Understanding the "Con"

[Rianne]

I just listened to an eye opening TED talk about con artists. I'm guessing every person has fell prey to one con or another in their lifetime. Hopefully, learning from their mistakes. From the article that presents the TED talk are the 5 principles that con artists get us to buy into their story.

-Misdirection
-Time pressure
-Opportunity
-Social compliance
-Social proof


Alexis Conran shows, no matter how smart you are, everyone can be conned.


https://ideas.ted.com/dont-get-fool...ics-to-look-out-for/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes.

I've been conned a few times, and I admit it.

 

[Amethyst]

Me, too. From those painful episodes, I was forced to confront traits that drew a con artist to me: traits that let them know I'd be vulnerable.

 

[wolf]

Lucky so far. When I was much younger. Listened and observed con artist victims.

One "thing", I always tell "myself". Do not be "over confident", when it comes to
financial matters. A lot of posters on this forum, are pretty knowledgeable, have a nice net worth. Which is good. (me included).

So very easy, to think, I know it all. That is when one can get "taken" !

Watch for the red flags! See one, run. Then ask around, this forum is great. Lots
of cool head out there.

 

[Dtail]

They mention buy one get one free as an example, but if the item always sells for XXX except when it is BOGO, then it really is a deal at least for that store.

 

[Amethyst]

True! The "Con," for the unwary, is that you may be tempted to buy more than you need because it's BOGO. In some cases, that may be smart. In others, you may be setting yourself up to have no storage space, or with items that will be outdated or spoiled before you can use them up.

They mention buy one get one free as an example, but if the item always sells for XXX except when it is BOGO, then it really is a deal at least for that store.

 

[TromboneAl]

When I worked in San Francisco, I was conned by someone saying he needed gas money.

Two weeks later I saw the same guy doing the same thing. He didn't recognize me. I made a citizen's arrest. The guy went down for drug possession.

 

[Jerry1]

I was conned as a teen. Since then, I’ve been sucked in a few times, but realized what was happening in time. It’s scary how good they are.

 

[TrvlBug]

They mention buy one get one free as an example, but if the item always sells for XXX except when it is BOGO, then it really is a deal at least for that store.

I always take advantage of these offers of items I use regularly. I have the room and it saves my $$$. My fave is during the holidays, Progressive soup, normally $3/can, is advertised at $1/can. I stock up and it lasts me for a year! No con there.

 

[ls99]

Lost my first paycheck playing cards. Have never played cards again.

 

[T-Minus]

You want to see a con in action...even today? Just head on down to your local car dealership and watch the experienced guys work the rubes with their “4-square” con sheet:

https://www.consumerreports.org/con...ff-with-the-four-square-heres-how-to-beat-it/

snakey, low-brow conmanship at its’ best!

 

[audreyh1]

In my case it’s been a couple of people well known by me that had the kind of personality that simply couldn’t “pass up a deal”.

It seemed to be a kind of greed that made them vulnerable to con artists. Especially the type that flattered them and made them feel smart and important.

 

[Rianne]

You want to see a con in action...even today? Just head on down to your local car dealership and watch the experienced guys work the rubes with their “4-square” con sheet:

https://www.consumerreports.org/con...ff-with-the-four-square-heres-how-to-beat-it/

snakey, low-brow conmanship at its’ best!

That whole scenario is pretty confusing and sounds like a lot of work for the dealer. We had no downpayment. We asked for the out the door price. Rebate, trade-in, taxes, fees. If that bottom line was one penny off when I got to the financing table, I'm outa there. It was right on the penny. I went home, signed into the financing website (actually 4 days later) and paid $21K. Did this because dealer took an extra $1K off if we financed. I then paid another $500 yesterday. Bought the car on Oct. 22. Owe @ $900 and will pay that off in 2 more payments, something about 3 payments. I'm not sure who conned who, but I feel pretty good about a fully loaded, new 2019 Sonata SEL for $22,4??. I think total interest < $50. So we really got an extra $950 off. Total rebate $4000 not including trade in, which they gave us what we asked for.

We did sweat buckets at the time share scheme. That was a hard sell, although lots of people are happy with their time share. My DH is pretty good at walking away.

 

[flyingaway]

Don't be greedy, you will recognize many con artists and acts.

 

[Chuckanut]

Lost my first paycheck playing cards. Have never played cards again.

On my first trip to Lost Wages Nevada, I brought $100 for gambling, well over a week's take home wages at that time. I lost most of it the first night we were there. Any desire to gamble at the gaming casinos (or any where else) was bled from my body, permanently. But, it wasn't all bad. I spent the remaining day and a half at the hotel pool, flirting with the bikini girls.

 

[Scrapr]

On my first trip to Lost Wages Nevada, I brought $100 for gambling, well over a week's take home wages at that time. I lost most of it the first night we were there. Any desire to gamble at the gaming casinos (or any where else) was bled from my body, permanently. But, it wasn't all bad. I spent the remaining day and a half at the hotel pool, flirting with the bikini girls.

Similar. On our honeymoon we stayed at a hotel with a casino in San Juan, PR. Lost $50 just like that. No more ever again

I fell for the gas can scam in a Home depot parking lot. And the light bulb scheme in college. For the youngsters in here that was a phone solicitor (1970's) with a pitch for light bulbs in bulk. Send a check off. A few months later I notice we have not got any light bulbs

*I'm sure I have been scammed other times but it was so good that I didn't even notice it

 

[TromboneAl]

My gullible mom was conned multiple times. Worst was when someone called her:

"Hi, this is your favorite nephew."
"Jeff?"
"Yes, Jeff. Hey, I'm in a jam and need some money ..."

The cops caught him.

Another time, she went into a car dealership to get a free camera and came out with a new car that she didn't need.

 

[scrabbler1]

The unit pricing labels on the bottom of the shelves are useful when I see something marked "on sale" at the supermarket. Many times, I see the sale price (per pound, for example), and say to myself, "That's no bargain!" I have also found that manufacturers coupons, even if doubled by the store, are for items so horribly overpriced that it still doesn't pay to buy the supposedly "discounted" item.

 

[Nemo2]

I'm starting to feel that I'm even more cynical than I already thought I was; on the beach in Costa Rica one time we were accosted by a Scotsman handing out scratch & win cards, (Time Share come on), and mine revealed the (supposedly coveted) 5 monkeys.

Scotsman says "You don't appear to be very excited about having a winning ticket".

I said something to the effect of "Do you see a turnip truck around here?"

 

[travelover]

I was 16. An acquaintance said his dad was in the hospital and asked if he could borrow my motorcycle to go see him. Idiot crashed it no where near the hospital. Said he would pay me back. Still waiting.

 

[skipro33]

Most of us think of cons being performed by individuals. But many cons are done by well known, trusted companies. Here's my latest con I almost fell for;
I needed a new cell phone and wasn't happy with our current carrier; AT&T as we never got reliable signal in our home. We do have xfinity for TV, home phone and internet, so I went to the local xfinity Mobile store and walked out with 2 new Motorola G7 phones and a Verizon carrier package. After I got home, I went on line to register the phones. There is a one year warranty on the phones from Motorola. When I registered them, they came up as being purchased in June, not October. I contacted Motorola about that. They said they would change the date for the warranty start IF I could send them a receipt that contained the seller's logo, the seller's business address, my name and address, the phone's ID number and who knows what. Xfinity doesn't hand out a paper receipt. It's electronic through my login. I sent that and it wasn't enough. These ratbastards were trying to cheat me out of months of warranty, basing it on manufacture date instead of purchase date. So, I created a receipt from my computer that met all their requirements and sent that. It worked and my warranty now started from the date I purchased it.

The con was they didn't register the phone upon purchase, they back dated the warranty to the date of manufacture and they require a receipt containing info that no cell phone dealer provides. I spoke to the store manager about this and he didn't know a thing about this. I walked him through the on-line process that every buyer should be doing to register their phone with Motorola for warranty activation. He assumed that it was done automatically when it was activated I think.
The con has a second layer; if the phone needs to be returned for warranty, they send back a refurbished phone, not a new phone. Who knows how old that thing might be?

 

[CaptTom]

The unit pricing labels on the bottom of the shelves are useful when I see something marked "on sale" at the supermarket.

...I have also found that manufacturers coupons, even if doubled by the store, are for items so horribly overpriced that it still doesn't pay to buy the supposedly "discounted" item.

Two points there. First, watch those "unit pricing" labels carefully. Better yet, do the math yourself. Not only can they be flat-out wrong, but they can also compare irrelevant units. Or different products of the same type can use different units.

Second, understand the reason for manufacturer's coupons. It only costs a certain amount to make a given product. The name brand charges more, mostly because they CAN. Sure, they may have a higher advertising budget, but it's probably a tiny fraction of the cost. The rest of the mark-up is pure profit.

But they still would still make a decent profit at a lower cost. And the marginal costs of making extra product is usually far lower than that first batch.

So, they put the price up high for those who are willing to pay it, and offer coupons to rope in as many of the rest as possible. For budget-conscious shoppers, the "house" brands are sometimes made in the same factory, on the same production line, as the name brand, to squeeze out that last little bit of profit.

It's not really a "con," just economics.

 

[H2ODude]

Was in Paris about a month ago and enjoyed watching the guys with the "which cup is the marble under" game. My buddy got taken for 20E! It was pretty clear to me, as people that were winning game after game, that the gamers were clearly going to go broke. So my conclusion was that they had partners that they'd allow to win, and conducting the game when they did in such a way as to make it look easy peasy to the public. Then when a rube ponied up they'd unleash the "magic". Some people were pretty damn angry. It was fun watching though.

 

[Chuckanut]

Was in Paris about a month ago and enjoyed watching the guys with the "which cup is the marble under" game. My buddy got taken for 20E!

I watched the woven bracelet scheme in Paris. They offer to make you a woven bracelet on the spot, on your wrist. Then when they are done they demand an exorbitant amount for it. The bracelet is woven on so tightly that you can't just slip it off and return it to them.

I did find a great way to repel the scammers. I watched a German guy do this several times. He wagged his finger at them with great exaggeration, saying "No! Nein!" while looking them right in the eye. I tried it several times and it worked very well.

 

[Nemo2]

Naples, Italy, circa 1960/61 - guys would sidle up to you, (furtively looking around as if a fully armed SWAT team was about to pounce), with one hand cupped over the other, and held close to their side.

Still glancing 'nervously' around, they'd slowly raise the top hand slightly to partially reveal a POS ring, (or somesuch), wrapped in tissue paper.

The theatre was, of course, designed to create the impression that the item was valuable & stolen, and that you, for some 'ridiculously cheap' price, had the opportunity to obtain this artifact.