How to Become a Professional Con Artist
Dennis Marlock's book entitled "How to Become a Professional Con Artist" is an insightful discussion about the psychology of fraud, from a retired police officer. Here are the discussions I found useful.
What do advertisers, scam artists, and professional magicians all have in common? According to Marlock, "even when you know the magician is about to deceive you, seldom are you aware of how the deception worked. Thanks to some misdirection, ample amounts of showmanship, lies of omission, the obvious is overlooked."
The obvious in a business opportunity fraud is that you will pay, for example, $5000.00 for a $200 product which may or may not work, for non existent locations.
Marlock suggests also that the victims of fraud share some common characteristics:
a) millions of Americans dream of a path to easy riches;
b) the con artist plays upon the ordinary American's sense that their life is humdrum and banal;
c) when given a choice most people will believe what is comfortable to believe;
d) even though most people can think, most of the times they won't;
and f) if you can bring out the greed demon in a person, you can get him to believe just about anything.
This is a useful intenal checklist when you find yourself reviewing a business opportunity, which appears to have generated uncontrollable or excessive enthusiasm.
