The Art of the Con (15 page)

This is the backstory that explains what the paper is and how it might somehow be turned into real cash. Just like Victor Lustig and his money machine, black money scammers use a powerful demonstration to convince the mark that their story is real. The victim is given a handful of black paper, cut to the size of real bills, and told to take it home and add it to a bathtub filled with water. They are also given a small supply of the “magic chemical” to add to the bathwater with strict instructions on how to soak the paper. The process, they are told, takes eight to ten hours! During that time, the scammers break into the victim's house while they are distracted (or asleep) and replace the worthless paper with real money before dropping colored dye into the water. On
The Real Hustle
, our marks, who were from out of town, booked into a hotel room and we simply had Jess dress as a housekeeper, gain access to their room, and replace the “money” that was soaking.

The process that accomplishes this transformation is similar to that of Count Lustig's. Instead of a mysterious box, a small quantity of chemicals added to a bathtub will dissolve the ink, leaving the original printed bill intact. Accompanied by some creative mumbo-jumbo about how the chemical bonds to the black ink and the backstory of a rogue chemist who developed the formula, this tall tale can easily connect with a mark who's eager to make a fast fortune. I've pulled versions of this scam several times for
The Real Hustle
and there are two questions the mark always asks: Why sell the paper at all? Why not just keep it and make your own fortune? These seem like challenging questions to answer, but they are a perfect motivator to sink the mark and get their money into play.

Many people might have great difficulty understanding how someone could be taken in by this kind of con game. Minus the story, the build-up, and the persuasive people involved, the very idea that someone would exchange real money for worthless paper is hard to comprehend.

Let's imagine you and I are pulling this scam together and that our victim has bought the story completely. How would you answer those questions? How could you use this challenge to actually bring down the mark? Think about it for a moment. What would it take to convince you, if you were the mark?

Why would the scammers share this amazing secret? The answer is that they wouldn't unless they
had to
.

Here's the story I would tell:

The problem with my method for cleaning black paper is that it's slow and, while it works for small quantities in small amounts of water, larger tanks simply don't disperse the chemical enough to guarantee cleaning all of the bills properly. In fact, all attempts to wash larger numbers of bills result in gray money that simply doesn't look right. The process works but only with small numbers of bills. Our problem is that we have a large supply of bills and plenty of chemicals but we simply don't have the time to clean them all.

This is where pressure for the mark to make a quick decision begins. The reason makes sense. It's logical and explains why we would offer the black paper to someone we'd never met. According to my version of this scam, it's essential that there's no direct connection between myself and the buyer. That way, we're both protected, and so long as the mark doesn't raise any suspicion by hanging their freshly washed money on the clothesline for all to see, there's no chance they will ever be found out. “Is this illegal?” I'd say “Technically, no, but I wouldn't put it on my resume, if you know what I mean.”

Of course, this is all a lie, but it's staggering to me how easily that lie is accepted, even by the most challenging of marks. Once they've seen the process work, they want it to be true and this never fails to tip the balance. Once the process of “washing” and the reason for selling have been accepted, the con artist is able to apply pressure for the sting. All a good scammer needs to do is push the mark to take the deal or walk away, and if the mark has been played properly, it will be extremely difficult for them to let this opportunity go.

I might tell the mark that I need to leave the country imminently and can't abandon a garage or a storage container filled with black paper. If anything should happen like a fire or a flood, I'd lose everything. I'd offer the mark the chance to take as much paper and chemicals as they could afford before I sell it to someone else. Time is now against the mark, and pressure is easily added when another buyer calls to buy all of the paper.

By backing the mark into a corner this way, the con artist is gambling that he will quickly decide to go for the prize. An experienced hustler knows to play the mark carefully so that he doesn't actually feel too isolated or overly pressured, though in some cases a bullying, aggressive attitude might work with a mark who is wavering. My preferred approach is to avoid histrionics and appear not to care if the mark wants to buy. This subtle form of pressure is just as effective as being threatening. I think it's more powerful to reserve belligerence until it becomes a last resort.

Eventually, the mark is forced to decide quickly—commit or give up on the prize. (As the saying goes: shit or get off the pot.) Once time pressure has been applied, another powerful technique is to let the mark leave and consider their options. This is where a scam balances on the precipice between success and failure; the act of giving a mark space to breathe can be one more convincing layer to support a scammer's story.

The Double Down

With the black money scam, the mark stays convinced all the way to the bank and up to the first time they attempt to wash their money. On
The Real Hustle
, we had a storage unit filled with black paper, chemicals, and money drying on clotheslines. This is where we completed our transaction and the scene we constructed easily backed up our story. With a small twist on the scam, it could be used to hit the mark for even more money.

Let's say we've “weighed” the mark (estimated how much we can take) for fifty thousand dollars. We've told him the whole story and offered to sell him twenty thousand dollars worth of dyed, black hundred-dollar bills for just five thousand dollars. Shooting low like this has the advantage of creating an easier initial decision for the mark; there's a good chance he will volunteer to buy more after he's convinced. Depending on the personality of the mark, a con artist might let the mark think he is the one driving the deal or is the one applying pressure. The hustler might pretend to be uncertain about increasing the amount or claim he has another customer who wants the balance of the paper—this is all a ploy to secure commitment. As long as the mark is still chasing the prize, he will remain on the line. Give it to him too quickly and the blinders might come off too soon.

Once the mark sees dozens of boxes filled with money, ready to be washed, it doesn't take much of a push for him to try to buy more. This is a form of bait and switch that the mark
plays on himself
. He agrees to a deal for a small amount but is suddenly willing and eager to invest much more. Of course, if the mark doesn't suggest it, the con man will have no trouble introducing the idea with a more direct approach. The black money scam illustrates how a victim might be maneuvered into a position where he is ready to hand over his money. The double down shows how he can be manipulated into losing even more in the final stages of the deal.

Criminal minds are constantly searching for ways to exploit weaknesses like greed, naïveté, and belief. There are countless ways to apply pressure or groom a victim for the sting but, for the most part, it takes three simple steps:

1. Show the mark something he really wants
   
2. Convince him that it's real
   
3. Force him to decide
   

Con games are designed around human nature, and all a hustler has to do is learn what buttons to press and when to press them for a scam to work.

As we explore the various types of con games that have evolved over time, I'll further illustrate how the hook, line, and sinker principles are applied.

Forcing the Hand

The simplest and most common strategy con artists use is to create an
imperative
that forces a
commitment
. This might be a competing party to whom the mark might lose out, an opportunity that will expire, or a sudden, unexpected event that demands immediate action. It could simply be the destination in a carefully planned journey where the pressure is nearly invisible to the mark. If the line is about securing trust, the sinker is about securing commitment; one simply doesn't work without the other. The line builds to this moment, positioning the mark to be taken advantage of before letting him walk off a cliff.

This is the moment when the mark takes that leap of faith, and it is sometimes the point where he will later claim to “know” that something was wrong (though he goes ahead with the deal anyway). I've struggled to understand this feeling and to explain why people would continue if they genuinely felt this way. An answer might be found in the concept known as “social compliance.”

As a rule, most of us function within certain limitations to fit into a society. We act in a way that keeps that society functioning and protects our place and position within it. Put simply: Most of the time, people don't like to rock the boat. Scammers abuse this tendency to comply by making it difficult or uncomfortable for a mark to raise an objection or change a course of action. This aversion to conflict is used in a con game to make the mark feel like he is being unreasonable or even dishonorable by raising any concerns.

A few years ago, a friend told me about a problem he had with his brand new washing machine. He decided to call a local repairman and found the name of someone online who quickly arrived to check his machine. According to the repairman, it was an inexpensive fix but he would need to take it to his workshop for repair. My friend paid him in advance and even helped him load the truck, all the while wondering if he was ever going to see that machine again. He didn't. I asked him why he didn't say anything or why he agreed to let him take it in the first place. “I didn't want to make a fuss,” he told me. Of course, this is a very British attitude; I seriously doubt this scam would be quite so successful in New York City.

I've seen many scammers act insulted, hurt, betrayed, or disappointed when someone tries to stop and ask questions. With other members of the crew adding to this sense that the mark is somehow in the wrong, this kind of guilt is a powerful tactic. In essence, the method is to use the victim's honesty and good intentions against them, and I can think of no clearer illustration of just how shameless a grifter can be.

In the end, how a mark gets sunk is mostly a matter of allowing all that has preceded that moment to mature in his mind and to only apply pressure where and when it is needed. A ripe mark is like a fresh pumpkin seed; if you squeeze too tight, he's gone.

In Charleston, I knew that getting Uncle Barry to commit so quickly was going to be impossible so I switched to a different tactic: separate and switch. My new objective was to get Barry to bring his money, then steal it from right under his nose. Given time, I could get almost anyone to give me their money and agree to wait weeks or months for a return on their investment, but time was now running out. I created a scenario where our mark would feel safe and in control with the option to walk away if he wasn't completely confident.

Of course, I knew we would never even get to the bank, but Barry thought he was going to make his final decision there; bringing the money was simply a way to keep his options open. I knew that he might only be bringing the money for show. After all, I'd deliberately suggested that perhaps he wasn't as affluent or successful as the image he presented, essentially baiting him by suggesting he might not be able to afford to get involved. Uncle Barry was curious but not suspicious, so I designed a guaranteed way to let him find out more without having to commit. He later told me that he only wanted to know the whole story and had no intention of getting into bed on a first date. This is why, once the money was in my hands, I had no intention of giving it back. For his part, Barry was equally careful not to take his eyes off the bag, but I had constructed a natural diversion for the switch that didn't raise suspicion. Until he later saw the footage, Barry was convinced that the case full of money never left his sight.

On the street, once he was alone, we all expected Barry to rush back to confront me. Instead, he did the one thing I had been working very hard to avoid letting him do up to that moment. He stopped to think.

The Third Option

In the face of a surprising or shocking situation, the most common reactions are fight or flight; we were prepared for both. If Barry made a run for it, we had people waiting to intercept him, but our bets were on him charging back to the office to confront me. Instead, Barry did the smartest thing anyone can do when they realize something is wrong: He considered his options.