24 Signs that You are Dealing with a Con
Jack Payne in his bookSix Hours Past Thursday: Legal Thriller Author Reveals 24 Amazing Scam Artists' Conflict Resolution Steps has a good description of fraud artists basic technique - which unfortunately does look a lot like some of our politicians.
"-Never explain; explanations only confuse issues. This is a basic scam artists' principle, a core part of their unconventional view of conflict resolution.
Fighting off skeptics as a means of "group control" is psychologically important to the scam artist.
In every group of victims, the scam artist's problem is that he must always be able to adequately "handle" those few skeptics who will emerge to plague him. A much different setting than when he's dealing with a single mark. Thus, his own interpretation of "conflict resolution" spells out as much different rules of engagement than that contained in any college curriculum."
Here are the first five rules that the con uses:
1. Always hide behind the conspiracy theory. Cite numerous cases of individuals, organizations, jealous competitors, and government agencies out to "get" you, through underhanded, collaborative means.2. Never answer a direct question. Always confuse, exaggerate, distort, and obfuscate.
3. If your adversaries demand evidence of the claims you make to back you up, challenge them. Indignantly state that they cannot disprove your claims. If you act insulted enough by their accusations, they will be shamed. Some will even apologize for questioning your integrity.
4. When confronted by an incisive, direct question, bombard your opponent with an assault of meaningless questions in retaliation. (The captain of the Titanic knew an iceberg was close; how would you have saved the ship? When Columbus set foot on the new continent he thought he was in India. How would you have known the difference?) When your opponent ignores your hypothetical diatribe, and tries, instead, to get back on topic, accuse him of evading the issue. At this point his buildup of frustration and rage will work to your advantage. Your audience will now exude sympathy for you, for the mean-spirited badgering you've had to put up with.
5. Use the word, "analysis," often (Studied analysis. Thoughtful analysis.). This will give everything you say a sense of the seriousness you need to convey.
Read the entire article, it is very useful.
