The Scam Handbook: The Secrets of the Con Artist

If you've ever watched the TV show Leverage or the movie Catch Me If You Can and wondered about the world of con artist and how they do what they do - this is the book for you. It's broken into two sections. The first shorter section covers "The Players" - the psychology and charachteristics of con artists, the different members that make up a con artists team, the types of marks they target, the law that chases them and the general anatomy of a scam. It's well-organized and interspersed with colorful pictures and graphics, as well as insets about famous con artists - all which combine to make it an easy read. The second larger section describes exactly how over forty different scams are conducted - ranging from the classic to the more modern ones. Although a few of the classic ones might be a little harder to pull off now - it's amazing to discover how the bulk of them have been working successfully for decades. Each scam description includes a two-page explanation with a simple diagram of how it works, a list of the players needed to make it work, the actual steps of scam and the variations of that scam one might see. (Sort of like a how-to guide for con artists - if you were ever leaning in that direction.) Again, those are interspersed with the occassional two page tale of con artists famous for a particular scam. Bottom Line: An informative,engaging read for anyone that wants to avoid being conned or just wants to look into the con artist world.