Confidence tricks

There is, according to legend, a sucker born every day, and of course there are many confidence tricksters around who are all too ready to relieve them of their wealth.

Two main levers of confidence tricksters are gullibility and greed. They will exploit the incautious and naive and offer something for nothing as an appeal to our natural desires.

Gullibility

Description

Gullibility is the tendency some people have to trust people too easily and hence be open to deception.

Discussion

'Guile', the use of tricks to deceive someone, is the opposite of gullibility. A person who is gullible is open to guile.

Gullibility can come from several sources:

Lack of experience

Young people and those who have lived a relatively sheltered life may well be more gullible. If all you have known is trustworthiness then you will give trust without question or suspicion. If people have been largely trustworthy, you will be largely trusting.

Lack of education

You do not have to experience bad people to limit your trust. There is plenty of information on the TV and in other media to indicate the need for caution. Yet somehow some people do not seem to take this in and cling to a more trusting position that is wise.

Need to be liked

Many people want to fit in with others, to be accepted and admired. If they have a higher need for this then they may well be less judging of others and more ready to accept whatever they are told.

Need to obey

There are many rules, values, norms and so on within our lives that we are supposed to obey. Some people will blindly follow all such rules whilst others may be more cautious.

Those who follow rules are more easily deceived by others who utilize existing rules or explain that rules they propose must be followed.

Personality

In addition to the points above, there are other personality factors which may lead people to be more gullible. These may include:

• Openness in being ready to listen and accept what others say.
• Warmth in accepting and caring for others as they come.
• Those who decide by a relatively immature 'gut feel'.
• Those who are shy and deferential rather than seeking to lead.
• Those who are less apprehensive or worry about the future.

The Antique Toy

Description

Buy an old and worn toy from a second-hand shop. The odder-looking the better. Go into a bar and plonk it down beside you. Buy a drink Don't talk much to the barman, and don't be that nice to him (just act neutral). Take a fake phone call which calls you away. Exit, leaving the toy behind mentioning that you won't be long.

Now a couple of your accomplices come in. When the barman is there, they 'notice' the toy and ask where it came from. Declaring it as a rare antique with particular value in another part of the world. Ask the barman to tell the owner when they come back that they'll give him $500 for it. They leave, declaring they'll be back later.

Now you go back into the bar. With luck the barman will offer to buy the toy off you for well under $500, but far more than you paid for it!

Discussion

Aside from good old-fashioned greed, the barman is being hooked by a variant of the scarcity principle, whereby they think they know something you don't--at least for the moment.

ATM Security

Description

Put a fake 'out of order' notice on a bank ATM deposit machine. Stand nearby in a guard's uniform. Offer to take people's deposits--giving them an official receipt, of course. You can also ask for other personal details, even PIN numbers.

Discussion

This may seem outrageous and that nobody would fall for such a trick--yet it has been proven in practice that people are gullible enough to hand over their cash, sometimes in the thousands.

The con works because the uniform and forms are symbols of authority, which people will obey unquestioningly.

As many other scams, this is of course illegal. Being bank-related fraud, this one is particularly hazardous and anyone caught doing this would likely be locked up for a long time!

Valet Parking

Description

Get a nice uniform and a badge with your name on it. Get a sign made up. Stand outside a posh venue and offer to park people's cars. then drive away with them.

An extension to this is to offer to put them into a draw for a holiday. All you need is their home address on the nicely printed forms you have. Their home key is likely to be on the same ring as the car keys.

Discussion

The uniform, badge and sign are  symbols of your authority, even as a lowly valet parker.

This again is a horrifying example of how people will unthinkingly hand over the keys to their kingdom. Although a confidence trick, it is also, of course, highly criminal.