Con man 

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"Scam" and "Confidence Man" redirect here. For other uses, see Scam (disambiguation) and Confidence Man (disambiguation).
This article is about the confidence trick called grifting. For the comic book character, see Grifter (comics). For the 1990 film, see The Grifters (film).
"Big store" redirects here. For the Marx brothers film, see The Big Store.

A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme, or swindle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence.

Contents

History

The first known usage of the term "confidence man" was in 1849; it was used by the press during the trial of William Thompson. Thompson chatted with strangers until he asked if they had the confidence to lend him their watches, whereupon he would walk off with the watch; he was captured when a victim recognized him on the street.1

Vulnerability to confidence tricks

Persons of any level of intelligence are vulnerable to deception by experienced con artists. Confidence tricks exploit human weaknesses like greed, dishonesty, vanity, but also virtues like honesty, compassion, or a naïve expectation of good faith on the part of the con artist.

Just as there is no typical profile for swindlers, neither is there one for their victims. Virtually anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes. … Certainly victims of high-yield investment frauds may possess a level of greed which exceeds their caution as well as a willingness to believe what they want to believe. However, not all fraud victims are greedy, risk-taking, self-deceptive individuals looking to make a quick dollar. Nor are all fraud victims naive, uneducated, or elderly.2

Confidence tricksters often rely on the greed and dishonesty of the mark, who may attempt to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning. This is such a general principle in confidence tricks that there is a saying among con men that "you can't cheat an honest man."3

Nevertheless, some tricks depend on the honesty of the victim. In a common scam, as part of an apparently legitimate transaction, the victim is sent a worthless check, which the victim then deposits. The victim is then urged to forward the apparent value of the check to the trickster as cash, possibly keeping a small portion of the money as a commission, which they may do before discovering the check bounces. Another fashionable scenario (as of 2006)citation needed has the victim recruited as a "financial agent" to collect "business debts." Paper checks are not always involved: funds may be transferred electronically from another victim.

Sometimes con men rely on naive individuals who put their confidence into get-rich-quick schemes, such as "too good to be true" investments. It may take years for the wider community to discover that such investment schemes are bogus. By the time they are discovered, many people may have lost their life savings to something in which they have been persuaded to invest.

The confidence trickster often works with one or more accomplices called shills, who help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man's plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be random strangers who have benefited from successfully performing the task.

Notable con artists

Born in the 18th century

Born or active in the 19th century

Born or active in the 20th century

Living people


See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Karen Halttunen, Confidence Men and Painted Women, p 6 ISBN 0-300-02835-0
  2. ^ crimes-of-persuasion.com Fraud Victim Advice / Assistance for Consumer Scams and Investment Frauds
  3. ^ A Conversation with James Swain online
  4. ^ "Document of the Month January 2005". The Scottish Executive (January 2005). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  5. ^ "Arrest of the Confidence Man". New York Herald (1849). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  6. ^ Maurer, David W. (1940), The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man and the Confidence Game, Bobbs Merrill, ISBN 0-7869-1850-8 
  7. ^ "For You, Half Price". The New York Times (1849). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  8. ^ Weil, Joseph (1948), "Yellow Kid" Weil: The Autobiography of America's Master Swindler, Ziff-Davis, ISBN 0-7812-8661-1 
  9. ^ Zuckoff, Mitchell (March 8), Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, Random House, ISBN 1-4000-6039-7 
  10. ^ Johnson, James F.; Miller, Floyd (1961), The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, Doubleday 
  11. ^ "The Fund Industry's Black Eye". Brian Trumbore, StocksandNews.com (2002-04-19). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  12. ^ Frank W. Abagnale Jr.; with Stan Redding (1980). 'Catch Me if You Can'. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-64091-7. 
  13. ^ "Princeton 'Student' Gets Jail Sentence". The New York Times (1992-10-25). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  14. ^ "Fake spy guilty of kidnapping con". BBC (2005-06-23). Retrieved on 19 August, 2007.
  15. ^ Amorosi, A.D. (2007-01-16), Just Do It, The Philadelphia City Paper 
  16. ^ Ex-Sussex man Scott Frederick Byers charged with multiple fraud, theft counts by Jamie Ross, Kings Co. Record, Aug 31, 2008.

External links

v • d • e
Confidence tricks and con artists
Terminology
Confidence trick · Mark · Shill · Sucker list
Notable confidence tricks
Pyramid and Ponzi schemes
Notable con artists