Why We All Fall for Con Artists

[Cattledog]

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/why-we-all-fall-for-con-artists.html

Con artists surround us: Bernie Madoff. Nigerian princes. Psychics. But we never think we’ll fall prey to their wiles. We can spot a gimmick a mile away, while those who become victims are foolish, or greedy, or both. Well, that’s not quite the case. If the NSA can be hacked, so can the average — or even exceptional — human mind. Our capacity to trust, which makes us successful, also makes us vulnerable — as does the natural bias to overrate our own bullshit detection.

In her new book The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It … Every Time, published today by Viking, science writer Maria Konnikova explores the art and science of the con. Following each stage of a con, one chapter at a time — from selecting a victim to reeling him in to shutting him up once he’s been had — Konnikova covers wide-ranging studies in social psychology and illustrates them with colorful stories about real-life con men and women in action. We hear about a Japanese composer who claimed to be deaf, a dealer of counterfeit art who made millions, and a pretend victim of sex trafficking.

[underpants]

1. Con men

Thanks I saw an article about this a few months ago but lost it.

[LisaM]

2. What is interesting to me about this...

is that people don't expose con artists because they feel guilty for being conned. I wish there was a way to move past that.

[uponit7771]

3. This proves that people will not admit that they've been conned, its embarrassing

[Adrahil]

4. While it can happen to anybody in the right circumstances....

remember that con artists rely on people looking to satisfy an emotion. It's important to be self-reflexive and separate emotional wants from the rational situation.