~ TCG-TC-IAEI-SS-T/S/P ~ The Confidence Game – The Con – Is An Exercise In – Soft Skills – Trust / Sympathy / Persuasion

~ GTRC-WWTGAWJAA-A-POCISAA ~ Given The Right Cues – We’re Willing To Go Along With Just About Anything – And – Put Our Confidence In Just About Anyone

~ TRCGFO-TDFM-EOETFAETIM-EASMM-ALA-TDFM-FARTISGTOEE-R-TCFWT ~ The Real Confidence Game Feeds On – The Desire For Magic – Exploiting Our Endless Taste For An Existence That Is More – Extraordinary And Somehow More Meaningful – As Long As – The Desire For Magic – For A Reality That Is Somehow Greater Than Our Everyday Existence – Remains – The Confidence Game Will Thrive

~ TWAOTHANAOTG-CTITOTAFC-WNTAHAOWOLATWNLS-TWTTD-R-W-A-PU ~ The Whirlwind Advance Of Technology Heralds A New Age Of The Grift – Cons Thrive In Times Of Transition And Fast Change – When New Things Are Happening And Old Ways Of Looking At The World No Longer Suffice – That’s Why They Thrive During – Revolutions – Wars – And – Political Upheavals

~ T-ITCGGA-B-TBU-WTSTNWODBITWOTF? ~ Transition – Is The Confidence Game’s Great Ally – Because – Transition Breeds Uncertainty – Who’s To Say This New Way Of Doing Business Isn’t The Wave Of The Future?

~ WAUCI?-TCAWFTT-WYBIU-A-WBOTFTSCTWAY-B-YWBSCITSPTYWENWH ~ What Are You Confident In? – The Con Artist Will Find Those Things – Where Your Belief Is Unshakable – And – Will Build On That Foundation To Subtly Change The World Around You – But – You Will Be So Confident In The Starting Point That You Won’t Even Notice What’s Happened

~ TGATM ~ The Grifter And The Mark

~ TPO-M-O-P-O-N-NMMSAA-G-T-TPO-CON-GAMWPAOM ~ The Presence Of – Machiavellianism – Or – Psychopathy – Or – Narcissism – No More Marks Someone As A – Grifter – Than – The Presence Of – Charisma Or Nonchalance – Grifters Are Made When Predisposition And Opportunity Meet

~ TBN-OA-C-O-S-HIIAIATA-MB-CCAU-WTA-IBTEFTOTCOFTTTNS ~ The Behavioral Norms – Of A – Company – Culture – Or – Setting – How It Is And Isn’t Acceptable To Act – Must Be – Communicated Clearly And Unequivocally – When They Aren’t – It Becomes Too Easy For Those On The Cusp Of Fraud To Take The Next Step

~ WCHWP-A-IWTTMPWFUOA-WBLLTCTN ~ We Care How We’re Perceived – And – If We Think That Most People Will Frown Upon Our Actions – We Become Less Likely To Contravene The Norm

~ TNSTAA-ICOTEC-A-OYDIO-A-SAT-TTTDIA-DIM-DID-G-RTA-CC-IB-ATIYA ~ There’s No Such Thing As An – Innocent Cutting Of The Ethical Corner – And – Once You Do It Once – And – Successfully At That – The Temptation To Do It Again – Do It More – Do It Differently – Grows – Rather Than A – Cut Corner – It Becomes – Another Tool In Your Arsenal

~ TN-‘PN’-OATTALFTTIHDFC-IBT-TFACFAKOUETS-B-TBLAADMFETBT-S ~ There’s No – “Pinocchio’s Nose” – Our Ability To Tell A Lie From The Truth Is Hardly Different From Chance – Instantaneous Behavioral Tells – Too Fleeting And Complex For Any Kind Of Untrained Expert To Spot – But – The Best Liars Are A Difficult Match For Even The Best Truth-Seers

~ TSTITMPAOTGY-WASBASD-B-IBFUTBMT ~ The Simple Truth Is That Most People Aren’t Out To Get You – We Are So Bad At Spotting Deception – Because – It’s Better For Us To Be More Trusting

~ TGMING-NMTAE-TA-S-H ~ The Grifter’s Mark Is Not Greedy – No More Than Anyone Else – They Are – Simply – Human

~ A-S-POT-MG-PTTLPI ~ A – Shill – Part Of The – Monte Gang – Planted There To Lure People In

~ IYF-IOL-ITOYPV-LIYGT-JL-D-SI-O-OMLC-DIPF-D ~ If You’re Feeling – Isolate Or Lonely – It Turns Out You’re Particularly Vulnerable – Likewise If You’re Going Through – Job Loss – Divorce – Serious Injury – Or – Other Major Life Change – Downturn In Personal Finances – Debt

~ A-V-IN-FOG-AVI-SMEVATEMTCAA ~ A – Victim – Isn’t Necessarily – Foolish Or Greedy – A Victim Is – Simply More Emotionally Vulnerable At The Exact Moment The Confidence Artist Approaches

~ CATTBSC-A-TCIOTU-CAAOTBM-BTTTI ~ Con Artists Tend To Be Supremely Confident – And – That Confidence Is Often Their Undoing – Con Artists Are Often The Best Marks – Because They Think Themselves Immune

~ SS-CAEOGL-B-B-SAF-CBF ~ Surface Similarities – Create An Effect Of Greater Liking – But – Both – Similarity And Familiarity – Can Be Faked

~ TSTUSUR-CEBM-EITST-AAGCAN ~ The Signs That Usually Serve Us Reliably – Can Easily Be Massaged – Especially In The Short Term – All A Good Con Artist Needs

~ SASA-RON-CIT-ACA-F-PNG-T-SWL-AE-A-CSWWTH ~ Something As Simple As – Remembering Our Name – Can Instantly Turn – A Confidence Artist – From – Persona Non Grata – To – Someone We Like – Admire Even – And – Certainly Someone We’re Willing To Help

~ RSVW-A-TCIYFTT ~ Read Someone’s Vulnerabilities Well – And – Their Confidence Is Yours For The Taking

~ SITOFOETI-SBUT-TPWTAS-APTOD-WWIIAS-WLDOG ~ Storytelling Is The Oldest Form Of Entertainment There Is – Stories Bring Us Together – That’s Precisely Why They Are Such – A Powerful Tool Of Deception – When We’re Immersed In A Story – We Let Down Our Guard

~ TMSTCITSATU-TMLWATRTT ~ The More Similar The Characters In The Story Are To Us – The More Likely We Are To Relate To Them

~ OOTBSOTC:TATTAGS ~ One Of The Basic Skills Of The Con: The Ability To Tell A Good Story

~ C-LAS-B-TO-I-T-MA-WHNTTR ~ Cons – Long And Short – Both – Thrive On – In-The-Moment Arousal – We Have No Time To Repent

~ OSDYATCBPAAF-TPBMLTKDEMOYB ~ Once Someone Does You Anything That Can Be Perceived As A Favor – That Person Becomes More Likely To Keep Doing Even More On Your Behalf

~ LE-ARFATA-IYWAS-YAFAL ~ Legitimization Effect – A Request For A Tiny Amount – If You Were A Swindler – You’d Ask For A Lot

~ TLE-TFF-TOOGTM-TM-OS-PSAUOR-A-TWLUWTUTBN ~ The Limited Edition – The Forbidden Fruit – The Offer Only Good Till Midnight – The Members-Only Sale – Pose Something As Unique Or Rare – And – Takers Will Line Up Where There Used To Be None

~ O-SOSA-FITN ~ One – Seal Of Seeming Approval – Feeds Into The Next

~ WAMLTGAWSIIH-TSOAO-AGWT-O-PUEIAGWLTBT ~ We Are More Likely To Go Along With Something If It Has – The Stamp Of Approval Of – A Group We Trust – Or – Promises Us Entry In A Group We’d Like To Belong To

~ IMC-OCABOS-IP-I-TACAAGMBACOSF ~ In Many Cases – Our Choices Aren’t Based On Some – Innate Preference – Instead – They Are Constructed At Any Given Moment By A Combination Of Situational Factors

~ IP-MSIP-AT-WYEOIL-EIIAFDL-ISTMMC ~ Information Priming – Mention Something In Passing – And Then – When You Elaborate On It Later – Especially If It’s A Few Days Later – It Seems That Much More Convincing

~ CWSW-B-IAS-WWTT-WWTBTT-A-WWTBTTA-TGTBT-MTA ~ Cons Work So Widely – Because – In A Sense – We Want Them To – We Want To Believe The Tale – And – We Want To Believe Things That Are – Too Good To Be True – More Than Anything

~ A-PS-OC-W-UTD ~ All – Ponzi Schemes – Of Course – Work – Until They Don’t

~ IWESTW-WSEFIW-EIAC ~ If We’re Expecting Something To Work – We Will See Evidence For Its Working – Even In Ambiguous Circumstances

~ OODNAPM ~ One Opinion Does Not A Provenance Make

~ OWHIHIS-WNLSIC-NMTC ~ Once We Have Invested Heavily In Something – We No Longer See It Clearly – No Matter The Costs

~ OW-ITG-IETFTPOLR ~ Once We’re – In The Game – It’s Easiest – To Follow The Path Of Least Resistance

~ NJAC-PJSTWGTM ~ Nobody Joins A Cult – People Join Something That Will Give Them Meaning

~ U-WACASIH ~ Ultimately – What A Confidence Artist Sells Is Hope