Con Artists

Confidence tricks

Confidence tricks

exploiting people’s trust, one of the oldest crimes in the world.

Con artist

A manipulator who deceives or tricks people by getting them to believe false information.

Con artist

They typically take advantage of their victims in order to gain money for themselves as well as other benefits.

Jeanne de la Motte

The scandalous schemes of social climber and con artist __________, for instance, in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace case in 18th-century France, contributed to the monarchy's unpopularity, which sparked the French Revolution and the overthrow of the ancien régime.

Frank Abagnale

In the 1960s, ________, a master impostor, eluded law authorities for years by taking on the identities of six different professionals, including a lawyer, a doctor, an FBI agent, and a pilot.

Fine Cotton

In other instances, the apparent ease and brazenness of the deception attempt is astounding, as in the case of the champion racehorse who was passed off as a novice in the __________ scandal in Australia despite the fact that the hoax was quickly discovered.

Alcatraz

The escape from __________ was much more carefully planned; the prisoners hid their escape from the island prison by pretending to sleep by putting paper-mache heads in their beds to fool the guards.

Elmyr de Hory

In most situations, it is a person or an organization that is tricked, but ________, an art forger, sold more than a thousand fake works by Picasso, Matisse, and Modigliani to collectors and galleries all over the world, and hundreds of people fell for his stunning paintings.

Konrad Kujau

a master forger, also succeeded in deceiving the majority of the world with the Hitler Diaries.

Authenticity

was proclaimed by historians, newspaper excerpts were published, and publishing houses fought over the rights.

Hitler Diaries

Konrad Kujau, a master forger, also succeeded in deceiving the majority of the world with the _________.

Victor Lustig

In his bold sale of the Eiffel Tower, ____________ staked his business on this, and it paid off because he correctly predicted his victim's embarrassment at being conned.

psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism

The three personality traits shared by the most effective criminals are ________, which enable them to commit crimes without feeling regret or guilt.

great pleasure

However, they don't always aim to turn a profit. Psychologists contend that no matter how much money con artists make, they simply derive _______ from carrying out their scams.

disguises

Con artists frequently wear ______as part of their operation, making it challenging for law enforcement to apprehend them, especially before the advent of digital technology.

Grifter

_________ crimes can be challenging to prove, and prosecution of those who commit them is less likely..

1785

Jeanne de la Motte defrauds a wealthy cardinal in France in order to steal a diamond necklace.

1879

Thérèse Humbert, a wealthy French socialite, takes out large loans in exchange for the promise of a false inheritance.

1925

Victor Lustig, a Czech citizen, poses as a French government official in order to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal.

1946

Elmyr de Hory, a Parisian artist, starts to imitate famous painters' artwork to sell to wealthy buyers and galleries.

1952

Doris Payne launches a career as a jewel thief using false identities and her inherent charm.

1962

Three inmates in the US deceive the guards and manage to escape from Alcatraz, one of the most well-known prison breaks in history.

1964

Frank Abagnale, a master impostor, poses as a pilot in order to travel the world and live a luxurious lifestyle.

1972

Clifford Irving deceives publishing executives into giving him a sizable advance by making the untrue claim that Howard Hughes has asked him to write his biography.

1978

Konrad Kujau, a German forger, deceives the public into thinking that documents he wrote are actually Hitler's diaries.

1984

In the Australian horseracing scandal known as "Fine Cotton," a criminal organization used a champion horse in place of a novice.