The Confidence Game

Some of my favorite stories center around con-men – people who find a way to take advantage of others. In the movies this is generally robbing from the rich, but back here in reality this is people praying on the weak. This book is half history lesson of scams, and half analysis of them. The constraints and structure of a con is explored and deconstructed many times over, evaluating cons of different types.

This book is more a clinical look at scam psychology with cautionary tales, so the tone is a little drier than expected in the first third of the book, but the individual scam stories make it an interesting read. Amazing how the same scams we have now existed centuries ago, (i.e., invest now and get 10x back, fund a prince in a distant land, etc.) and people are ashamed to admit they were scammed so new marks are unawares. There's a little more information about scammers and victims involved in the Made You Look Netflix doc, but it's just a part of case studies illustrating behaviors of people who may realize they have were scammed but retreat further into the delusion as they refuse to admit they've become victims. Overall, an interesting read for the scam-curious.

Some of my favorite stories center around con-men – people who find a way to take advantage of others. In the movies this is generally robbing from the rich, but back here in reality this is people praying on the weak. This book is half history lesson of scams, and half analysis of them. The constraints and structure of a con is explored and deconstructed many times over, evaluating cons of different types.