The con man, or crook, gains trust before scamming their victim. They come in all forms, from glamorous to decrepit. Famous crooks include Lou Blonger, Walter Scott, Charles Ponzi, Victor Lustig, and Frank Abagnale. The con man is a popular figure in cinema, with hits such as The Sting and Ocean’s Eleven. The appeal of the crook may be due to the fact that anyone can be scammed and that most scammers don’t involve physical violence.
A con man, or confidant, is a con man who works to gain the trust of the person he is about to con. He has been a popular figure in literature and media for more than a century, and is often portrayed as an anti-hero or at least a charismatic villain.
The term crook was first used in the mid-19th century during the trial of William Thompson. Thompson used a very simple scam, where he would literally approach strangers and ask them if they had the confidence to lend him their watch. When they did, he would walk away with the watch. This seems incredibly simple and a little ridiculous to think about, but in reality, many scammers have used such straightforward techniques to make huge profits.
It has been said that there are as many types of scammers as there are types of people, and if that’s the case, there are just as many types of scammers as well. He or she can be anyone, from a glamorous figure decked out in rich robes and appearing to want nothing, to a decrepit old man, ragged and ragged and seemingly blind. A cornerstone of the con artist is that they rarely seem untrustworthy.
The crook was common during the 19th century, particularly in England and America. Famous crooks include Lou Blonger, who organized an entire gang to harass the people of Denver at the turn of the century; Walter Scott who worked in the Death Valley region and tricked people into buying stock in his mining ventures by praying on their desire to be a part of the gold rush and eventually built a huge ranch which was known as Scotty Castle; Charles Ponzi, who created the infamous “get rich quick” Ponzi scheme; and Victor Lustig, most famous for a scheme in which he sold the Eiffel Tower to scrap metal dealers.
Perhaps one of the most famous con men of the modern era is Frank Abagnale, who turned his life into a Hollywood movie, Catch Me If You Can. Abagnale was a master forger and imposter, who hacked his way through more than two million dollars in checks and posed as a doctor, lawyer, teacher and airline pilot during his career.
The con man is an incredibly popular figure in cinema, with out-of-this-world con artists often creating central storylines in films. Movies that contain 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s blockbuster crooks include The Rainmaker, The Producers, and The Sting. During the 1980s, the popular TV show The A-Team featured a con man as one of the main characters, and Frank Oz directed both Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Vanishing, two films focusing on con artists. The 1990s saw a rise in films featuring con artists, with hits such as The Talented Mister Ripley, The Spanish Prisoner, Six Degrees of Separation and The Grifters. In the early 21st century, a huge wave of scam movies and TV shows appeared, with hits like Oceans Eleven, Heist, The Score, Catch Me If You Can, Lost, The Real Hustle and The Riches.
Many criminal elements hold great appeal to the popular imagination, but it seems that perhaps none are as popular as the crook. Maybe it’s the idea that anyone can be scammed, or maybe the fact that most scammers, despite having very real victims, don’t involve physical violence and are undertaken by the most charismatic people. Whatever the reason, the scam phenomenon is unlikely to go away anytime soon.
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