief pause. One extra second. It may be enough to avoid enormous damage.
FOR INFORMATION AND TO JOIN:
Email jackfly@jackfly.net