Barry seemed to accept all of this at face value; he only asked a few simple questions as we chatted over coffee and orange juice. We agreed to meet later that day so I could talk to them about working together.
Once Randy and his uncle were gone, I looked to our secret camera position where my producers were watching and said, âWeâre in trouble.â
Reading a mark is an acquired skill. After hundreds of con games I have learned to recognize the hallmarks of a difficult customer. Over breakfast, Barry was calm and friendly but volunteered very little. He rarely leaned forward, which forced me to do too much of the talking.
The situation we had engineered for Barry was simple. He had come to Charleston to assess a potential business deal for his nephew, Randy. Randy was secretly setting up his uncle but would take no part in convincing him to hand over his cash. During the setup, I would need to switch the deal so that Barry would invest his own money. A great deal of work had gone into not tipping Barry off while making sure he could get the money at a dayâs notice. Everything hinged on how I set the bait, and if Barry didnât bite, we would have come a long way for nothing.
The trouble was that Barryâs demeanor during our first encounter was friendly but guarded. He didnât volunteer anything I could use as leverage. He absorbed everything I offered by way of information, giving very little in return other than a few jokes and some charming repartee. The production crew agreed we were in trouble, but for a different reason. When I had left the table for a few moments during the meeting, the producers heard something that made it seem unlikely that our mark was going to bite.
With Uncle Barry, I had my work cut out for me. From the beginning, our objective had been to find a mark who would give me a real challenge. Easy meat can mean easy money, but in my experience, if itâs all too convenient then the television audience would quickly dismiss it. If they regarded the victim as foolish or gullible, then they might think thatâs the reason why the con worked. In order to properly illustrate the power and potential of this scam, I needed a worthy adversary and I knew I had more than I bargained for when Barry sat down to breakfast.
While I was at the table, Barry chatted about the quality of the orange juice, the weather, and how much he loved living in the South but gave almost nothing away regarding my business proposal. As soon as he was alone with Randy, that changed. Once I was out of earshot, Barry turned to Randy and said, âThis has got Mafia written all over it.â
The production team was convinced that this was the end of the road. They were already considering backup options (other potential marks we could bring in at a dayâs notice) but I was not worried by Barryâs words: quite the opposite. My concern had been that Barry was simply not interested and would resist any attempts to pull him deeper into the scam; as soon as I learned what Barry had said to his nephew, I knew that the bait was set and our mark was definitely interested.
The team must have thought I was insane. Barry was as good as gone in their mind, but I had done this many times before; the fact that Barry sensed something âoffâ was not important. The crucial point was that despite suspecting something fishy, possibly illegal, he still agreed to meet later to find out more. This told me everything I needed to know about our mark: He was willing to roll the dice.
Despite his facade of indifference, I knew Barry was interested. This wasnât a sure thing but our mark was definitely nibbling the bait. We needed to play him carefully, build his confidence, quash his concerns, and satisfy his curiosity. Then we would reel him in.
The hook is the most important element of any con game. Without it, the con artist would have nobody to con because the hook is the means by which the
Once Randy and his uncle were gone, I looked to our secret camera position where my producers were watching and said, âWeâre in trouble.â
Reading a mark is an acquired skill. After hundreds of con games I have learned to recognize the hallmarks of a difficult customer. Over breakfast, Barry was calm and friendly but volunteered very little. He rarely leaned forward, which forced me to do too much of the talking.
The situation we had engineered for Barry was simple. He had come to Charleston to assess a potential business deal for his nephew, Randy. Randy was secretly setting up his uncle but would take no part in convincing him to hand over his cash. During the setup, I would need to switch the deal so that Barry would invest his own money. A great deal of work had gone into not tipping Barry off while making sure he could get the money at a dayâs notice. Everything hinged on how I set the bait, and if Barry didnât bite, we would have come a long way for nothing.
The trouble was that Barryâs demeanor during our first encounter was friendly but guarded. He didnât volunteer anything I could use as leverage. He absorbed everything I offered by way of information, giving very little in return other than a few jokes and some charming repartee. The production crew agreed we were in trouble, but for a different reason. When I had left the table for a few moments during the meeting, the producers heard something that made it seem unlikely that our mark was going to bite.
With Uncle Barry, I had my work cut out for me. From the beginning, our objective had been to find a mark who would give me a real challenge. Easy meat can mean easy money, but in my experience, if itâs all too convenient then the television audience would quickly dismiss it. If they regarded the victim as foolish or gullible, then they might think thatâs the reason why the con worked. In order to properly illustrate the power and potential of this scam, I needed a worthy adversary and I knew I had more than I bargained for when Barry sat down to breakfast.
While I was at the table, Barry chatted about the quality of the orange juice, the weather, and how much he loved living in the South but gave almost nothing away regarding my business proposal. As soon as he was alone with Randy, that changed. Once I was out of earshot, Barry turned to Randy and said, âThis has got Mafia written all over it.â
The production team was convinced that this was the end of the road. They were already considering backup options (other potential marks we could bring in at a dayâs notice) but I was not worried by Barryâs words: quite the opposite. My concern had been that Barry was simply not interested and would resist any attempts to pull him deeper into the scam; as soon as I learned what Barry had said to his nephew, I knew that the bait was set and our mark was definitely interested.
The team must have thought I was insane. Barry was as good as gone in their mind, but I had done this many times before; the fact that Barry sensed something âoffâ was not important. The crucial point was that despite suspecting something fishy, possibly illegal, he still agreed to meet later to find out more. This told me everything I needed to know about our mark: He was willing to roll the dice.
Despite his facade of indifference, I knew Barry was interested. This wasnât a sure thing but our mark was definitely nibbling the bait. We needed to play him carefully, build his confidence, quash his concerns, and satisfy his curiosity. Then we would reel him in.
The hook is the most important element of any con game. Without it, the con artist would have nobody to con because the hook is the means by which the
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