Con Man

A con man, or the more gender-neutral phrase con artist, is a shortened reference to a confidence person. A con artist plays upon the trust underlying social situations. Deception is the con artist's trade. Essentially, con artists rely upon the trust individuals grant in social interactions by portraying a role that encourages others to place confidence in them, and then demand that their victims demonstrate this confidence. This is illustrated by scenarios such as the gentlemanly attorney who contacts individuals who were previously sold worthless stock, offering to buy the stock while first securing a legal fee to process the paperwork; or the helpful woman tourist who phones elderly people, sadly informing each that their grandchild is in a foreign jail and, though she tried to pay the amount owed, she only had a portion of the amount and is hoping they have the additional necessary funds. In both these examples, the con artist presents him or herself in a trusted social role—the attorney with high social status, and the Good Samaritan stranger—while offering to assist the unknowing victims and simultaneously making an implicit or explicit demand for the victims to financially exhibit their confidence.

Con artists are called by a variety of terms: swindler, scammer, grifter, hustler, charlatan, chameleon, and the broad-termed criminal. Yet the term con artist is unique because it suggests that an individual has presented him or herself in a social role not true to their self, that of an imposter. The con behavior occurs within the confines of what is called the con game, though it is also referred to as the trick, hustle, scam, swindle, bamboozle, or flimflam. This may take the form of a short or long con.

In the short con, the con artist, without preparation and preplanning, relieves the victims of whatever money they have available at that specific point in time, while the long con refers to con games that take a great deal of time, preparation, and preplanning to contrive. An example of a short con is the contractor who approaches a homeowner offering a cut-rate price on a service, such as a new roof, because he can see she is in need. Negotiation occurs, and the cost is lowered to fleece the individual of what she has available. [Page 189]The supposed contractor then spray-paints the roof of her house, making it appear as though he has installed a new roof.

A well-known long con is the Ponzi scheme, in which investors are duped to believe that they are earning high rates of profit, yet in reality they are only receiving fake paperwork or the investment of newcomers into the con. Because long cons expose con artists to prolonged examination, Ponzi schemes are frequently in the news as these con artists are exposed and imprisoned.

Over the years, these terms have come to refer to ends of a continuum representing not so complicated to complicated con games. Long cons are frequently depicted in the media. The movie The Sting and the television series Leverage are examples, sharing a common denominator: The complexity of long cons frequently require the use of accomplices, known as shills, outside men, steerers, or ropers. This leaves one final person to label in a con game: the victim, who is referred to as the mark, sucker, or dupe.

...