The History of the Confidence Man and How to Protect Yourself

By Devika Das

Here is something that will help you be observationally astute

Let’s discuss the origins of a con man:

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.

Confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, scam, and stratagem are some
synonyms. 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.
Thompson was arrested in July 1849. Reporting about this arrest, a reporter of the
New York Herald publicized Thompson by naming him the “Confidence Man”.

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. When
accomplices are employed, they are known as shills.

Confessions of a Confidence Man: A Handbook for Suckers By Edward H.

Smith was first published in 1922, Confessions of a Confidence Man remains just
as relevant today for its timeless observations on human nature. Both the con man
and his victim are laid bare in this classic study of the intersections of psychology
and crime. This still-relevant but rather simplistic…

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.

The victim’s vulnerabilities:

Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty,

vanity, opportunism, lust, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation, and
naïvety.

8 ways you can protect yourself from a con artists

1. Be aware of your vulnerabilities- know you can be taken advantage of

2. Learn to read people- Verbal & nonverbal tells

3. Look at onlookers and those provide references- they may be in on it

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

5. Ask more questions- you rather offend someone than not protect yourself

6. If it is too good to be true, it probably is

7. Don’t get carried away by hype or trends

8. Trust your instincts