Cooling the Mark Out
Erving Goffman wrote "On Cooling out the Mark" in 1952.
It was an application of Mauer's elaboration of con criminals method of ensuring that their victim did not raise too much of a fuss with the federal authorities, "cooling the mark out" to other adaptations to failure.
Goffman shows how to understand the more complicated social phenomena of reacting to failure by taking it to be similar in its strategic components to fraud.
All fraud criminals face the following problem: at one point, the sausage of lies explodes. The magic trick behind the phantom dreams reveals "a man behind the curtain."
How does the con criminal plan his escape?
Goffman writes:
"The con is said to be a good racket in the United States only because most Americans are willing, nay eager, to make easy money, and will engage in action that is less than legal in order to do so.The typical play has typical phases. The potential sucker is first spotted and one member of the working team (called the outside man, steerer, or roper) arranges to make social contact with him.
The confidence of the mark is won, and he is given an opportunity to invest his money in a gambling venture which he understands to have been fixed in his favor The venture, of course, is fixed, but not in his favor.
The mark is permitted to win some money and then persuaded to invest more. There is an "accident" or "mistake," and the mark loses his total investment.
The operators then depart in a ceremony that is called the blowoff or sting. They leave the mark but take his money.
The mark is expected to go on his way, a little wiser and a lot poorer.
Sometimes, however, a mark is not quite prepared to accept his loss as a gain in experience and to say and do nothing about his venture.
He may feel moved to complain to the police or to chase after the operators. In the terminology of the trade, the mark may squawk, beef, or come through.
From the operators' point of view, this kind of behavior is bad for business. It gives the members of the mob a bad reputation with such police as have not. yet been fixed and with marks who have not yet been taken.
In order to avoid this adverse publicity, an additional phase is sometimes added at the end of the play.
It is called cooling the mark out.
After the blowoff has occurred, one of the operators stays with the mark and makes an effort to keep the anger of the mark within manageable and sensible proportions. The operator stays behind his team‑mates in the capacity of what might be called a cooler and exercises upon the mark the art of consolation.
An attempt is made to define the situation for the mark in a way that makes it easy for him to accept the inevitable and quietly go home. The mark is given instruction in the philosophy of taking a loss."
Goffman discusses a number of techniques or ways to instruct the mark in the philosophy of taking a loss.
One technique is worth a review, in the context of selling a distributorship or franchise that has gone bad.
Many individuals buying a distributorship or franchise think somewhat naively that if the deal goes south, they can always salvage something by selling the piece of poo.
Goffman describes this as a form of bribery.
"As another cooling procedure, there is the possibility that the operator and the mark may enter into a tacit understanding according to which the mark agrees to act as if he were leaving of his own accord, and the operator agrees to preserve the illusion that this was the case.It is a form of bribery.
In this way the mark may fail in his own eyes but prevent others from discovering the failure.
The mark gives up his role but saves his face.
This, after all, is one of the reasons why persons who are fleeced by con men are often willing to remain silent about their adventure.
The same strategy is at work in the romantic custom of allowing a guilty officer to take his own life in a private way before it is taken from him publicly, and in the less romantic custom of allowing a person to resign for delicate reasons instead of firing him for indelicate ones."
Good observation: try to avoid bribing your future self by having your present self do killer due diligence.
Read More From BizOp News
March 13, 2008
Why Churches are Targetted by Fraud Criminals
Recently, in Charlotte, North Carolina "state investigators last week searched a $1.13 million south Charlotte house looking for information on what they say appears to be an investment-fraud scheme that bilked $200,000 from a Monroe church."
In Utah, "The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent a letter to its congregations, urging members to be wary of fraud.
In the letter being read in churches, the First Presidency says "reports of fraud schemes and unwise investments prompt us to again counsel members with respect to prudence in managing one's financial affairs."
"We are concerned that some church members ignore the oft-repeated direction to prepare and live within a budget, avoid consumer debt, and to save against a time of need," the statement reads.
Here is a typical pitch.
The criminal's "approach was always the same, according to the detectives. He would move in to town, join a church or temple with a large congregation...Newcomers always attract attention and stimulate curiosity, and Sam's seemingly endless energy, unwavering sincerity, and positive outlook led many parishioners to seek him out for friendship ...
In so many words, Sam explained that he was once a high flying investment banker who realized the shallowness of his chosen career only after his young wife and infant daughter died in a horrible car accident.
His resulting bout with depression, alcohol, and pills finally led him to understand that Creator had some thing more in store for his life.
Sam quit his job and moved out of his family penthouse apartment to fulfill his newly found purpose.
Because he continued to do well with his investments, he didn't have to work but could dedicate his life to helping others, and give back to community in the name and spirit of his lost family."
The story ends like this AHN | Federal Jury Convicts A Kansas City Man For Committing $1. 5 Million In Fraud Against A Church And Individuals | May 11, 2007
Why are churches and temples so prone to affinity fraud? And what can they do about it?
There are three factors, or principles of decision making, which make it easy to concoct an affinity fraud and get away with it.
First, although the congregation has to be large to maximize the chances of finding the rich suckers, there are only a few individuals who typically have to be conned -those individuals who provide the leadership to the congregation.
Although the leaders provide spiritual leadership, they are unlikely also to have the necessary practical skepticism needed for the investment industry.
Enough people in congregation will defer their decision making to what the "most spiritual" leader is recommending that they do. This is known as the principle of social choice - most people will assume, incorrectly, that someone, anyone, has checked "Sam" out.
(A painful reminder of this group myopia can be gleaned from reading the various books on Alan Eagleson's involvement with the NHL Hockey Player's association.
Eagleson only had to obtain the friendship of several of the top NHL players in order to control the entire group. Mean spirited and vicious, Eagleson would challenge any attack on his authority by demanding to know what the "f**k you ever did in the league"?)
The second problem, both churches and temples face, is that after the scheme unravels, there will be a large number of the congregation who will remain in a state of denial -they simply cannot appreciate the possibility of intra species predators.
The blind trying to describe the elephant.
Finally, this group of individuals rarely gets the appropriate counsel, nor are they encouraged to discuss their experiences with members from other churches or temples.
What is the solution to this problem, the problem of affinity fraud?
Again, as with any attack of a predator the goal must be to minimize losses --you will never eliminate the loss because psychopath predators are superior at using people solely as means to an end.
Churches and temples remain at risk because after the predator strikes, they have no early warning system to alert other similarly placed churches or temples.
Without such a system, churches and temples remain at risk.
I will also make a prediction - for the next ten years, the most unreported ponzi criminal frauds will take place in mosques across United States and Canada.
The pitch will be for some brand new sharia approved investment vehicle, complete with vague references to empowering Muslims throughout the world.
Most of these won't be reported, but many mosque leaders will end up driving brand new hummers."
