The Art of the Con Game:
Choking's Just the Beginning
CHOKE's Victor Mancini has perfected his own con game of acting like he's choking and then swindling the people who've supposedly saved his life. While his method may be more colorful than the average con artist's schtick, a wide variety of scams exist, whether they're still in use today or to immortalized by the history books (or this researcher's case, Wikipedia). Educate yourself below on some of these tricks -- and beware of black money!
P.S. If you think about it, we've all been bombarded with a certain type of scam -- SPAM!
"Black Money"
This is sometimes called as the "Wash Wash Scam." (Personally, I think "Black Money" sounds cooler.) A con artist attempts to swindle you by claiming their pile of currency-sized paper is actually money that's been dyed black to avoid detection (by customs, for instance). They persuade you to pay for the chemicals necessary to wash the "money" and -- naturally -- promise you part of the proceeds. (Why someone would fall for this -- and not wonder why the approaching person couldn't buy the chemicals themselves and keep all the money, is unclear to me). Believe it or not, the "Black Money" scam first appeared in the year 2000?! When I first read about it, I thought early 20th century, fer sure. But no, not so old-school. Anyway, avoid dark bills.
"The Embarrassing Check"
I like this scam best. Though Wikipedia is careful to point out that the "Embarrassing Check" routine may be a mere urban legend. Anyway, this con game was supposedly practiced by a company selling pornography and/or sex toys -- and which went by a very explicit name. (The example Wiki gives is, "The Anal Sex And Fetish Pornography Company" -- I won't try to top that.) People who purchased from T.A.S.A.F.P.C., as we'll call it, were assured that any record of the transaction, such as a bank statement, would merely show a standard-sounding, non-explicit company name to prevent any embarrassment.
Naturally, T.A.S.A.F.P.C. sold no such products, and once they'd convinced enough guinea pigs to send them their dough, the company sent out letters of apology and refunds. So how'd the scammers make their money, you ask? The refund checks were printed with the company's explicit name -- so that the customers would be too embarrassed to actually cash the check -- and con artists pocketed the money.
Even better: the con artists HAD TECHICALLY COMMITTED NO CRIME, since they actually had been refunded. Technically I suppose they could use an ATM or even mail in their checks to avoid facing anyone, but "The Anal Sex And Fetish Pornography Company" could still appear on their bank statement. Which, if you're married and doing this in secret, could pose a problem.
Again, it's not known for sure whether this scam actually took place. And it's actually referred to in the wonderful independent British film LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998)! (See poster above.)
"Pig-In-a-Poke"
This well-recognized idiom is based on an actual scamming method dating back to the Late Middle Ages -- "when meat was scarce, but apparently rats and cats were not," says dear Wiki. Simply put, Scammer Guy (or Gal) would offer Victim Guy (or Gal) a pig for sale in a "poke" (or, as most of us know it, a bag). But lo and behold, the wriggling bag would actually contain a cat!
Why not open the bag first to make sure you're getting a pig instead of a cat or some other animal? Really good question. Maybe people in the 1300's weren't that inquisitive. By the way, the expression to "buy a pig in a poke" -- a saying I can't claim to have used before -- means to accept or purchase something without inspecting it beforehand. So if you were clueless like me, now you know. I now challenge you to use "pig in a poke" in casual conversation this week.
"The Slave Reparations Act"
This is also known as "The Slavery Reparation Tax Credit," "The Black Tax Credit" or "The Black Inheritance Tax Refund." Whichever of the four names you choose for it, this is a tax fraud involving the concept of reparations for slavery, an idea that's surfaced in the news off and on over the years. The scam claims that African-Americans born in the U.S. between 1911 and 1926 -- i.e., elderly people -- can receive $5,000 or increased Social Security payouts. They then submit their personal information to qualify -- and that information is used fraudulently to rip them off. Horrible indeed.
"The Spanish Prisoner"
We've all heard of this one. (Haven't we?) "The Spanish Prisoner" originated in the early 1900's. In its original form, the con man tells his unwitting victim that he's in close contact with someone rich and powerful who has been imprisoned in the country of Spain under a different identity, and their real identity can't be revealed without serious consequences. This Spanish prisoner needs the con man to help raise funds to pay for his release, so the con man asks the victim to help supply some of those funds -- with the promise that they will be rewarded once the wealthy prisoner is freed. That reward could include money and/or even the promise of the hand of the prisoner's beautiful daughter in marriage).
And it doesn't stop there: after the victim has handed over the money, the con man tells him that unforeseen complications have arisen, which requires even more money from the poor fool. And so on and so forth until the victim has nothing left, at which point the con man disappears.
Again, I find myself wanting to judge those who fell for such an obvious ploy, but then again maybe I've been swindled at some point in my own life and still am not aware of it, in which case I can't say anything.
Oh, and like the "Embarrassing Check" scam, there's also movie tie-in for the Spanish Prisoner: the 1987 David Mamet film, appropriately titled THE SPANISH PRISONER, starring a huge cast including Steve Martin and Felicity Huffman. (See poster above.)
So in conclusion, I think the lessons to be learned here are obvious: don't buy sex toys from someone you don't know, INSIST on seeing pigs before you buy them, black money is BAD, slavery reparation offers are probably FAKE, and if someone even mentions "Spain" and "prison" in the same sentence, for God's sake, RUN.