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Authors: R. Paul Wilson

The Art of the Con

BOOK: The Art of the Con
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R. Paul Wilson

Foreword by Frank Abagnale Jr.,
author of
Catch Me If You Can

LYONS PRESS

Guilford, Connecticut

Helena, Montana

An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

Lyons Press is an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright © 2014 by R. Paul Wilson

All rights reserved
. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher.

All interior photos by Jason England

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

ISBN 978-1-4930-0060-9

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To Julie, Connor, and Cameron—
for keeping me honest

Contents

Foreword

Part One:
RAP SHEET

Chapter One: Lessons in Larceny

Chapter Two: Scams and Scammers

Chapter Three: The Hook

Chapter Four: The Line

Chapter Five: The Sinker

Chapter Six: The Cool-Out

Interlude:
TRUE AND FALSE—HOLLYWOOD AND THE CON MAN

Part Two:
INNER SECRETS OF THE CON GAME

Chapter Seven: Carnival of Cons

Chapter Eight: Street Got Game

Chapter Nine: Life Is Short

Chapter Ten: Feel the Hustle

Chapter Eleven: Tricks, Baby

Chapter Twelve: Cheating Hearts

Chapter Thirteen: Advantage Play

Chapter Fourteen: Digital Deception

Chapter Fifteen: In Security

Wise Up

A Note on Sources

Acknowledgments

About the Author

F
OREWORD

For five years I lived as an impostor. I pretended to be a pilot, a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, and a peace officer. I taught myself how to defraud companies out of large sums of money and became so good at lying, both in person and on paper, that I might have continued my descent into dishonesty until there was no coming back.

Thankfully, I was caught. I paid my debt to society and found that my natural ability for deception could be used legitimately. I discovered that I could use my abilities to help society by advising government agencies or corporations and, while my five years as a forger makes for a great story, an engaging book, and a successful movie, my real achievements in life came once I learned how to re-direct my talents toward detection and prevention.

The more the public knows about how criminals think and operate, the more difficult it becomes for fraudsters to succeed. We live in an unethical society where the teaching of ethics is rarely found in schools and colleges. I believe a better understanding of what is right could help the next generation recognize when something might be wrong, and I regularly advocate better education regarding the art of deception.

People need to be proactive to protect themselves. The world today is over-saturated with information and personal data that can easily find its way into the wrong hands. Social media continues to expand, technology evolves at a staggering rate, and people have learned to share too much about themselves online, where it might one day be used by a potential employer, a bank, or a scammer.

The methods and strategies used in con games are often the foundation for financial fraud or questionable business practices. Even if you never fall victim to a con game, the principles Paul identifies in this book can be found wherever businesses or individuals attempt to deceive or defraud.

This book provides invaluable insight into how professional deceivers think, and it will hopefully encourage you to protect your interests in all walks of life because whether you're traveling, conducting business, or playing poker, it never hurts to have a little “grift sense.”

Frank Abagnale Jr.
July 2014

L
ook around. Do you see a mark, a sucker, or a fish? Perhaps you're in a bookstore or an airport or just sitting at home. Wherever you are at this exact moment, I guarantee you are close—very close—to the potential victim of a con game. The world is filled with people who are looking for their next “mark.” The truth is, we have all fallen for some form of deception in our lives and we all know someone who has been badly conned. A con game is a criminal act of deception where the objective is to separate a victim from something of value. It can be carefully played over time or be a quick, cunning trap designed to win, steal, or defraud.

The book you are holding is about how cons work, how con artists think, and how ordinary honest people—like you—can learn how to recognize a scam before it's too late.

BOOK: The Art of the Con
13.47Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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