Scam

A scam, also called a confidence trick or con, is a scheme to cheat someone after winning their trust first. These tricks prey on traits like gullibility, naivety, compassion, vanity, overconfidence, carelessness, and greed. Experts describe confidence tricks as a unique kind of fraud that pushes people into voluntary deals that only help the con artist, not the victim—who is often called the "mark."

Other names for a scam include con game, confidence game, ripoff, stratagem, finesse, grift, hustle, bunko, swindle, flimflam, gaffle, and bamboozle. The person running the scam is known as a scammer, confidence man, con man, con artist, grifter, hustler, or swindler. Victims are called marks, suckers, stooges, mugs, rubes, or gulls. Accomplices in the scheme are called shills.

Scams can be short or long. A short con, or small con, is a quick swindle that lasts minutes or even seconds, usually aimed at stealing cash or valuables the victim has on them. A long con, or big con (sometimes called the long game in British English), unfolds over days or weeks. It may involve a team of swindlers, along with props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines. The goal is to take a large sum of money or valuables, often by getting the victim to drain their bank accounts and borrow from family.

The shell game dates back at least to ancient Greece. William Thompson (1821–1856) was the first person called a "confidence man." Thompson was a clumsy swindler who simply asked victims to show confidence in him by handing over money or their watch, rather than earning their trust subtly. A few people did trust him. He was arrested in July 1849. James Houston, a reporter for the *New York Herald*, wrote about the arrest and gave Thompson the nickname "Confidence Man." Though Thompson was not a skilled scammer, Houston’s satirical tone was misunderstood, and Thompson gained a reputation as a genius operator. A few weeks later, the *National Police Gazette* coined the term "confidence game."

In *Confessions of a Confidence Man*, Edward H. Smith lists six steps or stages of a confidence game, though some may be skipped, done in a different order, or carried out at the same time. First is foundation work: preparations made in advance, like hiring assistants and studying background knowledge. Second is the approach: the victim is contacted. Third is build-up: the victim is offered a chance to profit from a scheme, and their greed is encouraged, which may cloud their judgment. Fourth is the pay-off or convincer: the victim gets a small payout to show the scheme works—this could be real money or faked. In a gambling con, the victim wins small bets; in a stock con, they get fake dividends. Fifth is the "hurrah": a sudden crisis or change forces the victim to act immediately. This is where the con succeeds or fails. For a financial scam, the con artist may claim the chance to invest is about to close forever. Sixth is the in-and-in: a conspirator, pretending to be an interested bystander, puts money into the same scheme to make it look legitimate. This reassures the victim and gives the con man more control. Some games also need a "corroboration" step, especially those involving a fake rare item of great value. This uses an accomplice who plays an uninvolved, skeptical third party who later confirms the con man’s claims.

In *The Big Con*, David Maurer writes that all cons go through ten stages for a "big con": locating and investigating a wealthy victim (putting the mark up); gaining the victim’s trust (playing the con for him); steering him to meet the insideman (roping the mark); letting the insideman show him how to make a lot of money dishonestly (telling him the tale); allowing the victim to make a big profit (giving him the convincer); figuring out exactly how much he will invest (giving him the breakdown); sending him home for the money (putting him on the send); fleecing him in a big setup (taking off the touch); getting him out of the way quietly (blowing him off); and stopping legal action (putting in the fix).

Confidence tricks exploit greed, dishonesty, vanity, opportunism, lust, compassion, gullibility, carelessness, desperation, and naivety. There is no single profile of a victim; the common factor is that the victim trusts the con artist’s good faith. Victims of investment scams often show careless greed and gullibility. Many con artists target the elderly and others seen as vulnerable, using various tricks. Researchers Huang and Orbach note that fraud has quickly adapted to the internet.