The Daily Grifter

Helga de la Brache

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:12:00 +0000

Helga de la Brache
Born	Aurora Florentina Magnusson September 6, 1817(1817-09-06) Stockholm
Died	January 11, 1885(1885-01-11) (aged 67) Stockholm
Nationality	Sweden
Occupation	con artist
Known for	supposed secret royalty

Helga de la Brache, née Aurora Florentina Magnusson, (1817-09-06, Stockholm – 1885-01-11, Stockholm), was a Swedish con artist. She attained a royal pension by convincing the authorities that she was the secret daughter of King Gustav IV of Sweden and Queen Frederica of Baden.

The Fraud

The exiled Gustav IV and Frederica of Baden had divorced in 1812, but Helga de la Brache claimed that they had married again, secretly, "in a convent in Germany", which resulted in her birth in Lausanne in 1820. She was later sent to be raised by her alleged father's aunt, Princess Sophia Albertine of Sweden. When the Princess died in 1829, she was taken to the Vadstena asylum, so that the secret of her birth would be concealed as she would be thought to be insane. She was saved in 1834 and taken to her family in Baden, where she was placed under house arrest. In 1837, upon seeing the news of her father's death in the paper, she forgot to hide her grief. She returned to Sweden, were she was again put in an asylum to prevent the secret of her birth to be revealed. She managed to escape from the asylum, and was taken under the care of charitable people, who supported her despite persecution, and soon, she was given a pension of 6,000 § from her mother's family in Germany. In 1850, the pension had ceased coming, and she was unable to continue the standard of life to which she of birth had been accustomed - and she was also forced to support her many faithful friends, who stood by her during her years of persecution: No smaller pension than 5,000 or 6,000 would be sufficient.

Her story was believed by many private people in Sweden and Finland; followed by her faithful companion, who was an educated and cultivated woman who supported her story, de la Brache performed with a simplicity and naivete which made people unable to think she was cunning enough to have made it all up, and sensible enough for people to think that she did not believe it because she was mad. Eventually, even the skeptics had to admit that the story was at least theoretically possible. She received great financial support from private benefactors. She convinced the minister of justice, Nils von Koch, the parliamentary Anders Uhr and the royal court chaplain Carl Norrby, but was seen as a fraud by Prime minister Louis De Geer and foreign minister Ludvig Manderström. The queen mother Josefina took an interest in her. The king did not take much interest but wanted to get the whole affair over and done with.

In March 1861, the king allowed her an annual pension from the foreign department of 2,400 Swedish riksdaler a year, (the amount, from the beginning 1.200, was made larger in December 1869). He also promised to get her the furniture of a princess. She managed to continue this for years.

In 1870, however, an article in a newspaper by C. Norrby, one of her benefactors, appeared, resulting in an investigation.

The Real Story

In 1876–77, it was proved that she was born in Stockholm as Aurora Florentina Magnusson to the custom caretaker Anders Magnusson (died 1826). In 1835, she was a maid to a book-keeper named Hedman, where the family said that she always had the mind to "rise above her status". In 1838, she was employed by a wealthy family, whose daughter became deeply devoted to her, dressed her in elegant clothes and left her family for her; it was she who later became her companion and accomplice in the fraud.

When the two women moved to Finland in 1844, Aurora Florentina had the name de la Brache on her passport, and when she came back to Sweden in 1845, she changed her name to Anna Florentina de la Brache. She managed to have her name changed from her birth certificate to Helga. The two women can be traced to have moved around from one city to another in both Sweden and Finland - Helga was often supported by her friend, who worked as a teacher; in 1846 they were in Turku, in 1848 in Örebro, in 1857–59 in Sala, where they tried to start a fashion shop, before they arrived in Stockholm in the 1860s to commence their fraud.

The trial in 1876–77 draw much attention both from the public and the royal family and was much reported in the papers. It led to the loss of the pension of Helga/Florentina. "Princess Helga de la Brache" spent her last years in an apartment in Klara norra with her companion, seemingly paid for by a supporter. The two women lived a quiet life, walked in the park and ordered home food and rarely talked to other people, although Helga was described as a nice old woman. In 1884, however, the two women were observed in the gardens of Drottningholm Palace by King Oscar II, who ordered them to be escorted from the park. Soon after, they moved from their apartment to another one in Djurgården, because they were afraid that they were going to be arrested. She died in Djurgården 1885.

In 1909, the politician Per August Johansson tried to clear her name, but the process led to nothing.

Riksspoket: Helga de la Brache : 1800-talets stora bedrageriaffar pa kunglig niva (Swedish Edition)
Swedish Criminals: Annika Östberg, Helge Fossmo, Magdalena Rudenschöld, Thomas Quick, Helga de La Brache, Hampus Hellekant, Brita Tott
And God Created Woman
Madcaps, Screwballs, and Con Women: The Female Trickster in American Culture (Feminist Cultural Studies, the Media, and Political Culture)
French Connection Women's Dani Crepe Dress, Bronze, 4

Walmart Gift Card Thief Gets 10 Years

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:08:00 +0000

Our long national nightmare is over: The Wal-Mart gift card thief is behind bars.

Timothy Truong was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for a gift card scheme that spanned more than a decade, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Truong stole gift cards, copied their electronic data, manufactured duplicate cards, and returned the cards to the store. A computer database would alert Truong when the legitimate cards had been activated, and he would then swoop in and use his duplicate cards on merchandise before customers had a chance to use theirs.

Truong ran this scam at Lowe's, Borders, and Safeway, but was apprehended two years ago at a California Wal-Mart.

At the time he'd already been convicted of gift card hijackings in Nevada, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Utah, for incidents dating back to 1992. He was also facing charges in New Jersey.

Security personnel recognized Truong when he arrived at the Yuba City Wal-Mart, and called police. Truong escaped to his SUV and a chase ensued, but Truong eventually crashed his vehicle into two other cars. He then fled to another store, where he punched a customer, but was eventually subdued and arrested. He has been in jail ever since.

In Truong's SUV, police found more than 3,800 gift cards, two laptop computers and an electronic card reader, a card printer, acetone, maps marked with locations of Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Borders stores, 4,000 gift card numbers, and recently purchased merchandise.

The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing
LRG The Pros and Cons Thermal Zip Up Hoody,Sweatshirts for Men, Small,Black
So Dark the Con of Man
The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
I'm a Con Man I'm a Thief

Lou "The Fixer" Blonger

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:35:00 +0000

Louis H. "The Fixer" Blonger, who would become one of the leaders of the longest running confidence rings in the American West, started his life on May 13, 1849 in Swanton, Vermont. When the boy was just five, the family moved to the lead mining village of Shullsburg, Wisconsin. When the Civil War broke out "Lou” was just 15, but enlisted in the Union Army. He soon found himself playing a musical instrument called a fife, helping to keep the marching pace of the soldiers. A Fifer was a common job of those boys who were too young to fight.

After the war, the fast-talking Lou joined up with his older brother Sam and the pair moved westward, hoping to make their fortunes in the many mining camps of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. For the next two decades they moved from camp to camp taking various jobs working in saloons and mines, while doing a little prospecting, plenty of gambling, and practicing a number of con games in cities across the West -- from Deadwood, South Dakota; to Silver City, New Mexico; to San Francisco, California.

During their vast travels, they reportedly met many of the more famous Old West personalities such as Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and the Earp brothers. For a short time the Lou and Sam even served as lawmen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they were said to have provided protection for Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp after their infamous Earp Vendetta Ride.

By the 1880’s the brothers had settled in Denver, Colorado, where they were running a saloon on Larimer Street and later on Stout Street. By the 1890’s, the Blonger Brothers had become wealthy men from investments in mining claims and profits from their popular Denver saloons, which catered to gamblers and also provided "painted ladies” for their customers. They had also pocketed a significant amount of money from their various games of fraud and graft practiced on many a hapless miner.

While in Denver, they practiced their cons widely, competing heavily with the already established Soapy Smith Gang. Eventually they took over control as the king-pins of the Denver underworld and when Soapy Smith moved on in 1896, they consolidated the city’s competing gangs of confidence men into a single organization.

Operating their "business” as a "big store" con, or fake betting house, central facilities were established complete with betting windows, chalkboards for race results, and ticker-tape machines. Here, the gang members would convince unsuspecting customers to put up large sums of cash in order to secure delivery of promised stock profits or winning bets on horse races. It was this practice that is portrayed in the movie, The Sting. Additionally, Lou had a number of men working for him that profited as pickpockets, shell-game experts, and a number of other small time con games. Lou's operation was so tight, that no one was able to operate in the city without gaining his permission and "donating” a share of their proceeds.

Continuing to wield their power, the Blonger Brothers influenced elections and political appointments in order to protect their racket and shield their gang members from prosecution.

In 1904, a man named Adolph W. "Kid” Duff became Blonger's second-in-command. Duff was an experienced hand, having long been a member of several other Colorado gangs and well known as a gambler, opium dealer and pickpocket. Together, the pair increased the profits of the "organization.”

By 1920, Lou Blonger had grown so powerful that many said he "owned” the city of Denver and was, by that time, able to fix any arrest with a phone call and was making thousands of illegal dollars a year in his extensive confidence games. Lou even had a private telephone line in his office which ran directly to the chief of police.

Though his success went on for decades, it would finally end in 1922 when District Attorney Philip S. Van Cise circumvented the corrupt Denver politicians and established his own "secret force” of local citizens. Funded by private donations, Van Cise’s men were able to arrest 33 confidence men, including Louis Blonger and "Kid” Duff.

A highly publicized trial followed, where Louis Blonger and many of the other gang members were convicted and sentenced to prison at Cañon City, Colorado. Both Lou Blonger and "Kid” Duff received sentences for 7 to 10 years. Just five months after going to prison, Blonger died on April 20, 1924 at the age of 74. Duff, in the meantime, was out on bond pending another court case and committed suicide. Lou’s older brother Sam had died some ten years earlier.

Downtown Denver in 1895

Canon City Prison courtesy Colorado Prison Museum

Burials in Colorado: Burials in Fairmount Cemetery (Denver, Colorado), Lou Blonger, Ray Bridwell White, William Byers, Henry White Warren
The Fixer
The Fixer and Other Stories
The Fixer - Series One - 2-DVD Set ( The Fixer - Entire Series 1 ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]

Jean Henri Latude : "Masers de Latude"

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:26:00 +0000

Jean Henri Latude, often called Danry or Masers de Latude (23 March 1725 – 1 January 1805) was famous both as a prisoner of the Bastille and for his escapes therefrom.

He was born at Montagnac in Gascony. He received a military education and went to Paris in 1748 to study mathematics. He led a dissipated life and endeavoured to curry favor with the marquise de Pompadour by secretly sending her a box of poison and then informing her of the supposed plot against her life. The ruse was discovered, and Mme de Pompadour, not appreciating the humour of the situation, had Latude put in the Bastille on 1 May 1749.

He was later transferred to Vincennes, whence he escaped in 1750. Retaken and reimprisoned in the Bastille, he made a second brief escape in 1756. He was transferred to Vincennes in 1764, and the next year made a third escape and was a third time recaptured. He was put in a madhouse by Malesherbes in 1775, and discharged in 1777 on condition that he should retire to his native town.

He remained in Paris and was again imprisoned. A certain Mme Legros became interested in him through chance reading of one of his memoirs, and, by a vigorous agitation in his behalf, secured his definite release in 1784. He exploited his long captivity with considerable ability, posing as a brave officer, a son of the marquis de la Tude, and a victim of Pompadour's intrigues. He was extolled and pensioned during the Revolution, and in 1793 the convention compelled the heirs of Mme de Pompadour to pay him 60,000 francs damages. He died in obscurity at Paris in 1805.

The principal work of Latude is the account of his imprisonment, written in collaboration with an advocate named Thiry, and entitled "Le Despotisme dévoilé, ou Mémoires de Henri Masers de la Tude, détenu pendant trente-cinq ans dans les diverses prisons d'état" (Amsterdam, 1787, ed. Paris, 1889). An English translation of a portion was published in 1787. The work is full of lies and misrepresentations, but had great vogue at the time of the French Revolution. Latude also wrote essays on all sorts of subjects.

Jean-Henri Masers de Latude (1725-1805), ou, Le fou de la liberte: Enquete historique et psychologique (French Edition)
Jean-Henri Chevalier de Latude, 1789 Giclee Poster Print by Antoine Vestier, 18x24
Der Enthüllte Despotismus Der Französischen Regierung, Oder, Merkwürdige Geschichte Des Herrn Von Latüde: Während Seiner Unverdienten 35 Jährigen Gefangenschaft ... Staatsgefängnissen (German Edition)
The Life of Henri Masers De Latude, Who Was Imprisoned Thirty-five Years. To which is added some account of the Bastille.

Gregor MacGregor : The Prince of Poyais

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:26:00 +0000

The tall uniformed figure with bushy whiskers cut an impressive figure as his ship sailed into Britain. Alongside him was his beautiful wife, niece of one of the world’s most famous men, and together they promised to be one of the most glamorous of couples in high society.

But Gregor MacGregor, a descendant of Rob Roy, was intent on far more than glamour or fame.

The year was 1820 and MacGregor a lauded war hero for his exploits in South America, had hatched one of the most daring frauds of all time.

His plan was simple but audacious: to invent an entire kingdom, people, capital city; civil service and currency, and persuade people to buy land and shares In the venture.

And they did, in their thousands. Many Scots lost their entire fortunes. Many others lost their lives. But not before the self-styled ‘Prince’ Gregor MacGregor had dazzled London and Edinburgh society - before being unmasked as the only fraudster in British criminal history to sell shares and land in a non-existent country.

MacGregor was born on Christmas Eve 1786, the grandson of Gregor the Beautiful, the clan chief. But Scotland could not contain the headstrong MacGregor, who served in the Peninsula war in Spain before leaving Europe in 1811 to fight the Spanish in South America.

It was here he met the Liberator of Latin America, Simon Bolivar who was hugely impressed by the Scotsman’s energy; bravery and skill as a military leader, and eventually promoted him to general. The handsome adventurer was later permitted to marry Bolivar’s attractive niece, Josefa.

MacGregor’s fame as a military man and his exploits were known to a British public eager to lap up news of the exotic Spanish Americas.

But fame did not guarantee wealth, and coming from a family with more history than money, it was the lure of riches that drove the increasingly impatient MacGregor. From 1817 to 1820, he lived the life of a pirate, attacking Spanish strongholds in the Caribbean and up the coast of Florida, then still in Spanish hands. His exploits included capturing and occupying Amelia Island off Florida in 1817, backed by a motley ‘army’ of young boys and toothless old men.

MacGregor's plan to sell off the land to the fledgling United States and then invade the rest of Florida came to little. Left high and dry by the failure of his supposed American allies to send reinforcements, he was forced to sell the island to a pirate acquaintance before disappearing into the Caribbean once more.

But MacGregor was never daunted. by setbacks and in 1820 he hit upon the idea which was to bring him fame, fortune and - ultimately - disgrace.

He sailed with his loyal retinue of followers to the unpromising-looking swampy part of Central America known as the Mosquito Coast. Here he befriended the local ’King’, George Frederic Augustus. At a meeting in April 1820, MacGregor plied his new friend with whisky and rum before the pair signed an extraordinary deal.

The Scotsman was to be granted more than eight million acres of land along the coast and far inland, apparently forever. In sober reflection, Frederick was to have a very different recollection of just what he’d given to MacGregor, but the deed was done. Armed with this huge area of land, MacGregor and his beautiful wife immediately set sail for Britain, where he announced himself in London with great pomp and ceremony as Gregor I, Cazique (or Chief) of Poyals, the name he had chosen for ‘his country’. Britain was just recovering from the ravages of a successful but debilitating European war. Post-war austerity gave way to a passion for gambling and fast living, personified by the outrageous dandy and gambler Beau Brummell, whose behaviour had shaped the early years of the Prince of Wales — crowned George IV in 1820.

There was also a growing mania among the emerging middle classes for stocks and shares in all kinds of exotic ventures, including South America, where a credulous British public supposed all manner of treasure and riches had been abandoned by the retreating Spanish. This ensured that MacGregor’s money-making scheme was a success both in his native Scotland and in England.

His plan to make money from his ‘kingdom’ had two different approaches. One was to raise capital of £200 000 (millions in today’s money) by issuing 2,000 bearer bonds at £100 each, the other to sell land and commissions in Poyals. In this he was aided by a skilful and shameless marketing campaign promoting the virtues of what one marketeer called ‘this unsurpassed Utopia’. There were no half-measures in the hard sell. Poyals was extravagantly described as a land of cathedrals, public buildings and banks, with all the other trappings of a civilised nation. Its capital, St Joseph, was said to boast an opera house among its fine buildings. Meanwhile, the land itself was described as having unimaginable fertility and beauty, a land where gold nuggets and diamonds and pearls were as ‘plentiful as pebbles’ and where grain could grow without the need for sowing.

Such was the promotion’s success, that at least one ballad was sung in MacGregor’s praise; books and pamphlets extolled the merits of this fine new nation and an excited public clamoured to buy into this irresistible country led by its charismatic and heroic Prince. Buoyed by his success, MacGregor opened an official Poyalsian Legation to Britain in the City of London and opened land offices in Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh. Many poorer people, who could not afford to buy the expensive bonds, bought small parcels of land or signed up as shoemakers, shopkeepers, jewellers, teachers and clerks or other craftsmen, all with skills apparently much needed by the booming new state. MacGregor - who often referred to himself as Sir Gregor, though no one knows who bestowed the title on him — even issued his own Poyals currency and sold commissions in the nation’s army. By the end of 1822, MacGregor had assumed the status of a Sovereign Prince and the bond and land sale schemes were making him, in today’s terms, a multi-millionaire. The whole elaborate edifice however, now threatened to become a victim of its very success.

Early In 1823, two ships — the Honduras Packet and the Kinnersley Castle - set sail from Leith, bound for Poyals. On board were some 240 excited emigrants, many of them Highlanders, eager to inhabit the wonderful land they had invested in with their life’s savings and possessions. They included a Mr Gauger, a banker from the City of London who was excited at the prospect of becoming the first manager of the Bank of Poyals, and a Scottish shoemaker equally entranced at the thought that he was to be the Official Shoemaker to the Princess of Poyals.

The starry-eyed colonists were assured the only legal currency in their new home would be the Poyalsian dollar and so, before departing, they exchanged their old Scottish and English pounds for this exciting new currency. What did they care for old money from the old country anyway? A wonderful new world of plenty awaited them.

What the settlers thought when weeks later they arrived at their new home one can scarcely imagine. Indeed, it was reported that some of them insisted on sailing further up the coast, so sure were they that they had been taken to the wrong place.

But the truth soon became horribly apparent. As the hapless settlers rowed ashore a desolate, wretched scene confronted them. Standing where the towering buildings, opera house and banks of the shining capital of St Joseph were supposed to be were instead four tatty, rundown shacks, built amid the remains of a doomed British colony abandoned back in the 18th century. Where the rich fertile plains and gold nuggets were promised were instead inhospitable swampy forests, full of biting insects, venomous snakes and deadly disease.

There was no Poyalsian army, no royal family no civil service, not even one solid building. The great, prosperous nation of Poyals had all been an elaborate illusion, a heartless fraud committed on men and women from hard-working backgrounds who had dared to hope for a better life in the Americas.

The obvious next move for the settlers would have been to clamber back aboard and set sail immediately for Scotland. But their misfortunes were just beginning. Shortly after their arrival, a hurricane blew through Central America, wrecking their two ships and destroying any immediate hope of getting home. The days and weeks that followed were full of misery and tragedy. Many of the 240, who included elderly people, began to succumb to tropical diseases. Starvation set in among people who were totally unsuited for survival in tropical swamplands. The local people refused to help, scorning their Poyals currency and pointing out that their King, George Frederic, insisted the white settlers had no legal right to be there anyway.

The situation appeared hopeless. The shoemaker, who had dreamed of fame at the Poyals court, lay down in his hammock and shot himself. Others drowned trying to escape. Eventually, as starvation and disease threatened to wipe out the entire colony, they managed to send word of their plight to the British colony of Belize and a rescue mission was launched.

Out of some 240 who left Leith harbour, barely 50 made it back to their homeland. When news of the calamity in Poyals and the true story of the state of that kingdom reached Britain in August 1823, the reaction was predictable.

Quite how MacGregor had expected to get away with it once anyone arrived in his ‘paradise’ is unclear. Possibly he had planned to make an escape with his millions but was undone by the timing. Perhaps he had even begun to believe his own propaganda that such a place existed. Incredibly, MacGregor at first tried to bluff things out, blaming the Belize colony for interfering and even for the theft of Poyalsian belongings, and he tried to raise yet more money on a re-issue of the bonds.

By November the game was up. The bonds were worthless and there was growing public rage at the enormity of the fraud he had perpetrated, especially among his fellow Scots. His funds were also evaporating as he spent money on his retinue and trying to re-ignite interest in Poyals.

Late that year he, Josefa and their two small children, Gregorio and Josefa, followed the traditional route for British fraudsters, by fleeing to Boulogne in France and from there on to Paris where their third child, Constantino, was born. However, the world had still not heard the last of Gregor MacGregor and his fantasy kingdom. By 1825 he had repeated the entire hoax once again on the French public, raising thousands of pounds on the dream of Poyals. By now, though, his luck was failing him.

An associate in Paris was jailed for fraud and MacGregor himself spent some time in jail before he was released and acquitted on appeal. An impertinent return to London was ill-advised and once again he had to talk his way out of a prison sentence as angry investors sought his indictment. For some years he lived in Edinburgh, vainly trying to sell plots of land in a kingdom that didn’t exist, with land he didn’t own. However, by the time his loyal wife Josefa died in Scotland in 1838, MacGregor had become a lonely, broken man. He left Scotland quietly in 1839 to return to Venezuela, the scene of many of his epic military adventures. There at least he was treated with respect as a returning war hero and lived comfortably on a military pension until his death in 1845.

His name can still be seen on a giant monument, built in Caracas to honour Venezuela’s heroes of Independence. However, his legacy in his homeland is very different. His outrageous fraud cost more than just the livelihoods of those he fooled. It may have been a brilliant fraud by an often brilliant and courageous man, but Gregor MacGregor’s extraordinary life was overshadowed by the deaths of his poor, unfortunate victims.

Seven Guns for the MacGregors ( Sette pistole per i MacGregor ) ( Siete pistolas para los Mac Gregor ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Italy ]
Sir Gregor Macgregor and the Land That Never Was: The Extraordinary Story of the Most Audacious Fraud in History
1919 Antique Portrait Gregor Macgregor Cricketer
Genealogy and History of the Clan Gregor, (MacGregor) (A Searchable CD Containing the Complete Text of this Historic Bookt)
Micronational Leaders: Bertoleoni, M. P. Shiel, Gregor Macgregor, Danny Wallace, Lars Vilks, James Harden-Hickey, David Rappaport

Frank Abagnale, Jr : The Crew Comes To Life

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:05:00 +0000

Frank seemed almost invincible. Most everything he attempted, he succeeded in, including eluding the police and FBI. With every new plan, he perfected his techniques in con artistry, forgery and impersonation. One particular scheme he devised showed evidence of how talented he had become in his criminal trade.

Thinking of a way he could cash a multitude of checks at one time, Frank came up with an extraordinary idea. He decided that he would no longer travel alone but with an aircrew, preferably consisting of beautiful stewardesses. If he were able to find women to act as a front for him, he would be able to cash in more checks, appear more credible and avoid any suspicion.

While visiting Arizona, Frank had set up an interview with the director of student placement at the state university. During the meeting, Frank discussed the possibility of recruiting a handful of junior and senior women to act as public relations representatives purportedly for Pan Am. He further suggested that the chosen women would be given the opportunity to spend the summer traveling Europe, with all expenses allegedly paid by the company. Moreover, the girls would be supplied with stewardess uniforms and comparable salary as well as letters of employment, which would grant them opportunity to work for the airline following graduation. It appeared to be the chance of a lifetime for anyone lucky enough to be chosen. Appearances were Franks key method of deception.

The eight young women who were eventually chosen were all thrilled to have a chance to see other countries and experience to a stewardesses lifestyle. Besides, the money was exceptional considering they were being paid to have fun. They had no idea that they were merely a part of an elaborate scam. The group of women traveled to more than a dozen European countries throughout the summer, taking part in photo shoots, supposedly to be used for advertising purposes by Pan Am. The photo sessions, scheduled by Frank with commercial photography companies, had no particular relevance except to make the scam more credible to the girls.

Franks real interest was to manufacture phony Pan Am expense checks for each girl for the primary purpose of having them endorsed over to him. The sum of each check was made out for an amount significantly larger than their actual expenses. Frank paid the bills and pocketed the remaining money, making sure the women were constantly with him to make the transaction all the more convincing. By the time the summer was over and the girls returned home after having been paid for their services, Frank had pocketed approximately $300,000.

Following his audacious scam, Frank decided to slow down with the check fraud game for fear that the authorities would catch up with him. He moved to Montpellier, France, at the age of twenty, not far from where his mother was born. Frank quickly settled into his cozy new cottage, after having changed his name to Robert Monjo. To further protect his identity, he posed as a successful Hollywood screenwriter and author.

Finally, for the first time in years Frank made an attempt to live a normal life. However, he knew that the risk of being caught significantly increased if he continued to stay in one place for a prolonged period of time, but it was a chance he was willing to take. He had simply spent too long on the run and he was tired.

It was only a matter of time before the authorities caught up with Frank. In fact, they were not too far behind.

Heading the FBI investigative team was Joseph Shea who spent years looking for Frank. In fact, it had taken years just to figure out that Frank was not an adult but actually a kid. Only four months after Frank moved to France, Shea learned of Franks location. Apparently, an ex-girlfriend who was a stewardess recognized him on a wanted poster and immediately notified the French police, who in turn contacted the FBI.

The authorities went to the small city to collect the young man who had generated so much financial havoc around the world, having passed a total of $2.5 million dollars worth of bad checks. They eventually found Frank shopping in a grocery store nearby his home. They immediately apprehended him, taking him to the Montpellier police station to be booked for his crimes committed in France. After a brief interrogation, Frank admitted to being Frank Abagnale, Jr. but refused to reveal any specific information concerning his crimes.

In less than a weeks time, Frank was tried in a French court and a couple days later found guilty on several charges, including fraud. He was sentenced to one year in the notorious prison Perpignan, but ended up serving only six months of the prison term. It was more than enough time, considering the horrific conditions of the institution.

Following his extradition to Sweden and eventually to the United States, Frank once again found himself on the run after having escaped the police and FBI on several occasions. There weren't many places left for him to hide. According to Abagnale's book, The Art of the Steal, he was apprehended a final time while hiding out in New York. He was eventually released into the custody of the FBI and tried for his crimes.

Frank was found guilty and received a sentence of twelve years. Following his sentencing, he was remanded to the Federal Correction Institution in Petersburg, Virginia. However, he was granted early parole at the age of twenty-six years, having spent a total of five years behind bars. Finally, Frank was free and had the chance to make a new beginning, although it would prove to be difficult.

Following his release, Frank worked at a series of low paying jobs, although they were mostly short-lived. Frank tried to conceal from his employers that he was an ex-con, knowing it was likely they would not hire him if they knew the truth. However his employers would eventually learn the truth and immediately fire him. After a while, Frank began to get frustrated because he knew he had talents that could be of use to somebody somewhere. He just had to find a client that would be interested in his skills and maybe in some way profit from them. He also knew he had to find a way to market himself.

Surprisingly, it was the very people that captured Frank that would offer him a second chance. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies were just the people who could gain from what he knew. They needed to know the workings of a criminal mind from first hand experience so that they could use the knowledge to better apprehend offenders. Frank began to lecture to them for free, realizing that he had to in some way repay his debt to society.

(Frank Abagnale, Jr with FBI Agents)

Before long, more jobs came Franks way but ones which paid. In fact, as the years went buy, Franks knowledge was in great demand by major companies around the world. Companies realized that they could save millions if not billions of dollars protecting themselves from con artists and counterfeiters and Frank was just the man that could provide them with the valuable information they needed.

To date, Frank is one of the worlds foremost authorities on document fraud, including check swindling, forgery and embezzlement. According to his company website Abagnale.com. Frank has been a consultant, lectured and instructed hundreds of seminars worldwide and continues to offer his services for free to the FBI. Moreover, he has published several books, manuals and articles and has designed secure checks that are utilized by businesses worldwide.

There is no doubt that Frank has made great efforts to make amends for his past wrongs. He successfully rehabilitated himself and has channeled his talents in a more positive direction. According to an interview with Frank by Laura Pulfer, Frank stated that his relationship with his wife of more than a quarter of a century and his belief in God has led to his about face. He currently lives in the Midwest with his wife and three sons.

Biography - Abagnale, Frank W., Jr. (1948-): An article from: Contemporary Authors
The Terminal/Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me if You Can
Keep your name to yourself.: An article from: Units
Atrapenme Si Pueden!
Frank Abagnale: ACFEI featured speaker in Las Vegas!(2009 NATIONAL CONFERENCE)(American College of Forensic Examiners Institute)(Cover story): An article from: The Forensic Examiner

Frank Abagnale, Jr : The Professor

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:42:00 +0000

During his travels, Frank visited the state of Utah, which impressed him with its natural beauty and lovely women. He was especially drawn to the university campuses in the area, where the ladies were particularly youthful and stunning. It was a place Frank was not eager to leave, so he decided to stick around and teach a few classes, despite the fact that he had no previous teaching experience or credentials. However, he refused to allow such minor details deter him.

Frank contacted the dean of Brigham Young University and set up an appointment, posing as a professor of sociology. He informed the dean that he worked as a university instructor for a couple of years before he left the field and became an airline pilot. He suggested that he was interested in returning to his roots as a teacher and would be like to work at the university. The dean was highly impressed with Franks background and charm and he looked forward to their meeting.

With falsified credentials in hand, Frank went to the scheduled interview. After a brief discussion with Frank, the dean made his decision. According to his autobiography, Frank was hired within the hour to teach two six-week courses during the summer at a salary of $1,600 per semester. Once again, Frank had accomplished the unthinkable. He immediately began to research the position and study the books he would use so that he would be prepared for his new job.

His masquerade as a professor was a success. Franks classes were not only interesting and the talk of the campus but he was also highly revered by his students. Moreover, Frank thoroughly enjoyed his newfound, although temporary position. Unfortunately for Frank his stint as a professor was short-lived and at the end of the summer he was let go with an invitation from the dean to return when a permanent position became available.

Frank left Utah and made his way to California where he returned to what he knew best, paperhanging or writing bad checks. He became even more sophisticated in his role as a con artist and forger, making tens of thousands of dollars more than he had previously. Most of the money he made was from cashing counterfeit expense checks that he manufactured himself. In fact, Frank was so proficient at his criminal trade that he managed to accumulate almost $100,000.

Frank was now in his late teens and incredibly wealthy for his age. But he was still lonely. This loneliness ended when he met and fell in love with a young stewardess. Frank and the young woman were so enthralled with one another that they began to discuss marriage. However Frank began to feel ill at ease because she had no idea who he really was. Moreover, she was a good girl and he feared she would not accept his shady background.

One day, Frank decided to come clean. He revealed to her his true identity and his devious criminal lifestyle, hoping that she would overlook his shortcomings and unconditionally accept him. Frank was surprised when instead of forgiving him she informed the police and the FBI of his whereabouts. Frank narrowly evaded capture and was once again on his own and on the move.

Frank traveled the world over using his airline uniforms to hitch rides to far-off destinations. He also continued to paperhang (write bad checks) as often as he could. During a trip to France, he met a stewardess with whom he began a relationship. Before long he learned that his girlfriends father ran a family print shop.

Naturally, Frank was very interested in meeting her father, eager to make a proposition to him. Eventually, he was introduced to the man and asked him if he would be interested in performing a large print job, allegedly for Pan Am. Frank requested an order of 10,000 Pan Am payroll checks, which the girls father agreed to fill.

To Franks delight the checks were superbly made. Unbeknownst to his girlfriend or her father, Frank successfully passed them off to area banks in return for large amounts of cash. He then returned to the states, where he collected even larger sums of cash from his illegal exploits.

Not long after his return to the U.S., state troopers apprehended Frank at a Boston Airport while he was waiting for a flight to depart. They immediately took him to jail and charged him with vagrancy until they were able to gather enough information on him proving he was the infamous Frank Abagnale, Jr. However, the police never had a chance to discover his true identity. Frank was released on bail just barely missing the FBI who was en route to collect him. Once again, he escaped a close call with the authorities, yet he refused to let the incident slow him down. In fact, Frank became even bolder in his attempts to obtain money.

According to Abagnales book, soon after he was released from jail, he rented a security guard uniform and stood in front of a night-deposit box at the airport where he was captured just hours earlier. Frank held before him a large canvas bag and waited for people to drop off their nightly deposits, which they did by the dozens. They, like many others had been misguided by Franks uniform. When the bag began to fill, he decided to put the loot in the car he rented for the occasion. However, the bag was too heavy for him to carry. Surprisingly, a couple of state troopers assisted Frank with loading the bag into his car unaware that he was in the process of stealing the money. Frank drove off with more than $60,000 in cash, outwitting the people who sought to detain him.

Catch Me If You Can (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Catch Me If You Can (Full Screen Two-Disc Special Edition)
The Terminal/Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can/Almost Famous
Biography - Abagnale, Frank W., Jr. (1948-): An article from: Contemporary Authors

Frank Abagnale, Jr : Practicing and Evading The Law

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:26:00 +0000

While in Louisiana, Frank met up with a stewardess who he met during his deadheading adventures several years prior. The two dated for a while, but the woman never knew Franks real identity for fear that she might expose his illegal escapades. Instead, Frank led her to believe that he was not only an airline co-pilot but that he also had a degree in law, although he never practiced.

During a party one night that the two attended, Franks girlfriend introduced him to a lawyer who worked in the offices of the states district attorney. The lawyer took an interest in him, especially because Frank claimed that he received his law degree from Harvard. The lawyer told Frank that there was a position open at the attorney generals offices that he should pursue. He said to Frank that all he had to do was take his university transcripts to the examiners office and apply for the Louisiana bar examination. Once he passed the bar, Frank would be able to fill the position.

It was a challenge that intrigued Frank and he believed that he might actually be able to pull it off. Not long after his conversation with the lawyer, Frank made counterfeit transcripts, allegedly from Harvard Law School. After conducting research on the classes offered at Harvard, he gathered the necessary materials to construct the mock transcripts. The end result was impressive. Although he had never seen an actual transcript from the law school, it looked as if it might be able to pass as real. He decided to give it a try and put it to the test.

The next step was to attempt the bar exam. Frank studied law books for weeks before he felt confident enough to take the test. Once he felt he knew a sufficient amount to pass, he registered with the examiners office, supplying them with his fake transcripts. Eventually he was summoned to the office to take the exam. It was no surprise that he flunked, since he had never attended law school in his life.

Frank later stated in an interview with Faraci that Louisiana at the time allowed you to (take) the Bar over and over as many times as you needed. It was really a matter of eliminating what you got wrong, which was exactly what he did. Surprisingly, after his third try Frank passed and received a license to practice law.
Shortly thereafter, Frank applied for the job at the offices of the attorney general. Following an interview, he was hired as a legal assistant working in the corporate law division of the attorney general. He was also given an annual salary of approximately $13,000. Frank had risen to the challenge and succeeded in his quest. There was no doubt that his art of deception had rivaled some of the most talented con artists in history.
According to his autobiography, Frank enjoyed his new position, regardless of the fact that he was more or less a glamorized errand boy, fetching documents and even coffee for his superiors. Even though he acquired the job under false pretenses, Frank was earning a somewhat legitimate living, which paid well. It seemed as if he had found his niche, yet Franks false sense of security didnt last long.
The attorney general had on his staff another lawyer who happened to be a real Harvard graduate. Frank began to feel the pressure, especially when the new lawyer made repeated attempts to befriend his alleged fellow alumni. When the lawyer began to ask too many questions about his background, Frank became particularly uncomfortable. He knew that if he were to stay there for a prolonged period of time, his scheme would be uncovered or the authorities would eventually catch up with him. Frank decided to leave his job as a lawyer and pursue another career.

Frank fell back temporarily into his old persona as an airline co-pilot. This time, he acquired a second uniform from Trans World Airways (TWA) and created a new FAA license and ID pass card. Thus, he had a complete set of credentials for both Pan Am and TWA. Once again, he was free to travel around the world, cashing bad checks with unsuspecting banks.

Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake
Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime
Realu Guide to Identity Theft (Real U)

Frank Abagnale, Jr : Dr. Williams is Created

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:11:00 +0000

While in Atlanta, Frank found an elegant and youthful residential community where he decided to lease an apartment for the duration of one year. According to Abagnale's book, Frank listed his occupation as an out-of-town doctor while filling out his leasing application, hoping it would deter any background check on his identity. When questioned about his profession, he informed the leasing manager that he was a pediatrician taking a break from his duties to catch up on much deserved rest and relaxation.

One day, a doctor who recently moved into the community paid an unexpected visit to Frank at his new home. Frank was nervous at first, fearing that the doctor would realize he was a fake. However, he learned that the doctor was not as interested in talking shop as he was about women. After meeting on several occasions and getting to know each other, the two learned that they had a great deal in common and, before long, they became friends.

The doctor asked Frank if he would like one day to pay a visit to the hospital where he worked and Frank readily agreed. Franks one visit to the hospital turned into numerous visits and he gradually became acquainted and friendly with other hospital staff. Eventually, he was granted access to the medical library, which delighted him because he was eager to learn as much as he could about his new role as a pediatrician.

Franks obvious eagerness and pleasant disposition caught the attention of the hospitals administrator who asked him one day to a meeting. Frank accepted but he couldn't ignore his nagging fear that maybe the man had caught onto the fact that he was an imposter. To his surprise, the administrator made the most unusual proposition. He asked Frank to take a temporary position at the hospital supervising medical interns during the night shift to replace a doctor who had to leave unexpectedly. Although Frank initially refused, the administrator was able to persuade him to take up the position. Before long, Frank was appointed to the hospital as a resident supervisor and given authorization to temporarily practice in the state of Georgia.

Frank used humor to cover the fact that he lacked the basic knowledge of a pediatrician. If he didn't know something or was asked an uncomfortable question, he would joke about it and skirt around the issue, often leaving the actual details of the work to other resident doctors. His wit and humor worked well for him. It successfully covered his ignorance, but at the same time also earned him a reputation as a jovial, if eccentric, doctor who was much liked by the hospital staff.

Frank was able to maintain his position as a supervising doctor because he was not expected to actually perform any medical procedures on patients. He knew that the moment he was asked to tend to a patient and make clinical decisions, his cover would be blown due to his lack of medical knowledge. It was only a matter of time before Franks charade would be tested, prompting him to rethink his potentially dangerous game.

One day, a child was brought into the hospitals emergency room with a leg injury. Frank was called into action to assist. Instead of treating the patient himself, he left the work to his interns who were eager to impress their supervisor. Frank managed the situation, yet it concerned him greatly that he was actually responsible for the lives of people. It was no longer a game to him.

Frank made the decision to leave the hospital at that moment, realizing that he could have endangered the child's life. He resigned shortly thereafter, having worked at the hospital for a little less than a year. He also made plans to leave the state. Franks next destination was Louisiana, where once again his life took another unexpected turn.

Breach of Trust
Genuine Artist Against 419 Myspace Artist Scammer [Explicit]
The Online Identity Theft Prevention Kit: Stop Scammers, Hackers, and Identity Thieves from Ruining Your Life
Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Revised and Expanded 2010 Edition: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong

Frank Abagnale, Jr : Ready, Set, Go...

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Sun, 30 May 2010 21:19:00 +0000

Frank left home with a checkbook and $200 in his bank account and set off to New York City. He temporarily lived with the family of a young boy whom he met during his train ride to the city. It wasnt long before Frank also found a job at a stationery firm, using his experience from working in his fathers business.
It was more difficult to earn a decent living than Frank initially thought, especially without a high school diploma. If he were to ever live on his own one day, he would have to make more than the $1.50 an hour he was earning. Frank had an idea that would increase his net worth in terms of his wages.

He decided to alter his birth date on his drivers license by adding another ten years to his age. His tactic was believable because he was mature for his age and six-foot tall with premature graying hair. Frank also decided to push the envelope a little further. He began to exaggerate about his education, knowing that it would likely result in a further increase in his wages. However, he quickly realized that even if he lied about his age and education, the jobs available would pay only enough to provide for the bare minimum in comfort. Frank had higher expectations.

The easiest route presented itself in the form of a checkbook. As soon as Frank arrived in New York, he opened a checking account and received blank checks. He was determined to use the checks in a less conventional manner than what they were intended for.

Instead of earning a living, Frank decided to quit his job and write bad checks in order to support himself. Before long, he had written hundreds of bum checks and had overdrawn on his checking account by thousands of dollars. Frank knew that the police would eventually catch up with him if he stayed where he was. So, he decided it was best to move away and change his name. While he was in the midst of determining what to do and where to go, Frank had a revelation.

According to an article by About.com, he was struck with an ingenious idea to alter his identity after witnessing several airline pilots and stewardess enjoying themselves outside of New Yorks Commodore Hotel. Frank thought that if he were able to get a hold of a pilots uniform he would have more success with cashing checks all about town because pilots were generally more credible and respected professionals. Thus, bank tellers would less likely be suspicious of him swindling money when he went to cash his bad checks.
From that moment on, Frank set his elaborate scheme into motion. He decided that he would find a way to get a uniform and whatever else he needed so that he could pose as a pilot in order to cash his checks. It would prove to be a more difficult con to pull off than what he initially expected.

In an interview with Norman Swan in March 2000, Frank described how he went about acquiring a Pan American (Pan Am) uniform and impersonating an airline pilot. He contacted a purchasing agent at Pan American Airlines corporate headquarters and told them he was a pilot for the company and that the hotel he was staying at in New York lost his uniform. He was instructed by the agent to visit a company specializing in Pan Am uniforms on 5^th Avenue, which he promptly did. That very day, Frank was fitted with a Pan Am co-pilots uniform, which was charged to a fictionalized employee number he invented while filling out the paper work.

Frank walked out of the building with his uniform in hand, having conquered one of the first of what would be many obstacles in his scheme. However, to make his new persona more believable, he realized he needed a Pan Am pass card. After looking in the yellow pages and making several phone calls, Frank learned that the 3M Company was responsible for making passes and IDs for several airline companies, including Pan Am.
Frank contacted the company, pretending to be a purchasing officer interested in buying new ID cards for his company. He then set up an interview. During the meeting with the sales representative, Frank was shown catalogs of the IDs they offered. He noticed in a catalog that there was a sample ID similar to that used by Pan Am. He told the salesman that he wanted to take back a completely finished copy of the pass, using as an example his picture and name so that his imaginary colleagues could see what the end result of the product would look like. The salesman complied with Franks request and made him a sample pass with his name and picture on it. The card was almost an exact replica of the Pan Am pass, but without the logo.

Frank solved the emblem problem by buying a model Pan Am plane, which had a copy of the logo inclusive in the model kit. He removed the famous symbol and carefully placed it on the ID pass card. The finished product looked almost flawless. Another obstacle was removed from Franks grand plan.

Frank had two more areas to cover before his new identity was complete, an FAA license that was required by every pilot and knowledge concerning the airline business. First, he decided to obtain as much information as possible about aviation, piloting and terminology used by those in the industry. Much of what he learned about the field came from library books, although they were often outdated.

In an attempt to update his budding knowledge about the aviation industry, Frank decided that it would be more lucrative to obtain information first hand. He arranged several interviews with executives and personnel at Pan Ams headquarters posing as a student doing a research project on the company and pilots. It was a brilliant idea. He gained a wealth of relevant information, including knowledge of company policies and regulations about co-pilots, the types of planes used and the international hubs where the airline flew.

Most importantly, Frank learned about deadheading. Deadheading was an airline employee privilege that allowed a worker to fly to far-off destinations on other airlines to fulfill specific job requirements elsewhere. The employers would almost always cover the expenses of the trip. Frank was particularly interested with this concept, because if he were able to pose as a pilot he might also be able to hitch free rides on the airplanes around the world. He kept the knowledge in the back of his head and focused on accomplishing his plan.

The next issue Frank had to resolve was the FAA license. He learned that without the license he would not be able to impersonate a pilot, because the crew was often required to show the FAA license to airline personnel prior to outbound flights. Frank solved the problem by obtaining a plaque from a firm specializing in mounting licenses in silver. According to Abagnales book, the FAA had a mail-order branch within the company. Frank falsified his name as Frank Williams and sent away for the plaque. Upon receiving it, he took the plaque to a printer and had it downsized, mounted on special paper and laminated. Voila! Frank was ready to take off into the wild blue yonder.

Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadership
Conned: Scams, Frauds and Swindles
Pan Am Orion (Vintage White/Pan Am Blue)
Pan Am: An Aviation Legend
Pan Am ORIGINALS - Passport Cover, Pan Am Blue/Vintage White

Frank Abagnale, Jr. : A Swindler is Born

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:26:00 +0000

While stationed in Oran, Algiers during World War II, Frank W. Abganale Sr. met and fell in love with a beautiful and young French-born woman named Paulette. The two were married shortly thereafter and moved to the suburbs of New York following the war. While there, Frank Sr. established and ran what became a highly profitable stationery store on Madison Avenue. The couple had one daughter and three sons including Frank W. Abagnale Jr. who was born on April 27, 1948.

Frank Jr. had an uncomplicated early childhood and maintained a good relationship with his parents, especially with his father with whom he was particularly close. However, in his mid teens Frank Jr.s life took an unexpected turn when his mother decided to leave his father. The separation was not only difficult for Frank Jr. and his siblings, but especially so for Frank Sr. who remained deeply in love with his wife.

Frank Jr.s life was forever changed by his parents separation and eventual divorce. Following the breakup, Frank Jr. chose to live alone with his father after moving from the family home in Bronxville, New York. The two shared a very close relationship and often spent time together. Frank Sr. would sometimes take his son with him on business outings where hed meet up with other prominent businessmen, street-wise blue collar workers and politicians. Frank Jr. learned a great deal from his interactions with his fathers associates, which greatly contributed to his already burgeoning store of knowledge. Yet, although Frank Jr. showed obvious signs of high intellect, it didnt prevent him from getting into trouble during his teenage years.

At around the time his parents divorced Frank Jr. got mixed up with a gang of juvenile delinquents, who often took part in petty crimes, including shoplifting. Eventually, Frank Jr. broke away from the gang whose practice of thievery was far too unsophisticated for him, especially after they were arrested and thrown temporarily into a juvenile detention center. The incident did not prevent him from stealing, but instead marked the beginning of an extensive criminal career. Frank Jr. was a clever teenager and began to develop more proficient and lucrative ways of obtaining money.

Despite his bad behavior, Franks father forgave him and even entrusted him with a 1952 Ford and a gas credit card. The car and gas card were to be used to help little Frank get to his new part-time clerical job at a nearby warehouse. However, Frank Jr. had other plans.

Like most teenage boys, girls were at the forefront of Franks thoughts. He was an attractive youth who didnt have much difficulty attracting attention from young ladies. To his delight, the car elicited even more notice from the opposite sex, which resulted in a steady flow of dates. The only problem was that he made a limited amount of money from his part-time job. He had to devise another method of being able to afford to take his girlfriends out. It wasnt long before he decided that the gas card could serve as a key to solving his problems.
Frank devised a clever, yet unethical scheme for obtaining money. Over a period of several months, Frank Jr. went about town charging items from the gas station onto his credit card. He made deals with numerous gas station attendants, in which he would charge countless numbers of tires, car batteries and other accessories onto the card and then be given in return only a fraction of the amount of the sale back in cash. The attendants pocketed the remaining part of the money, usually around 50%. It seemed like a win, win situation. The gas attendant made a buck, Frank Jr. obtained quick cash and the gas station also profited when it came time to collect on the bill. Yet, it wasn't necessarily a winning situation for Franks father who eventually got stuck with a gas bill of several thousand dollars.

Following his devious exploits, Frank was returned to his mothers custody and promptly placed in a private school for delinquent boys for the period of one year. Also around the time of his sons reckless caper, Frank Sr.s stationery business was undergoing financial difficulty. It is believed that the enormous credit card bill further exacerbated his monetary problems. Eventually, Frank Sr. faced financial ruin and the closing of his stationery store.

Frank Jr. later showed regret for having duped his father whom he loved and respected greatly. He was simply a young man with growing needs and an insatiable appetite for women and adventure. Unfortunately, money played an important role in the pursuit of his interests. None-the-less, Frank Sr. was a confident and forgiving man and showed little concern for his loss of fortune or anger at his sons misdeeds.

Due to the stress surrounding the divorce and his fathers financial misfortune, Frank left home in 1964 at the age of sixteen. He was determined to forge his own way in the world, which was exactly what he did. In fact, he would become one of the countrys most notorious forgers.

Pan Am Orion (Vintage White/Pan Am Blue)
Pan Am
Vintage White Pan Am Luggage Originals Secret Agent
PAN AM Vintage Postcard Collection
Pan Am: An Aviation Legend

Frank Abagnale, Jr : On The Run

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:12:00 +0000

One of the most notorious Grifters was Frank Abagnale. Some of you may have heard of his book and movie by the same name, Catch Me If You Can.

Here's the story of Frank Abagnale in short.

Frank was luckier than his fellow inmates that he left behind within the walls of the infamous French prison Perpignan. He had just finished a six-month stint in the jail, where he almost died from malnutrition and pneumonia. It was no wonder, living and sleeping in his own fecal matter and urine on a stone floor for the duration of his sentence. Those who remained in the prison continued to live a subhuman existence.

Frank was transferred from Perpignan to a low security prison in Sweden. Within the Swedish prison, the treatment of inmates and the conditions were considerably better -- far cry from the filth hole he left behind. Frank had been sentenced to six months, which sped by quickly in the near luxurious conditions. However, near the end of his sentence his passport was revoked and he awaited deportation from Sweden back to the United States.

Although he feared a harsher sentence in America than that which he had in Sweden, it would be nothing compared to the prisons of the twelve other countries that wanted to extradite him for passing bad checks. Many of the foreign prisons were similar to the nightmarish penitentiary in France. But regardless of where he served his time, just the mere thought of being incarcerated for a large portion of his young adulthood spooked Frank. He decided to make a daring escape.

During his deportation from Sweden, Frank was escorted onto a plane bound for New Yorkwhere officers awaited to take him into custody. Enroute to the United States, Frank plotted a way to escape from the plane. During the last ten minutes before the plane landed in America, Frank made his way to the planes toilet. He had a working knowledge of the structural components of the aircraft and knew that beneath the toilet was a hatch leading to the underbelly of the plane.

According to Frank W. Abagnales autobiography, Catch Me if You Can, he locked himself in the planes bathroom and immediately began to unscrew the compartment surrounding the toilet. Once it was loose, Frank lifted the apparatus, revealing an open compartment. He then climbed in and crawled beneath the plane, waiting for it to touch the ground during its descent towards the landing strip. In the darkness of the night, he jumped from the plane as it approached the ground and ran from the landing strip. He was free but only temporarily.

Once in New York, Frank made his way to an old acquaintances house where he kept a stash of clothes and money. He stayed there only briefly before he left for Montreal, where a safe deposit box with thousands of dollars awaited him. Frank intended to use the money to buy a non-stop ticket to Brazil, a place where the extradition of criminals was not practiced.

While awaiting his flight to South America, Frank was recognized and arrested by Canadian police. Shortly thereafter, he was released into the custody of the FBI who made sure Frank was safely delivered to a federal detention center. Several months later, he was transferred to a prison in Georgia to await trial. Once again, Frank decided to attempt another bold escape. This time he enlisted the help of an outsider, an ex-girlfriend.

Abagnale stated that during the time of his incarceration, federal penal institutions were under intense scrutiny by public and government officials. Many of the institutions were investigated following an outcry for prisoners civil rights. At the time, it was not unusual for undercover agents to pose as inmates in an effort to get information during their investigations into the prisons. Many of the guards working in the prisons made sport of who actually was or was not an inmate or an agent.

From the moment Frank was committed to the institution, guards speculated that he was an undercover federal agent there to report on the conditions of the prison. He simply looked and acted the part. Frank went out of his way to confirm their suspicions.

Frank's ex-girlfriend posed as a journalist and went to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. to hold a mock interview with an inspector. Before her departure she obtained a business card with the mans name inscribed on it. She later gave the card to Frank to be used in his plot to free himself.

Once in possession of the card, he persuaded the guards that he really was an undercover agent. He showed them the card and told them that he was a prison inspector. The guards laughed stating that they knew who he was all along. Much to his surprise, the men fell for his con and they eventually released him from the prison. Frank promptly fled back to New York and then to Washington, D.C.

While in the capital city, Frank stayed in a hotel where he planned his movement to another location. One day during his stay, he realized that FBI men surrounded his room. Taken off guard, he had moments to plan an escape from his current predicament.

Frank audaciously walked past the armed officers that waited for him, despite their orders for him to freeze. He coolly stated that he too was an FBI agent waiting for the arrival of another inspector. He then ordered the officers to continue their pursuit of the criminal. Surprisingly, the men dropped their weapons that were pointing at him and walked away towards the room where they believed the perpetrator to be. They hadn't realized that they had just let the offender go. Frank walked briskly from the scene and escaped into the sunset.

There is no doubt that everyone has talents, whether hidden or exposed. Frank W. Abagnale was no exception to the rule. Not only did he have many talents but he was a genius in the truest sense of the word, however misdirected he may have been. The truth is, among some of Franks best known and least appreciated talents was his remarkable ability to create and utilize false identities as well as bogus checks. He was a con artist extraordinaire and probably one of the centurys most cunning swindlers. His talent for deceiving the authorities and cheating banks, airlines and hotels out of millions of dollars was unprecedented.

Even more extraordinary was that he was between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one-years old when he committed the majority of his crimes.

Catch Me If You Can (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake
Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime
Catch Me If You Can(Broadway)

Avoiding Cons

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Online Sales Scams

Another Internet con preys on people who sell items online. Someone will respond to a classified ad offering to buy the item or win an item in an eBay auction, but they require the use of a special shipping company or claim that a banking regulation requires them to pay with a large cashier's check. The check will be in an amount that far exceeds the item's cost (a $5,000 check for a $100 item, for example). The con artist instructs the seller to cash the check, keep the amount owed for the item, then send the rest of the cash back to him. This supposedly satisfies the regulation or shipping company. If the seller doesn't bother waiting for the check to clear -- and many don't -- the con artist will get nearly $5,000 in cash in return for a check that eventually bounces, leaving the victim on the hook for the full amount.

Home Improvement Cons

Often, a con artist working a home improvement con will approach a homeowner with a story similar to this one:

We were doing some work down the street, and I noticed it looks like you could use a new roof. We have some supplies left over from the other job, and we'll have to return them to the supplier either way, so I can use the leftovers to give you a new roof for a really low price.

Once the phony roofer has the money in hand, he'll disappear. No new roof. Some con artists are actual contractors, but they run scams as part of their business. They might get halfway through the roofing job, then demand more money. When a person has half a roof on his house, he's not in much of a position to argue. The roofer might actually complete the work, but do a poor job or use sub-standard materials. Worse still, he might have a clause in the contract that allows him to put a lien on the house and foreclose if the owner misses a payment. If you refuse to pay for the shoddy work, you could end up losing the whole house.

Home improvement scams sometimes involve kickbacks to other con artists. A contractor approaches a homeowner with an offer to do work, and then directs the owner to a specific person who will help finance the money required for the job. This "friend" might give the owner a terrible rate on the loan, sending some of it back to the contractor. In other scams, a "home inspector" shows up, claiming to represent the city or county code enforcement office. She might even have an ID that appears valid. This inspector will invariably find several major problems that violate the code and could result in hefty fines. As an option, she directs the owner to a friend who can do the work for a good price. It usually isn't a good price, and it's never good work. Cheap materials, shoddy workmanship and unnecessary replacements are the hallmarks of these "home improvement specialists. "

Avoiding the Con in Construction-How to plan for hassle-free home building, renovation & repair
The Art of the Con: Avoiding Offender Manipulation --2001 publication.
Avoiding Relapse: Catching Your Inner Con
Ripped Off on Ebay: A Step-by-Step Guide to Recovering from an Ebay Scam
The eBay Survival Guide: How To Make Money and Avoid Losing Your Shirt

The Nigerian Money Transfer Scam

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Widespread use of the Internet has given con artists another way to scam people. Cons such as Internet auction fraud or phishing sites that try to steal credit card and bank account numbers are common, but there are more insidious Internet cons in which the con artists try to earn the personal trust of their victims.

Nigerian money transfer scams are also known as 419 scams; 419 is a section of Nigerian law related to fraud.

Perhaps the most infamous of all Internet cons is the Nigerian money transfer, or advance fee fraud. Virtually everyone with an e-mail address has received a come-on for this con at some point. Someone from Nigeria (or another African country), perhaps a relative of a recently deposed ruler, informs you that he needs your assistance in a very important matter. It seems that this deposed ruler has millions of dollars stashed away in a secure bank account. However, he can't access any of this money without paying certain fees, bribes and fines to Nigerian authorities. That's where the victim comes in -- to provide money to pay these costs. The victim is assured that once the costs are paid, the government will release the money and a he will receive a huge return on his investment. Often the e-mail promises a large percentage of the total sum.
Anyone who has actually sent money to these con artists will soon find that other fees crop up. The money may get held up at the border, so more money is needed to bribe the customs officials. The con artists often request personal information such as Social Security numbers and copies of passports. This goes on and on, playing on one of the most nefarious aspects of long-term cons -- once the victim has spent a significant amount of money, he believes if he just spends a little more then he'll get it all back. With so much money already invested, most people find it very difficult to walk away. Some people have been lured to the country of origin, kidnapped and held for ransom. There is even a documented murder related to such a case. The country of Nigeria is notorious for a combination of poverty and lax law enforcement, especially with regards to financial scams. The section of Nigerian law relating to fraud is 419, so these scams are sometimes referred to as 419 scams. But the scams can originate from anywhere, as our example above shows.

419 Scam: Exploits of the Nigerian Con Man
Scams & Swindles: Phishing, Spoofing, ID Theft, Nigerian Advance Schemes Investment Frauds: How to Recognize And Avoid Rip-Offs In The Internet Age
Nigerian Scam (Ring Tone)
Tuesdays with Mantu: My Adventures with a Nigerian Con Artist
The Nigerian Scam Masters: An Expose of a Modern International Gang
How to Evade Being Scammed Online and Offline and What You Should Know
419 Scam: Exploits of the Nigerian Con Man. (Reviews).(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Security Management

Business and Internet Cons

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Stock market scams and marketing schemes make up the bulk of business cons. These cons often take advantage of the arcane rules of business accounting and stock trading, and people's overall ignorance of these rules. Other scams take advantage of greed and poor math skills.

Stock Market Scams

In the "pump and dump" con, con artists cold call people with offers to buy an impressive stock. They use hard sell tactics and claim they have information that the stock will be very successful (the "pump"). The con artists themselves own many shares of these stocks, but the stocks are worthless and represent an investment in a non-existent company. Once enough investors buy the stock, its value starts to increase. When it gets high enough, the con artists sell all their shares (the "dump") and disappear with the proceeds as well as all the money the investors gave them.

Pyramid Schemes

These common cons continue to fool people year after year, even though they are illegal and simply don't work. Although pyramid schemes predate the 1920 scam run by Charles Ponzi, his scheme reached so many people and bilked them out of so much money that his name became synonymous with this type of scam.

In any pyramid scheme, investors are recruited to pay the company owner, who is the con artist at the top of the pyramid. There may be an actual business, such as Ponzi's buying and reselling of postal reply coupons to take advantage of exchange rates, or it may be a pure pyramid. People pass money to those above them in the pyramid and wait to receive money from anyone who signs up below them. Even if there is a real business, it can never make enough money to repay all the investors. Chain letters instructing people to send $5 to 10 others on a list are also pyramid schemes.

Each person who joins the pyramid sends money to someone above them. Then they have to recruit people below them. The new recruits send their money up the pyramid. Since the number of people recruited increases at each level, the people in the higher levels will supposedly make huge amounts of money. A simple common sense question would stop anyone from entering such a scheme: if we're going to make all this money without actually selling anything, where is the money coming from? The answer: most of the people in the pyramid are going to lose their money. Only the top two or three levels will see any money (and the recruiter will tell you you're at the top even if you're nowhere near it). Eventually, it becomes impossible to recruit enough people to support the pyramid. If each member has to recruit five new victims for the level below, it doesn't take too many levels before the exponential increase in needed recruits exceeds the entire population of the Earth.

Today, companies that call themselves "multi-level marketing" firms are basically pyramid schemes with a fancy name. There are legitimate multi-level marketing companies. They usually involve people selling products such as cosmetics or kitchen items at parties. However, if a company bills itself as a multi-level marketer or franchise opportunity, is vague about what it sells and/or specific profit margins, or if it focuses on charging franchise fees rather than actually selling anything, it's a pyramid scheme.

Pyramid Scheme
60 Minutes - The Swindler (October 4, 2009)
False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes
The Losing Game: Why You Can't Beat Wall Street
Master Con Man
Stock market: Scams, swindles and scoundrels, how to recognize and avoid them

How Con Artists Work

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:28:00 +0000

Con artists make money through deception. They lie, cheat and fool people into thinking they've happened onto a great deal or some easy money, when they're the ones who'll be making money. If that doesn't work, they'll take advantage of our weaknesses -- loneliness, insecurity, poor health or simple ignorance. The only thing more important to a con artist than perfecting a con is perfecting a total lack of conscience.

What does the average con artist look like? Despite what you may think, he isn't always a shady-looking character. A con artist is an expert at looking however he needs to look. If the con involves banking or investments, the con artist will wear a snappy suit. If it involves home improvement scams, he'll show up wearing well-worn work clothes. Even the basic assumption that the con is a "he" is incorrect: there are plenty of con women too.

You might think you can spot a con artist because he's someone you instinctively "don't trust." But the term con artist is short for confidence artist -- they gain your confidence just long enough to get their hands on your money. They can be very charming and persuasive. A good con artist can even make you believe he is really an old friend you haven't seen in years.

Con artists do share certain characteristics, however. Even the best con can only go on for so long before people start getting suspicious. For that reason, con artists tend to move frequently. They may have a job that allows this, or they might claim to have such a job. Railroad worker, carnival worker and traveling salesman are all parts con artists play to cover up their constant relocations.

It would be impossible to catalogue every con, because con artists are inventive. While many cons are simply variations on ones that are hundreds of years old, new technologies and laws give con artists the opportunity to create original scams. Many cons tend to fall into a few general categories, however: street cons, business cons, Internet cons, loan cons and home improvement cons.

Street Cons

These are cons that usually happen quickly in a public place. They generally involve the loss of small amounts of money -- a few hundred dollars is a good take for a street con. The victim is usually approached by a stranger who has an offer, makes a bet, or is reacting to something seemingly random and unrelated that has happened nearby. This "random" event is, of course, something the con artist set up well ahead of time.

Street cons include:

The Pedigree Dog
A stranger walks into a bar with a dog trailing him on a leash. He asks if the owner can watch his dog for a few minutes while he places a bet or attends to a business deal. While the stranger is gone, a second con artist arrives and notices the dog. He claims to be an expert on dog breeding, and says that this dog is worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. He asks the owner if the dog is for sale because he'll pay top dollar. The entire scam hinges on the bar owner's greed. The assumption is he'll see the chance to buy the dog from the unsuspecting owner for a low price, then sell the valuable dog to this "expert breeder." He tells the dog expert to come back later, then offers to buy the dog when its owner returns. The dog's owner sells it, but the "expert" never comes back to buy it. The two con artists walk away with a few hundred dollars, and the bar owner gets stuck with a "mutt." In Neil Gaiman's novel "American Gods," two characters discuss this con using a violin instead of a dog.
The Pigeon Drop
There are several variations of this con, but they all start with the victim and the con artist both spotting something of value lying around. It's usually an envelope or bag full of money, but it could be a diamond ring. The con artist tries to get the victim to notice the envelope first, making him less likely to suspect that the con artist planted it. A second con artist may get involved as the victim and the first con artist decide to split up the found money, demanding a fair share since he saw it too.

At this point, the cons will suggest that everyone put some of their own money into the envelope as "good faith money," to show that they're financially responsible people. Once all of the money is in the envelope, it is divided into thirds and returned to the victim and the two con artists. However, through sleight of hand and a distraction, the victim gets an envelope full of paper scraps.
In the ring variation, the con artist claims to have some expertise in jewelry assessment, and proclaims the ring to be worth several hundred dollars or more. However, not having time to sell or pawn the ring, the con artist offers to let the victim buy out his half. So the victim pays what he can to the con artist and keeps the "valuable" ring, which is actually a cheap fake. The victim, or "pigeon," is "dropped" and left with nothing.
Three-card Monte
In this famous street con, a con artist has a table with three cards in front of her. One card is flipped over to reveal that it is the Ace of Spades (or any other card). The victim places a bet that he can keep an eye on that card while the con artist quickly rearranges the cards on the table. If the correct card is picked, the victim wins. Friends of the con artist play the game, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, to give the victim the impression that it is a fair game he might win if he has a sharp eye. In reality, the con artist is a master of sleight of hand, able to switch cards without the victim noticing. No matter how carefully he watches, the victim will never pick the right card unless the con artist wants him to. Variations include the use of shells (a "shell game" is sometimes used to mean any kind of deceptive scam) or cups with the victim trying to spot a quarter, a pea or a ball held within one of the shells.

Sting Shift: The Street-Smart Cop's Handbook of Cons and Swindles
CONS Street Sign ~ Personalized Family Lastname Sign ~ Gameroom, Basement, Garage Sign Novelty** METAL ALUMINUM
Con Air
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking

Notable Con Artists

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:58:00 +0000

Born in the 18th century

Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845) – Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for a non-existent country of Poyais
Jean Henri Latude (1725–1805) - French confidence man and possible lunatic who, famously, extorted money from the Madame de Pompadour and endured thirty-five years of confinement, in the Bastille and at Vincennes, for his efforts

Born or active in the 19th century

Lou Blonger (1849–1924) – organized massive ring of con men in Denver in early 1900s
Helga de la Brache (1817-1885)
Horace de Vere Cole (1881–1936)
Canada Bill Jones – riverboat gambler and card sharp
Victor Lustig (1890–1947) – born in Bohemia (today's Czech Republic) and known as "the man who sold the Eiffel Tower"
George C. Parker (1870–1936) — U.S. con man who sold New York monuments to tourists
Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) – "Ponzi scheme" is a "get rich fast" fraud named after him
Death Valley Scotty (1872–1954) prospector, performer, and con man, famous for gold mining scams and the mansion in Death Valley known as Scotty's Castle.
Soapy Smith (1860–1898) — confidence gang boss, who operated in Denver, Colorado; Creede, Colorado; and Skagway, Alaska
William Thompson (active in 1840–1849) – U.S. criminal whose deceptions caused the term confidence man to be coined
Joseph Weil (1875–1976) – one of the most famous American con men of his era
Cassie Chadwick (1857–1907) — defrauded several U.S. banks out of millions of dollars by claiming to be an illegitimate daughter and heiress of Andrew Carnegie.

Born or active in the 20th century

Bernie Cornfeld (1927–1995) – ran the Investors Overseas Service, alleged to be a Ponzi scheme
Richard Eaton (1937–1979) - con artist, saloon owner, and general manager of Moo Moo Vedda's dress factory and an associate of the Lucchese crime family.
David Hampton (1964–2003) - Inspiration for the play and film Six Degrees of Separation
Konrad Kujau (1938–2000) - German forger of the supposed Hitler Diaries
Eduardo de Valfierno – Argentine con man who allegedly masterminded the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911

Living people

Frank Abagnale (1948) — U.S. cheque forger and impostor; his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, was made into a movi^e
Peter Foster (1962) — Australian conman with convictions and imprisonment on three continents for fraud and money laundering, known for the Bai Lin slimming tea scam and involvement in property transactions with Cherie Blair.
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter (1961) — Bavarian-born con artist who, for nearly two decades, claimed to be a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family.
Robert Hendy-Freegard (1971) — Briton who kidnapped people by impersonating an MI5 agent and conned them out of money.
James Arthur Hogue (1959) — U.S. impostor who most famously entered Princeton University by posing as a self-taught orphan
Clifford Irving (1930) — U.S. writer, best known for a false "authorized autobiography" of Howard Hughes.
Samuel Israel III (1959) — Ran the former fraudulent Bayou Hedge Fund Group; faked suicide.
Bon Levi (1943) — Aka Ron the Con and Ronald Frederick. Arguably Australia's most notorious conman who tricked Australian and U.S. citizens into investing in scam franchise businesses. He has been jailed both in Australia and the United States.
Bernard Lawrence Madoff (1938) — American former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market who admitted running a world-record $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Headed the hedge fund Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC until his arrest in 2008. In March 2009 he pled guilty to 11 federal crimes.
Matt the Knife (1981) — American-born card cheat and pickpocket who bilked corporations, casinos, and at least one Mafia crime family.
Barry Minkow (1967) — American entrepreneur. His company, ZZZZ Best, cost investors an estimated $100 million before he served seven years in prison for fraud and other offenses.
Semion Mogilevich (1946) — is a billionaire organized crime boss and a global con artist believed by European and United States federal law enforcement agencies to be the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world.
Lou Pearlman (1954) — U.S. businessman and manager of boy bands, sentenced to 25 years for operating a Ponzi investment scheme
Casey Serin (1982) — Self-confessed mortgage fraudster who became the "poster child" of the housing bubble.
Solomon Dwek (c.1973) Syrian-Jewish Orthodox rabbi and real estate investor from Deal, New Jersey who pleaded guilty to a $50,000,000 bank fraud involving PNC Bank.
Michael Sabo (1945) Best known for his history as a check, stocks and bonds forger. He became notorious in the 1960s and throughout the 1990s as a "Great Impostor", and was featured on national TV, had over 100 aliases, and earned millions.
Peter Popoff - German-born American con man who takes in money by promising wealth and other benefits to be sent by God.

Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work...And Why They're More Common Than Ever
Need and Greed: The True Story of the Largest Ponzi Scheme in American History
The Hit Charade: Lou Pearlman, Boy Bands, and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. History

Confidence Trick : Definition

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:44:00 +0000

A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, hustle, scam, scheme, swindle or bamboozle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. The victim is known as the mark, the trickster is called a confidence man, con man, confidence trickster, or con artist, and any accomplices are known as shills. Confidence men or women exploit human characteristics such as greed and dishonesty, and have victimized individuals from all walks of life.

History

The first known usage of the term "confidence man" in English was in 1849; it was used by American press during the United States trial of William Thompson. Thompson chatted with strangers until he asked if they had the confidence to lend him their watches, whereupon he would walk off with the watch; he was captured when a victim recognized him on the street.

Vulnerability to confidence tricks

Confidence tricks exploit typical human qualities such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity and naïveté. The common factor is that the mark relies on the good faith of the con artist.

Just as there is no typical profile for swindlers, neither is there one for their victims. Virtually anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes. ... Certainly victims of high-yield investment frauds may possess a level of greed which exceeds their caution as well as a willingness to believe what they want to believe. However, not all fraud victims are greedy, risk-taking, self-deceptive individuals looking to make a quick dollar. Nor are all fraud victims naïve, uneducated, or elderly.

A greedy or dishonest mark may attempt to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning. This is such a general principle in confidence tricks that there is a saying among con men that "you can't cheat an honest man."

Shills, also known as accomplices, help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man's plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be strangers who have benefited from performing the task in the past.

The Ultimate Book of Confidence Tricks: Boost Your Confidence to an All-time High
RELIGION The Greatest Confidence Trick In History
Confidence Tricks
Confidence Trick (2002 Digital Remaster)

Alleged 'Supernatural' Gay Grifter Murder Ringleader Hires Self as Attorney

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:33:00 +0000

Kaushal Niroula, the Nepalese-born purported con man on trial for allegedly masterminding a plan to murder and loot a Palm Springs retiree, has been given a judge's blessing to act as his own attorney, according to The Desert Sun.

Niroula, 28, who during his alleged San Francisco con-man career carried himself as if he were a high-rolling Nepalese Prince, had burned through three attorneys since he and his four alleged co-conspirators were arrested a year ago.

Niroula, along with San Francisco attorney David Replogle, 60, ex-Niroula boyfriend Danny Garcia, 27, and purported hired muscle Craig McCarthy, 30, face first-degree murder charges in connection with the December, 2008 disappearance of Clifford Lambert. The five men are accused of killing Lambert so he could not contest forged power of attorney documents used to sell his Palm Springs house.

It's tempting to think that Niroula is just another foolhardy and arrogant criminal defendant unable to accept bad news relayed by his attorneys. Bolstering this view is the way Niroula seemed desperate to concoct elaborate fantasies about his own life. He is alleged to have stolen more than $1 million and then spent it maintaining a high-power facade, with fancy hotel rooms, travel, clothes, limousines, and other high-life accouterments.

It's possible Niroula's decision to defend himself is merely an extension of his megalomaniac fantasy life.

SF Weekly's reporting, however, suggests something else at play.

As previuosly reported in this space, Niroula may be an earthly vessel for supernatural forces of evil, and may possess personal powers allowing him to hold sway over the U.S. criminal justice system.

"There are too many instances of him getting out and going free to blame it on his charisma or a lack of good police work," said Hawaii attorney Stephen Shaw, who represented Megumi Hisamatsu, a Japanese woman who has claimed in a San Francisco federal lawsuit that Niroula bilked her out of $500,000. "I attribute it to the supernatural. He's evil. He's like a vessel. And if people don't treat it like this, he's going to continue doing what he's doing."

When Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing ruled earlier this month that Niroula will now drive his own defense, did he ask himself: Can Riverside County prosecutors and juries penetrate a netherworld defense?

"Somebody along the line -- a judge, or a probation officer -- is going to agree with me and say, 'I'm seeing this as a presence of evil,'" said Shaw, when we interviewed him last year.

Apparently Judge Downing does not fit that description.

Five Great Novels: Coward's Kiss; Grifter's Game; You Could Call it Murder; The Girl With the Long Green Heart; Deadly Honeymoon
The Grifters (Miramax Collector's Series)
Most Frightening Music in the Universe
P'town Murders: A Bradford Fairfax Murder Mystery

Harvard Got Swindled...

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:32:00 +0000

WOBURN, Massachusetts ~Veritas -- that is to say, "truth" -- was the last thing on the mind of a Delaware man who allegedly faked his way into Harvard and duped the Ivy League school out of $45,000 in financial aid, grants and scholarships.

Adam Wheeler, 23, was admitted to Harvard and became a student in 2007 after he falsely claimed he had a perfect academic record at Phillips Academy in Andover and had studied for a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, prosecutors said Monday.

Ultimately, authorities said, Wheeler's attempts to be an overachiever were his undoing: Harvard started to look into Wheeler's background after he sought the school's endorsement for prestigious Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships.

A professor reviewing his application noticed similarities between Wheeler's writing and that of a colleague, prosecutors said. Wheeler was indicted on 20 offenses, including larceny, identity fraud and pretending to hold a degree.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. Wheeler, who was studying English, was trying to transfer to Yale and Brown when he got caught in the "web of lies and deceit," District Attorney Gerry Leone said.

"This defendant's actions cheated those who competed honestly and fairly for admissions and for the scholarships that this defendant fraudulently obtained," Leone said.

Harvard released a statement saying it could not discuss individual cases because of federal privacy laws and referred all questions to the Middlesex District Attorney's office.

Before attending Harvard, Wheeler was a student at Bowdoin College in Maine from 2005-07, but was suspended for academic dishonesty, authorities said.

The Griftology: Although Harvard is made up of extremely intelligent people on their staff, there is always someone smarter. So the guy lied about his past. Who cares! He was obviously smart enough to get past dozens of panels, admissions staff, loan approval committees, etc, etc, etc. And then was able to still make the grades for almost 3 years before applying to transfer to Yale. That's the kind of guy they should want at Harvard. He's obviously extremely intelligent, just not quite crafty enough to be a full-time Grifter. Of course, he will probably just get probation for these offenses, so he can go on to grift again in a couple of years when it's all over and he has also convinced a judge to "Expunge" his record. LOL.

The Grifters (Miramax Collector's Series Film)
The Grifters (Paperback)
Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son
Grifter's Game (Hard Case Crime)

About Us

noreply@blogger.com (The Daily Grifter) — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Welcome to THE DAILY GRIFTER.

The Daily Grifter is a periodical that will blow your mind by delivering Stories, Articles and Awareness Posts about the most notorious modern day and past Grifters (Con-Men).

Here you will not only read about today's Cons and Con Men, but also the infamous ones who have sealed their names forever in the Grifter Hall of Shame.

We will also tell you about ongoing Cons to avoid in today's society as they present themselves through your emails, telephones, computers, place of business and even at your own doorstep.

The Daily Grifter has contracted several of the "best" Grifters (reformed) in the world to bring you the insight into some of the world's most scandalous, conniving and sometimes even evil scams and scammers that have ever existed.