Confidence trick

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person

or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks
exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté,
compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, and greed.
Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a
distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to
further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually
beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men') at
the expense of their victims (the 'marks')".[1]

Political cartoon by JM Staniforth:

Herbert Kitchener attempts to
Contents raise £100,000 for a college in
Sudan by calling on the name of
Terminology
Charles George Gordon
Short and long cons
Stages of the con
Vulnerability factors
See also
In films
Further reading
External links
References

Terminology
Synonyms include con, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, scam, and
stratagem. The perpetrator of a confidence trick (or "con trick") is often referred to as a
confidence (or "con") man, con-artist, or a "grifter". Samuel Thompson (1821–1856) was the
original "confidence man". Thompson was a clumsy swindler who asked his victims to
express confidence in him by giving him money or their watch rather than gaining their
confidence in a more nuanced way. A few people trusted Thompson with their money and
watches.[2] Thompson was arrested in July 1849.

Reporting about this arrest, Dr James Houston, a reporter of the New York Herald,
publicized Thompson by naming him the "Confidence Man".[2] Although Thompson was an
unsuccessful scammer, he gained reputation as a genius operator mostly because Houston's
satirical tone wasn't understood as such.[2] The National Police Gazette coined the term
"confidence game" a few weeks after Houston first used the name "confidence man".[2]

A confidence trick is also known as a con game, a con, a scam, a grift, a hustle, a bunko (or
bunco), a swindle, a flimflam, a gaffle, or a bamboozle. The intended victims are known as
marks, suckers, stooges, mugus, rubes, or gulls (from the word gullible). When accomplices
are employed, they are known as shills.

Short and long cons

A short con or "small con" is a fast swindle which takes just minutes. It typically aims to rob
the victim of everything in his wallet.[3]

A "long con" or "big con" (also, chiefly British English: long game)[4] is a scam that unfolds
over several days or weeks and involves a team of swindlers, as well as props, sets, extras,
costumes, and scripted lines. It aims to rob the victim of huge sums of money or valuables,
often by getting him or her to empty out banking accounts and borrow from family
members.[5]

Stages of the con

In Confessions of a Confidence Man, Edward H. Smith lists the "six definite steps or stages
of growth" of a confidence game.[6] He notes that some steps may be omitted.

Foundation work
Preparations are made in advance of the game, including the hiring of any assistants
required and studying the background knowledge needed for the role.
Approach
The victim is approached or contacted.
Build-up
The victim is given an opportunity to profit from participating in a scheme. The victim's
greed is encouraged, such that their rational judgment of the situation might be
impaired.
Pay-off or convincer
The victim receives a small payout as a demonstration of the scheme's purported
effectiveness. This may be a real amount of money, or faked in some way. In a
gambling con, the victim is allowed to win several small bets. In a stock market con,
the victim is given fake dividends.
The "hurrah"
A sudden manufactured crisis or change of events forces the victim to act or make a
decision immediately. This is the point at which the con succeeds or fails. With a
financial scam, the con artist may tell the victim that the "window of opportunity" to
make a large investment in the scheme is about to suddenly close forever.
The in-and-in
 A conspirator (in on the con, but assumes the role of an interested bystander) puts an
amount of money into the same scheme as the victim, to add an appearance of
legitimacy. This can reassure the victim, and give the con man greater control when
the deal has been completed.

In addition, some games require a "corroboration" step, particularly those involving a fake,
but purportedly "rare item" of "great value". This usually includes the use of an accomplice
who plays the part of an uninvolved (initially skeptical) third party, who later confirms the
claims made by the con man.[6]

Vulnerability factors
Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity,
opportunism, lust, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation, and naïvety. As such,
there is no consistent profile of a confidence trick victim; the common factor is simply that
the victim relies on the good faith of the con artist. Victims of investment scams tend to
show an incautious level of greed and gullibility, and many con artists target the elderly, but
even alert and educated people may be taken in by other forms of a confidence trick.[7]
Researchers Huang and Orbach argue:[1]

Cons succeed for inducing judgment errors—chiefly, errors arising from

imperfect information and cognitive biases. In popular culture and among
professional con men, the human vulnerabilities that cons exploit are depicted as
'dishonesty,' 'greed,' and 'gullibility' of the marks. Dishonesty, often represented
by the expression 'you can't cheat an honest man,' refers to the willingness of
marks to participate in unlawful acts, such as rigged gambling and
embezzlement. Greed, the desire to 'get something for nothing,' is a shorthand
expression of marks' beliefs that too-good-to-be-true gains are realistic.
Gullibility reflects beliefs that marks are 'suckers' and 'fools' for entering into
costly voluntary exchanges. Judicial opinions occasionally echo these
sentiments.

Accomplices, also known as shills, help manipulate the mark into accepting the perpetrator'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 strangers
who have benefited from performing the task in the past.

Elderly people and people with cognitive problems have been targeted by con artists.

See also
A Face in the Crowd – Dramatised political cons
Badger Game
Boiler room (business)
Charlatan
 Charlatan
Confidence tricks in literature
Confidence tricks in film and television
Counterfeit
Elmer Gantry – Fictional religious cons
Hijacked journals
List of con artists
List of confidence tricks
List of criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates
Nigerian Prince scam
Quackery
Racketeering
Ripoff
Scam baiting
Technical Support Scam
Scams in intellectual property
Social engineering (security)
White-collar crime

In films
American Hustle (2013) starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer
Lawrence and Jeremy Renner
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine
The Grifters (1990) starring Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening
The Good Liar (2019) starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren
Heartbreakers (2001) starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt
House of Games (1987) starring Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna
Matchstick Men (2003) starring Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman and Sam Rockwell
The Sting (1973) starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman

Further reading
Bell, J. Bowyer; Whaley, Barton (1982). Cheating and Deception (reprint 1991) (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=ojmwSoW8g7IC). Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-
0887388682.
Blundell, Nigel (1984) [1982]. The World's Greatest Crooks and Conmen and other
mischievous malefactors. Octopus Books. ISBN 978-0706421446.
Dillon, Eamon (2008) [2008]. The Fraudsters: Sharks and Charlatans – How Con Artists
 Make Their Money. Merlin Publishing. ISBN 978-1903582824.
Ford, Charles V. (1999) [1999]. Lies! Lies!! Lies!!!: The Psychology of Deceit (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=_FSc5C2bFYUC). American Psychiatric. ISBN 978-
0880489973.
Henderson, Les (2000). Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, scams, frauds (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=-aJ8d_oewg8C). Coyote Ridge. ISBN 978-0968713303.
Kaminski, Marek M. (2004). Games Prisoners Play (https://books.google.com/books?id=
YIGzIaNmokgC). Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691117218.
Konnikova, Maria (2016). The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It...Every Time.
ISBN 978-0525427414.
Lazaroff, Steven & Rodger, Mark (2018) [2018]. History's Greatest Deceptions and
Confidence scams (https://books.google.com/books?id=pf_NtQEACAAJ&dq). Rodger &
Laz Publishing S.E.N.C. ISBN 978-1775292128.
Maurer, David W. (1999) [1940]. The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man and the
Confidence Game (https://books.google.com/books?id=jxbbV5x66usC&dq). Bobbs
Merrill / Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0385495387.
Maurer, David W. (1974). The American Confidence Man (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=W6twAAAACAAJ). Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher. ISBN 978-
0398029746.
Reading, Amy (2012). The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a
Small History of the Big Con (https://books.google.com/?id=skV3BGg-znYC). Knopf.
ISBN 978-0307473592.
Smith, Jeff (2009). Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel (http://www.soapys
mith.net/id50.html). Juneau: Klondike Research. ISBN 978-0981974309.
Sutherland, Edwin Hardin (1937). The Professional Thief (reprint 1989) (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=muZuPt327pwC). University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-
0226780511.
Weil, J.R. "Yellow Kid" (1948) [2004]. Con Man: A Master Swindler's Own Story (https://b
ooks.google.com/?id=wScQOATAjMMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=con+man+yellow+kid+
weil). Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0767917377.
Zhang, Yingyu (2017). The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection (htt
ps://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-book-of-swindles/9780231178631). Columbia University
Press. ISBN 978-0231178631.

External links
"Arrest of the Confidence Man" (https://lostmuseum.cuny.edu/archive/arrest-of-the-confid
ence-man-newyork-herald). The Lost Museum, (GMU). Police Intelligence. New York
Herald. July 8, 1849.
Book of Swindles (http://www.chinafile.com/library/books/book-of-swindles).
ChinaFile.com. 2017-11-15. Confidence tricks in China.
"Prepaid funeral scam" (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/january/prepaid-funeral-s
 cam/). FBI.gov.
"The Blonger Bros" (http://www.blongerbros.com/). blongerbros.com. Lou Blonger was
the head of a large gang of confidence men running the Big Con in 1910s Denver.
"To Catch a Con Man" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070324001555/http://www.msnbc.
msn.com/id/17697615/). Dateline NBC investigation. Archived from the original (http://w
ww.msnbc.msn.com/id/17697615/) on 2007-03-24.

References
1. Huang, Lindsey; Orbach, Barak (2018). "Con Men and Their Enablers: The Anatomy of
Confidence Games" (https://ssrn.com/abstract=3228077). Social Research: An
International Quarterly. 85 (4): 795–822.
2. Braucher, Jean; Orbach, Barak (2015). "Scamming: The Misunderstood Confidence
Man". Yale Journal of Law & Humanities. 72 (2): 249–292. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2314071 (htt
ps://doi.org/10.2139%2Fssrn.2314071).
3. Maurer 1999, Ch. 8. Short-Con Games
4. Yagoda, Ben (June 5, 2012). "The long game" (http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/06
/05/the-long-game/). Not One-off Britishisms. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
40707084040/http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/the-long-game/) from the
original on July 7, 2014. This language blog, while not a reliable etymological source,
provides statistically gathered usage data that demonstrates neutral as well as critical
usage, and that it is of British origin, only recently making notable inroads into American
English.
5. Reading 2012, Ch. 1. Confidence
6. Smith, Edward H. (1923). Confessions of a Confidence Man: A Handbook for Suckers (h
ttps://books.google.com/books?id=Cyq8QAAACAAJ). Scientfic American Publishing.
pp. 35–37.
7. Crimes-of-persuasion.com (http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Victims/victims.htm)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070415230029/http://www.crimes-of-persuasion
.com/Victims/victims.htm) 2007-04-15 at the Wayback Machine Fraud Victim Advice /
Assistance for Consumer Scams and Investment Frauds

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