Scamming: The Misunderstood Confidence Man

Abstract

Scamming-also known as the confidence game, diddling, conning, and swindling-loosely refers to schemes where the confidence man (the "con man") persuades the victim (the "mark") to trust him with her money using persuasion tricks that may include false or misleading promises. The game has evolved considerably over time and continues through good and bad times on both a small and large scale. The confidence game has many forms and variants. Familiar examples include telemarketing frauds, fraudulent charities, pyramid and Ponzi schemes, work-from-home schemes, quack medicines, home repair scams, and Nigerian scams.