What are the characteristics of con?

Psychology of the Con

Each of these con artists have one thing in common: the power of persuasion to swindle their victims. The successful ones exhibit three similar characteristics—psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism—which have been referred to by psychologists as “dark” personality traits.

What are confidence tricks?

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed.

How con artists win your trust?

Building trust and rapport is essential to honest conversations. Good con artists identify and study their victims, learning who they are, what motivates them, and what they want. Con artists need to build an emotional foundation, based on empathy and rapport, in order to gain their targets’ confidence.

How do con artists gain trust?

Con artists let you win—at first

The easiest way to build up a victim’s confidence is to give them a taste of reward. To that end, many scams begin by letting the victim win something—be it money, affection, social acceptance, etc. The classic three-card monte scam is a great example.

How do you become a great con?

Here they are in brief:
  1. Understand how people really make decisions. Cons only work when you focus on the other party’s emotional needs. …
  2. Hook people with collateral. …
  3. Free ride on others’ legitimacy. …
  4. Manage your reputation. …
  5. Create an alter ego.

How do you spot a fake profile?

The 8 Ways to Spot Fake Online Profiles
  1. Fake online profile power words. …
  2. Nonsensical messages. …
  3. They only have one photo. …
  4. They have empty profiles. …
  5. Empty social networks. …
  6. They’re “famous” or “royals” …
  7. They’re way too forward or flirty. …
  8. They request your personal information.

How con artists win your trust?

Building trust and rapport is essential to honest conversations. Good con artists identify and study their victims, learning who they are, what motivates them, and what they want. Con artists need to build an emotional foundation, based on empathy and rapport, in order to gain their targets’ confidence.

Who is the biggest con artist?

1. Charles Ponzi and His Infamous ‘Scheme’ You know you’re an accomplished con man when they name an entire crime after you. In the 1920s, Charles Ponzi duped investors out of an estimated $32 million (around $475 million today) using the infamous “scheme” that now bears his name.

What to do when you’ve been conned?

Go to your local police station and file a police report, bringing with you all of the evidence that you have of the crime. Contact your creditors and ask for your accounts to be closed or for account numbers to be changed. Order your credit reports and read them for accuracy. Put a fraud alert on your credit files.

What causes someone to become a con artist?

But the “dark triad” of personality traits — Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy — that tends to be common among con artists can serve people who want to make money in non-illegal ways perfectly well too.

Why do people fall for con artist?

Whitty explains, the answer is simple: we’re trusting. And a con artist relies on that loophole in humanity to trick us. People want to believe that the person they trust with their money, their time, their hearts, is telling the truth. And the con artist relies on that belief to do their work.