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We have a great time with Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. These scoundrels have a lot of fun with their “marks,” the ladies they wow, woo and win. But we have to remember it’s all a game—not quite so evil when seen in the context of a musical comedy. A confidence trick or confidence game, also known as a con, scam, grift, bunko or flim flam, is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the “mark”) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. The confidence trickster, con man, swindler, grifter, scam artist or con artist often works with one or more accomplices called “shills,” who help manipulate the mark into the con man’s trick or dishonest plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that s/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 won and benefited from successfully performing the task, and this gives the mark a false sense of confidence in his/her ability to win as well. However, the con man is actually in control, and the mark will usually be stunned to discover that they have lost their wager or money. In more general use, the term con is used for any fraud in which the victim is tricked into losing money by false promises of gain. Most confidence tricks exploit the greed and dishonesty of their victims. Often, the overconfident mark tries to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning. However, 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 value of the check to the trickster as cash, which they may do before discovering the check bounces. Another recent scenario 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 naïve individuals who put their confidence in 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, and usually it is too late, as many people already have lost their life savings. Well-Known ConsCons (or con games) have been around for a long, long time; in fact, these games which use confidence in the sense of “trust” date from the mid-1800s. There’s nothing really new under the sun, but some of the more well-known cons have been somewhat updated. Three Card Monte; The Three-Card Trick; Follow the Lady; Find the Lady is, except for the props used, essentially the same as the probably centuries-older shell game or thimblerig. The trickster shows three playing cards to the audience, one of which is a queen (the “lady”), then places the cards face-down, shuffles them around and invites the audience to bet on which one is the queen. At first the audience is skeptical, so the “shill” places a bet and the scammer allows him to win. This is sometimes enough to entice the audience to place bets, but the trickster uses sleight of hand to ensure that they always lose, unless the con man decides to let them win to lure them into betting even more. The mark loses whenever the dealer chooses to make him lose. The Spanish Prisoner Scam, and its modern variant, The Nigerian Money Transfer Fraud, take advantage of the victim’s greed. The basic premise involves enlisting the mark to aid in retrieving some stolen money from its hiding place. The victim sometimes goes in believing that he can cheat the con artists out of their money, but anyone trying this has already fallen for the essential con by believing that the money is there to steal. In the newer version, the victim is told he or she has won a large lottery prize in another country and that, in order to collect the funds, legal or other fees of several thousand dollars are required in advance. The victim pays the fees but never sees the supposed winnings. The Pigeon Drop, featured in the film The Sting, involves the “mark” or “pigeon” assisting an elderly, weak or infirm stranger to keep their money safe for them. In the process, the stranger (actually a confidence trickster) puts his money with the mark’s money (in an envelope, briefcase, or sack) with which the pigeon is then entrusted. The money is actually not put into the sack or envelope, but is switched for a bag full of newspaper, etc. The pigeon is enticed to get away with the con man’s money through the greed element and various theatrics, but actually the pigeon is fleeing from his own money, which the con man still has—or has handed off to an accomplice. The Fiddle Game is a variation of the Pigeon Drop. A pair of con men work together, one going into an expensive restaurant in shabby clothes, eating, and claiming to have left his wallet at home, which is nearby. As collateral, the con man leaves his only worldly possession: the violin that provides his livelihood. After he leaves, the second con man swoops in, offers an outrageously large amount for such a rare instrument, then looks at his watch and runs off to an appointment, leaving his card for the mark to call him when the fiddle-owner returns. The mark’s greed comes into play when the “poor man” comes back, having obtained the money to pay for his meal and redeem his violin. The mark, thinking he has an offer on the table, then buys the violin from the fiddle player (who “reluctantly” sells it for, say, $5,000). The result is the two con men are $5,000 richer (less the cost of violin), and the mark is left with a cheap instrument. Insurance Fraud is a scam in which the con artist tricks the mark into damaging, for example, the con artist’s car, or injuring the con artist (in a manner that the con artist can exaggerate). The con artist fraudulently collects a large sum of money from the mark’s insurance policy, even though he intentionally caused the accident. Online Casino Scam is a newer type of scam, dealing with online gambling. Many websites post advertising about a math student who has discovered a method or program to beat online casinos; the method is nothing but a variation of the “martingale” that is proven not to work. To improve the scam, the advertiser cites anonymous people that are supposed to have won using this method. The method can reportedly be purchased for a low price, considering the sum that could be won back. Phishing is a modern form of scam in which the artist communicates with the mark, pretending to be from an official organization that the mark is doing business with, in order to extract personal information that can then be used, for example, to steal money. In a typical instance of phishing, the artist sends the mark an e-mail pretending to be from a company, such as eBay. This e-mail is formatted exactly like e-mail from that business, and will ask the mark to “verify” some personal information at their website, to which a link is provided. The website itself is also fake but designed to look exactly like the business’ website. The site will contain an HTML form asking for personal information such as credit card numbers. The mark will feel compelled to give this information because of words in the e-mail or the site stating that they require the information again, for example, to “reactivate your account.” When the mark submits the form, the information is sent to the scammer. This list, of course, is only a sampling. Confidence games are continually evolving and subject to many variations and refinements. As David Maurer, in his book The Big Con puts it: Con games never remain stationary. The principle may be old, but the external forms are always changing, for con men know they must adapt their schemes to the times. This is especially true of the big con. A good grafter is never satisfied with the form his swindle takes; he studies it constantly to improve it; as he learns more about people, he finds a way to use what he has learned.
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