After a few introductions, John quickly shifted the conversation toward business, giving Uncle Barry a short history of his foreign land investments and why he needed to move money out of certain countries using my services to minimize any financial loss. Barry then explained what he did for a living and was starting to be much more involved in the conversation. This was a different Barry from the one I’d met in the morning. Thanks to no more than a rented house and a tiny swimsuit, in a few short hours, Barry had opened up.
Our objective at this meeting wasn’t just to lend credibility to my story; it was to begin playing Barry in an effort to make him play back. I also wanted to address his concerns about money laundering and my business having “Mafia written all over it.” I saw this as an opportunity to give the deal further veracity by turning the tables on Barry.
Once the usual pleasantries were out of the way, I shifted the conversation toward one of my biggest concerns about new clients like Randy and his Uncle Barry. Apologizing in advance, I asked them both if they had a criminal record. This question served several purposes, but its primary goal was to test Barry’s reaction. Would he revert to the quiet, shrugging sphinx I’d shared breakfast with, or would he assure us that he was a suitable candidate?
This is an important test because the question is both direct and potentially offensive. Any response at all can be used to either redirect or manipulate the mark into a deeper commitment. Had he become angry, I would have diffused the situation quickly while watching to see if he was using that reaction as a way out. Many people use high emotions as an escape route or a means to avoid certain subjects, but they also use demonstrative feelings such as anger to support their position, especially when their reputation or position is questioned. I was prepared for this, but Barry’s response was much friendlier. He laughed, assured us of his spotless record, and made it perfectly clear that he wanted to know more. The purpose of this meeting was to shift Barry into the position of wanting to impress us. After building Barry’s confidence to this point, all I needed was for him to take a few baby steps in our direction and he was on his way to being conned.
While I explained a few details about my money transfer system, John appeared to catch up on e-mails before standing to excuse himself. John bid us farewell and returned to the house with Angie. The meeting was over, but Barry was inching closer to the prize. The story was starting to work and in the car, monitored by our hidden cameras, Uncle Barry told Randy, “This is some serious money.” Next, I needed to build on these foundations until the time was right to make Barry an offer he wouldn’t refuse.
In addition to Lowndes Grove, we had also rented a local store that was a bank at one time, complete with an impressive vault and a door that weighed several tons. The location was perfect, just a short walk to the real bank with escape routes in four directions. A little set dressing and a few bad checks to pay for it all and we could quickly create a convincing backdrop for any one who became tangled in our web. I’d invited Randy and his Uncle Barry along for a more formal meeting and to perhaps get the ball rolling, but my real objective was to put the deal onto the table and force Barry to take the reins away from his nephew. I had much less time to play the mark than I needed, so there was a real chance he might break away if I came on too strong.
The office was incredibly convincing, fully furnished and dressed with some homemade certificates. The shelves of the safe were stacked high with photocopied money from around the world and under the desk were two duplicate flight cases ready for the sting. After hiring a few locals to play small parts in our little play, the stage was set and ready for my audience of one. Our actress, Robin, had prepared for her role as a regular client who’d received several large amounts of money in the past. When Barry arrived, we made sure he had a few moments to chat with her before being whisked away to conclude our latest transfer. This gave Barry and Randy a few moments to take in the sights as large amounts of money were counted from the cashier’s cage for Robin to take to the bank. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a convincing “big store” might be worth a million dollars. Sometimes this can backfire when actually seeing the cash turns an interesting idea into a frightening reality; Uncle Barry immediately began to feel things were moving too quickly.
After a brief chat, I sent Robin on her way and invited Randy and his uncle to join me. I had two goals in this meeting: to explain the deal and to secure interest from Uncle Barry. All I needed was the simplest gesture of commitment to lean upon, but if Barry couldn’t stand the heat, the whole game was a bust and I didn’t have the luxury of time. Hidden cameras and production crews are extremely expensive and it’s not feasible to follow a con for weeks without an enormous bankroll. Had this been the real deal, I’d have fifty marks lined up for months, all singing my “free money” song before taking them down simultaneously and heading to the Bahamas.
In Charleston, I had two days and one chance to fleece my mark. After explaining to Barry about international money transfers and unusual tax laws, I was forced to ask if he would be interested. The answer was exactly what I was afraid of. Barry felt he hadn’t had enough time to absorb everything and was stalling the process, which is the smart thing to do; I had no choice but to increase the pressure and hope Uncle Barry didn’t run for the exit. My phone rang and I stepped into the back office to take an imaginary call. With Barry and his nephew still in earshot, I pretended to talk to a money-receiving client who was letting me down. I shouted and I swore, but as I yelled at myself down an empty line, it soon became clear that there was nothing more I could do. I hung up and returned to my potential mark, who had been listening to the whole thing.
Now was my best chance to get Uncle Barry into the game. All I needed was for him to show a little interest, but, as soon as I was back at the desk, he continued right where we left off. Seemingly concerned about my fake phone call, I acted distant and unable to concentrate; I then offered to take Randy and Barry out for dinner to talk further. By way of explanation, I commented on my delinquent client who was not going to be in Charleston in time to receive John’s transfer. Genial to the last, Barry joked that he’d be happy to take the money; I quickly latched onto this passing remark as a way to make Barry an offer. This was a big mistake.
Appearing to be inspired by Barry’s joke, I asked him outright if he could get twenty thousand dollars before the end of the day. Right away, my mark was reeling and I knew this meant a refusal. I’d played him too hard and too fast and the more I tried to keep moving forward, the harder Barry hit the brakes. Still friendly and keen to stay involved, Barry just couldn’t throw down such a large amount so quickly without compromising his business instincts. Before I could redirect, he was walking out the door with his nephew. Barry had just been wisecracking and I’d hit him with too much, too soon.
The whole scam was beginning to collapse. In the back room, the producers, who had been monitoring every second, as the British say, were having kittens. The whole production sat on a knife’s edge, because if we had to bring in another mark, it was going to cost a fortune. This time, I had to agree that things weren’t looking good.
But just as we were considering plan B, our cameraman on the street reported that Uncle Barry was coming back.
Line Dancing
The line is about adding layers to the story, like piling comforters onto a mark until he’s warm and cozy, and most important, unable to move under the weight. The longer you play a mark, the greater the risk of them waking up or chickening out, but the extra time has a benefit as well; it also offers a chance to increase the stakes and nurture deeper faith in the lie. Along the way there are many tiny hurdles to guide the victim over before they have confidence in the deal that’s being offered. Later, when trying to explain what happened, the victim often describes these hurdles piled on top of one another, like an enormous height that only a fool would jump from. This is where the real con game is played.
The hook is about getting the mark i
nvolved. The line is about building that interest into something impossible to resist. The con artist uses a variety of methods to grow the commitment, which is determined by the con man’s story and his deepening relationship with the mark. An experienced scammer knows how to manipulate the victim’s perspective, clamping down or stepping back as needed. Con men are adaptable, but once even a rank grifter has successfully muddled through a con game, he simply repeats the same line for the next sucker. Hustlers know from experience what the most likely outcome will be because people’s actions are sadly predictable when presented with proven scenarios.
The Story
One of the most powerful aspects of a great con game is how it often uses the truth to support a lie.
In 1920s Paris, Count Victor Lustig, one of history’s most notorious con artists, spotted a newspaper story suggesting that repairs for the Eiffel Tower could be too expensive and that the government might decide to scrap the monument. Lustig, who knew the tower was never originally intended to be a permanent landmark, saw an opportunity to construct a powerful lie based on verifiable facts.
He adopted the role of a French bureaucrat, entrusted with the delicate task of arranging to disassemble the tower, and contacted several scrap merchants with the offer of a lifetime, nicely printed on official-looking headed notepaper.
Each merchant was told to keep the situation secret for fear of public outrage, and distracted by enormous potential profits, they all agreed. Lustig received a quote from each of these businessmen to buy the tower and even convinced them to pay a healthy bribe or two. After building their confidence, Lustig picked out his best mark, accepted his offer, and bought a ticket to Austria to escape with the money. After a few weeks, it became apparent that the mark, André Poisson, had not reported Victor to the French authorities, perhaps too ashamed to admit being conned. Lustig seized on this opportunity and returned to Paris, selling the Eiffel Tower to five more suckers before fleeing to the United States once the police were finally called.
All of this hinged on a simple story, which was based on fact. The Eiffel Tower was never intended to be a permanent part of the Paris skyline, was badly in need of repair, and according to a single line in a newspaper report, the government apparently had considered selling it for scrap. All of this was true and could be easily checked or demonstrated, allowing a master con man to invent an entirely false scenario with an attractive prize and the chance to hit several marks simultaneously.
Once a mark’s attention has been secured, the con man will try to satisfy and manipulate his curiosity. People are bound to have concerns or be naturally suspicious, but their desire for the bait will continue to drive them forward as long as there’s fuel in the engine. If I were to say “there’s scientific proof that Star Trek–style teleportation devices were now real and already being manufactured,” this might spark a mark’s interest, but if I can’t follow that up with a plausible explanation that both holds his attention and deepens his interest, then he will likely dismiss it and walk away. The quality of proof that I need varies depending on a mark’s existing knowledge or beliefs, but even with someone who really knows a subject, there are ways to keep him on the hook and following the line.
The lie needs to be carefully constructed, difficult to disprove, and hidden within folds of fact and truth. Blatant lies may work when the con is short and the mark is under constant control, but when the line is longer and the mark has time to think about things, the fraud needs to be carefully camouflaged.
I needed to give Uncle Barry a plausible reason for transferring large amounts of money to a third party, which is a key element of the well-known Nigerian prince or 419 scam. I already had the location and my phony office, but how could I convince this businessman that a stranger would send him a large sum of money and let him keep 40 percent? The answer turned out to be buried in US tax law. Any transaction of ten thousand dollars or more is automatically referred to the government, and even if it’s a gift, taxes may be taken from it. This does not apply to international monetary gifts, for which there is no tax liability. This explained how my clients could accept the funds but not why John would send them with such an enormous loss.
So I made up a story based loosely on fact. Foreign investors sometimes find it difficult to move money out of certain countries. To protect John (and my bullshit story) I couldn’t say what the countries were, only that the penalties for sending money out were crippling unless they were being sent to a separate entity. An essential part of the deal was that John had to be able to illustrate that he was paying for the privilege elsewhere and had no direct connection to the receiver. In short, losing 40 percent in the United States would save John from losing 70 percent abroad. I also told Barry that this only works within certain limits, so that John has to undertake dozens of transactions to release all of his money.
I had all the trappings of a genuine financial expert, someone who knows what he’s doing and has been doing so successfully for a long time. The setting and the situation were a perfect marriage for my story. If you’re an accountant, a stockbroker, or a banker, your tongue might be clicking loudly as you read this or perhaps you’re shaking your head so violently that you might cause yourself an injury. This scam isn’t for you, obviously, but I’d bet a cup of coffee and a fresh doughnut that you could easily convince a layman to buy it.
It’s remarkably easy to tell a lie when it is accompanied by something real that appears to support that lie. Con artists have a talent for spotting facts that can be distorted in their favor. The believability of a good scam depends on roping the right mark and telling him something he is either inclined to believe or can be convinced of using proven techniques that have a powerful influence over anyone under the right circumstances.
The process goes something like this:
X + Y = Z
X = a fact
Y = a lie (that in some way relates to the fact)
Z = a desire
I know people want Z.
They know X is true.
Y can be used to make Z seem real or attainable.
Therefore I can feasibly prove that X plus Y equals Z.
Borrowing the truth is easy, but it has to be complemented by a falsehood to be effective. The truth can be used to support a scam or distorted until it leads the mark to the wrong conclusion. Consider all of the fad diets that use science to support their unsubstantiated claims. Whenever there’s a news story about a theory relating to weight loss, it’s only a matter of time before it is being sold as fact for three easy payments of $39.99. Science is an easy tool for anyone who wishes to support a questionable theory or back up an outright lie for the public; it’s almost certain that the public or the media will not dedicate long hours to verify anything. If I wanted to prove any claim, I could simply pull random equations from the Internet and use a search engine to compile seemingly related data that might feasibly support whatever I’m trying to sell. I can guarantee that the simple quantity of apparent “facts” would be enough to convince many people that it could be true.
As an expert in a couple of fields, I am used to seeing these subjects misrepresented in the media. Since I understand these topics enough to see through gaping holes, fallacies, or agenda-driven biases, I’m perfectly placed to comment on the accuracy of what’s being written. The problem is, as any expert will tell you, no one wants to hear the boring truth when the lie is fascinating. I’ve grown to be suspicious of almost anything that I read, and if something interests me, I’ll do a little research to see if the story holds up. Along the way I am constantly stumbling upon perfect scenarios for a con game. Diet pills claim to help you burn fat “as part of a balanced diet” but one could argue that it’s more likely to be the improved diet that helps people lose weight than the powdered snake-oil being peddled.
Healthier regime (X) plus unproven supplement (Y) equals guaranteed results (Z).
Recently I read some fascinating research about how sugars and fats affec
t the body and that the combination of these can be as addicting as cocaine. Immediately I conjured the idea of a pill that would counteract this addiction and allow people to eat without succumbing to these urges. Naturally, directions for use would stipulate that my worthless placebos be used “as part of a balanced diet.” Diet scams perfectly illustrate how people’s desires outweigh their common sense, since if a genuine, safe, and scientifically proven method of easy weight loss was discovered tomorrow, it would be bigger than Viagra.
Hiding in Plain Sight
A con artist can introduce information from any source that the mark would accept as believable; that information can either misrepresent the truth, be manipulated to support the scam, or entirely manufactured. There are several ways to feed the victim what he needs to know or control exposure to any contradictory information. A con artist can use facts that are obvious, easily available, or he may have to point them out himself. However, the hustler can also be more subtle—planting the information in a way that the mark comes to believe he’s learned something on his own. In this case, the mark may believe he has exclusive knowledge that he can use, perhaps as leverage. In some cases, con artists would even orchestrate conversations within earshot of their victim, feeding them proof or additional information to give the mark greater confidence.
This strategy has been used by companies who pay actors to loudly discuss their hotel, restaurant or other services on a busy train. One possibly apocryphal story concerns a creative screen-writer who spent days traveling up and down elevators and eating in restaurants filled with Hollywood types, discussing an incredible new script that’s “doing the rounds.” By the following week, his agent was overwhelmed by requests to read it.
A powerful strategy is for the con artist to only tell the mark what’s true (X) and have him receive the false information (Y) from another source. If the source that’s feeding the lie appears to be completely separate, then the mark’s inclination is to believe the story. Once upon a time, a con artist might have planted a story in the newspaper or even printed duplicates with information added purely for their mark; today it’s extremely easy to design a believable website filled with anything a hustler needs to convince a mark. Links can point to genuine sources or to other bogus sites to verify any lie or exaggerated truth. While this could be tailored for any target, there are thousands of web-sites designed purely to attract victims via search engines, with all manner of claims to extend life expectancy, help people lose weight, or predict the future. Many of these sites remain within the law by posting disclaimers that are either cleverly hidden, camouflaged, or minimized. Many sites appear to be based in the home country of its target audience but are actually hosted in countries with no laws to prevent their activity.
The Art of the Con Page 7