Talk:Confidence trick

wrong redirection of "scam" term, Is this vandalism? Please reinstate "scam" in below meaning in area of Internet and computers

The scam is commony used in internet and computer slang. Below I enclose automated translation of other language version of "scam" term. I think easiest would be to place it here around. I am not sure but when such important term as "scam" has disappeared I would suspect an act of intentional vandalism, or unintentional damage of Wikipedia content. "Scam" also can have more meanings wht perhaps would be a solution and acceptable compromise. Below translation, sorry automated, so may need some corrections. Scam is not the same thing as a con and should not be displayed on the page entitled 'confidence trick'

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Scam definition

'Scam' - the act of introducing someone in error by the suggestion that he is the beneficiary of a good, mostly financial. The purpose of this activity is to carry out difficult to prove fraud. Scam is the most common form of correspondence in the form of traditional or electronic - the variety of spam.

mail/spam scam

With its content, it's (usually implies that) probably the allegedly mistaken addressing of that correspondence.

Web Pages scam

Another forms of scam are websites that offer high returns and very valuable information most often in exchange for a small contribution of investment (HYIP). It could also be filling in questionnaires, data entry online and receive by e-mail ads (GPT). There is also a lot of matrimonial agencies (mainly in Russia), whose goal is to enlist as many people (SCAM VICTIM) in order to extort money from them for alleged visa and travel to beautiful women known via the Internet. When registering for this type of site required e-mail address, so it is often the cause of a large number of spam in mailbox.

In some cases, the party initially pays that later transformed into a scam, be more profitable. After a short time scam disappears from the network or announces change of ownership, which in reality does not necessarily occurred.

Scam on the Shareaza

An example of the active scam page scamowej (at 2007-12-23) is site available at www.shareaza.com, a previous project home page of known P2P network client . This is an example where, following the acquisition of a known location by unknown individuals, there is a trap for unsuspecting and unwary surfer. In this case it is an incentive to download the file "shareazaV4.exe" or respectivly v5,v6 etc., which manages the installer of commonly known software of Shareaza.

The potential hazard to the user may provide the following indications:

1) The site (by software authors) has lost its old structure, have disappeared: discussion forums, sub, languages - in a word almost everything - left was just minimum site with the option "download", 2) site layout uses a distorted image elements of the original page, note the deformed logo which is "similar" 3) There is no way of checking who maintains and creates what is on the page, any communication between interested in persons has been cut off. 4) elements of the site to which everyone is accustomed are to appear soon ("...coming soon..."), 5) file name of "shareazaV5.exe" for download only recalls the original files such as "Shareaza_2.2.5.0.exe. 6) In consequesces of using site or downloaded file scammed person give scammers personal data including card numbers and is to pay money. They can't be claimed as there is no real adress to where they are paid or even phone of receiver.

In fact, the real service operates at http://shareaza.sourceforge.net/. It is instructive to compare the original and the scam site.

Scam on the Ebay

Scamu on ebay example, are those offering mysterious ways, supposedly allowing for earning a few thousand dollars in one day, without leaving home and the issue of extra money. In addition to the description of the auction shall be accompanied by photographs vendor, with a very elegant car or home.

Examples of ways, at a price of $ 30:

1. Buy e-book for $ 10 from someone 2. Obrób his program for $ 300 3. Purchasing a server for $ 500 4. Create a page to promote e-book.

Method Two: Earn money by Forex

The third way: Sell jewelry, homemade.

Scam in online games

Scam in online games takes place during the exchange of objects. The seller and the buyer opens a window replacement, the seller shall issue a valuable item, the buyer shall issue an appropriate amount of cash, including changing the type when a valuable item on a much smaller value, but not different in appearance. Players approve the exchange, and the buyer instead of the desired item got the trash in equipment and lost considerable sum of money. The seller retains the item and the money. <<<

In above "scam" article contains different, but lost, meaning and the knowledge very important to let people to know what they risk with scam. The lack of this article is serious lost for Wikipedia content IMHO, and lack of description of common problem of "scam" and "scammers". I'd be very happy for reinstating it. Greetings to all wikipedists.

what!? has anyone here ever heard of "short-changing"?

the most common form (i would imagine) of confidence tricks is short-changing (a.k.a quick-changing). it seems odd that this is not mentioned here, or that it doesn't have it's own aricle entry. someone listed a very petty version of it in the listed cons, but that is nowhere sufficient. the only idea i can think of is that somebody (administrator perhaps), wouldn't allow this in the article because it would encourage people to try it, because of it's relative ease to commit. anyone? Helio462

I'm so angry I don't have to pay you????

This paragraph is the first under "Other Confidence Tricks" and, in my opinion, comes across very soapbox-y and personal. Certainly, there's no reference offered to this particular "scam." I think it should be removed, but I'm new to this and therefore not sure if I should go ahead and do it or leave it those who have been responsible for editing this page so far. Also, the author seems like the kinda person who I wouldn't want to piss off, even in cyberspace. Please advise. Thanks.----guinevere34

Victims aren't just dishonest or greedy

You will have no difficulty obtaining cites to support the claim that:

Confidence men or women exploit human characteristics such as greed and dishonesty

because it is indeed a widely made claim -- but it originates with con artists themselves, to justify their crimes. Fact is that while some cons may rely on these moral failings in the victims, it is easy to find many examples that do not. The most obvious is the one that gave the name to "con tricks": what William Thompson exploited in the people who gave him their watches was trust. This is done a little better in a later section where the list is expanded to:

greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility and naïveté.

But even that list is far from complete. Currently, the most common con in my district is for a man dressed as a tradesman to come to the house of a frail, elderly person and claim to have noticed a serious structural defect in the roof whilst working on an adjoining house. Since he is in the area, he can fix it straight away for a discount price, but if the victim delays, he may not be able to come back for several weeks (during which time it is likely to rain.) If paid, he then climbs up on the roof, loosens some roofing and fastens it back down. Of course in reality no work was required and no real work was done. The principle thing the con man exploits here is simply the frail victim's inability to inspect his or her own roof. It could be argued that the victim is credulous in accepting an unsolicited opinion from a stranger, but really, what choice do most people have in trusting the professional opinion of a tradesman? Only trust one you find in the trade listings or yellow pages? -- but that's how the "lock out service" scam works!! (And if we accept the article's claim that The common factor is that the mark relies on the good faith of the con artist, what are we to make of the shell game or the Spanish Prisoner? In both of these it is assumed the victim will realise that player is a crook, but misunderstand how it works.) The only devious part in the roof repair scam is adding the time pressure, which prevents the victim from seeking a second opinion. Yet it is very plausible, because at present it really is quite difficult to obtain the services of most tradesmen, and urgent jobs like loose roofing can easily cost five times the normal rate.

Time pressure is indeed a common feature of scams (and high pressure sales!), but it, too, is not present in all of them; a long con is the exact opposite of time pressure, luring the victim into a false sense of security by doing things very slowly. In fact the only thing that all scams have in common is that they exploit some defect of human psychology that causes us to make erroneous decisions. -- 202.63.39.58 (talk) 09:26, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

• Comment There is a problem with the format of the Wikipedia navigation box called: Con artists. It looks wrong. An administrator/editor needs to fix it. Please see the bottom of the Confidence trick article.12.196.37.227 (talk) 18:42, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

"Long Con" redirects here, but...

...is not explained here. I hate it when that happens... -- megA (talk) 09:07, 3 April 2011 (UTC)