"Ultimately, what a confidence artist sells is hope," Konnikova writes.
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Yet it's also the tool of the poker player, the military general, the confidence artist, and the political operative.
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A talented confidence artist could serve up some kind of philosophical or religious line that could make us feel like we have a new key to the meaning of life.
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In its original form, this scheme has the con man purport to be in correspondence with a wealthy person who has been imprisoned under a false identity and is relying on the confidence artist to raise money to secure his release. The con man tells the "mark" (victim) that he is "allowed" to supply money, for which he should expect a generous reward when the prisoner returns. The confidence artist claims to have chosen the victim for their reputation for honesty.
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In this scam, the confidence artist poses as a casting agent for a modeling agency searching for new talent. The aspiring model is told that he will need a portfolio or comp card. The mark will pay an upfront fee to have photos and create his portfolio, after which he will be sent on his way in the hope that his agent will find him work in the following weeks. Of course, he never hears back from the confidence artist.
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In a variation on this scam, the confidence artist is a casting agent involved with the adult entertainment industry. The mark is taken to the artist's office for an interview, in which she is told that she will have to pose for nude photos or shoot a casting video, usually involving sexual acts. Upon her agreement, the mark is sent on her way, as before. She may not have to pay upfront for a portfolio, but any material generated during her "interview" may be used and sold by the confidence artist without any payment to the mark.
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Alfred Lambert was possibly a fantasist and almost certainly a confidence-artist. Lambert was not an industrialist and there was no 'Lambert Brothers', but he had taken in and deceived the N.S.W. Government—and Premier George Reid— the local press, his unpaid employees, and creditors. He had played his role convincingly. Lambert's actions seem to have been steps in an elaborate and sophisticated 'confidence trick', which—had he sold his bogus debentures— could have succeeded.
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William "Canada Bill" Jones (c. 1837–1877) was an English-born confidence artist, riverboat gambler and card sharp in Canada and the United States. He has been described by historians, news reporters and others who have written about his life since the late 19th century with such superlatives as "the greatest of confidence men""The Greatest of Confidence Men: Canada Bill Was the Old West's Three-card Monte King". Cave Creek, Arizona: True West Magazine, May 26, 2015.
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In this scam, the confidence artist poses as a retail sales promoter, representing a manufacturer, distributor, or set of stores. The scam requires assistants to manage the purchases and money exchanges while the pitchman keeps the energy level up. Passersby are enticed to gather and listen to a pitchman standing near a mass of appealing products. The trickster entices by referring to the high-end products, but claims to be following rules that he must start with smaller items.
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Stokes's health was poor throughout her life. Her thirteen or so cancer operations included a mastectomy, and the April 1987 removal of a brain tumour, after which she did not regain consciousness. She died in Lewisham, London on 8 May 1987. Described variously as "an individual of great personal warmth", "the Gracie Fields of the psychic world" and "a ruthless moneymaking confidence artist", she continued to give free consultations or "sittings" until a month before her death, when she left only £15,291.
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Clay, pp. 254–256. The recourse to mortification is said to have originated during one of Inochenție's addresses, when an anonymous believer deliberately injured his own skull—the blackened bruise was hailed by the church founder as a sign that a "New Man" with colored skin was about to emerge in the world.Sanielevici, p. 107. These habits, alongside suspicions that Inochenție was a confidence artist, escalated the conflict between Inochentists and the Orthodox Church: various Orthodox missionaries and scholars issued strong warnings against Inochenție's dogma.
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Jack Morgan is a fourteen-year-old boy, raised by his adoptive uncle, Virgil Morgan, as a professional thief and confidence artist but presently interested in reform. Throughout the first book, he lives aboard the starship Essenay, protected by an artificial intelligence mimicking his uncle. Draycos is a 'K'da': a pseudo-reptile resembling a wingless Dragon, requiring periodic physical contact with an anthropoid host to retain existence, and in return serving the host as bodyguard. Deprived of his customary host in battle, he befriends Jack Morgan to identify his attackers.
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Wolfe and Archie are hosting a gathering of the Manhattan Flower Club in the orchid rooms, with Fritz Brenner and Saul Panzer checking guests in/out and handling their hats and coats. Archie slips downstairs to the office for a break, only to be interrupted when a young woman enters after him. She identifies herself as Cynthia Brown, but admits that this is one of several aliases that she uses as a confidence artist. She tells Archie about Doris Hatten, a friend of hers who was strangled to death five months earlier, and a man she had seen entering Doris' apartment that day.
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Virgil Morgan, the adoptive uncle of Jack, is a professional thief and confidence artist, notorious throughout the Orion Arm, and therefore sought as an ally by the story's antagonists; but has died before the events of the initial book, and is represented largely in Jack's memories. Because his death is kept secret by Jack, he is believed alive by supporting characters until the final book. Uncle Virge is the artificial intelligence guiding the starship Essenay. Being created to mimic the late Virgil, he is the reader's chief source of information upon the latter, and serves as devil's advocate in any discussion by Jack, Draycos, and himself of future plans.
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Very similar to the casting agent scam is the "job offer" scam in which a victim receives an unsolicited e-mail claiming that they are in consideration for hiring to a new job. The confidence artist will usually obtain the victim's name from social networking sites, such as LinkedIn and Monster.com. In many cases, those running the scams will create fake websites listing jobs which the victim is seeking, then contact the victim to offer them one of the positions. If the victim responds to the initial e-mail, the scammer will send additional messages to build up the victim's assurance that they are in the running, or have already been selected, for a legitimate job.
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