About Con Artists

Con artist, confidence trickster, grifter---they all mean the same thing. Centuries old, the art of the confidence trickster and con artist is one that changes as time and technology allow. From swiping the watch of a man who pauses to give the time to convincing an unsuspecting victim to "invest" hundreds of thousands of dollars, the tricks are as varied as the imaginations that develop them.

Function

A con artist is a criminal who relies on portraying an outwardly honest appearance and a good story to play on the honesty and helpfulness of others. Con artists are masters of telling people what they want to hear, leading them to believe and participate in outrageous schemes. Con artists employ thousands of different approaches, ranging from one-on-one swindles to worldwide investment ideas.

Features

A con artist relies on his ability to gain the trust of his target, or mark. Con artists are clever, highly manipulative people, who have the ability to convince people to do something that might be against their better judgment. There is no formula for the typical con artist, just as there is no formula for the typical victim. Anyone can fall victim to the con artist's scams.

History

One of the earliest con artists was Gregor MacGregor, born in Scotland in 1786. A member of the Royal Navy, MacGregor returned to London from one of his military expeditions with tales of a settlement he had founded in the New World. He called the settlement Poyais, and he was looking for willing adventurers to go and help him settle his land. MacGregor began selling land in his new settlement, raising 200,000 pounds before sending a ship of the settlers off to the New World. What they found when they arrived was not the fertile land, untapped mines and existing township MacGregor had described. Instead, there was only untouched jungle and a handful of hermits. The would-be settlers were picked up by Belize officials and sent back to England. On the way, more than half of them died. When they arrived back in England, MacGregor---and their money---was long gone. He ran the same scheme several more times before retiring in Venezuela.
William Thompson, an American from the late 1840s, was the man responsible for the term confidence man. He would approach his marks, chat them up, and ask if they had enough confidence in him to let him borrow their watches or money until the next day. If they did, he was, of course, never seen again.
Charles Ponzi, a con artist from the 1920s, was responsible for developing the Ponzi scheme, still widespread today. The basic theory is that early investors are paid returns from the investments of later investors rather than from any actual profit that the company is making.

Misconceptions

When a con artist is exposed, one of the first reactions from the public is to wonder how people could fall for such an obvious scam. Con artists are skilled at picking out his victims and developing a scheme they will fall for. Con artists understand human nature and prey on people's weaknesses.
One of the most popular includes the romance scam, where contact via mail or Internet will be begun, and romantic intentions will be interspersed with requests for money.
Not all confidence tricks are played out by con artists. When they're employed by law enforcement to catch a criminal, they're called sting operations.

Identification

With a little cynicism and healthy doubt, it is possible to spot a con artist. Always beware of schemes that sound too good to be true---they almost always are. One of the things that a con artist relies on is a desire to believe.
Beware of situations that involve an unknown party referring any work done by a friend, or a friend of a friend. One of the most common scams involve so-called city inspectors who find major problems with a house or building and threaten fines unless the problem is fixed. The con artist then recommends a contractor who will make the repairs quickly at extremely low prices. Generally, there is no real problem and the "contractor" does no actual work.