This article was taken from the June issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content bysubscribing online
From Ocean’s Eleven to Bernie Madoff’s 11 felonies, the art of the scam fascinates and horrifies. With an arsenal of props, fast talk and psychological pressure, criminal alchemists can spin greed, trust and fear into gold.
Paul Wilson, presenter of BBC3’s The Real Hustle, and computer-security expert Frank Stajano, of the University of Cambridge, have written an academic paper titled Understanding Scam Victims -- Seven Principles for Systems Security, to highlight how modern security attacks often have their roots in simple card tricks. Here’s how three classic street-hustles work.
The glim dropper
Ingredients: An assistant with one eye (or similar missing feature), a glass eye (or similar).
Target: A shopkeeper.
The lesson: Let the "mark” think he’s pulling the fast one.
Step 1: The assistant walks into a shop, explains that he lost his expensive glass eye earlier, and offers a £1,000 reward. He leaves his (fake) number, just in case.
Step 2: Later, the con enters with a glass eye he claims was on the floor. The shopkeeper naturally wants to look after it but the con insists on returning it.
Step 3: Thinking of the reward, the shopkeeper offers to buy it for £250. The con and assistant split the takings, and the shopkeeper gets a cheap glass eye.
The fake stolen car
Ingredients: A car, an empty house, fake police uniforms.
Target: An upstanding member of society.
The lesson: People see a uniform and usually comply -- if they’re scared.
Step 1: The mark sees an ad for a car, and contacts the con, who offers a discount for cash. They meet at a house -- which the con says is his -- for the exchange.
Step 2: Before the deal ends, the fake police burst in and arrest the con for car theft. They then accuse the mark of handling stolen goods, and threaten arrest
Step 3: Taking the mark’s cash (as evidence), the police order him to stay put. They escort the prisoner theatrically out, remove the cuffs and depart in the car.
The round-the corner scam
Ingredients: Boiler suits, a van/trolley, a warehouse/office.
Target: A delivery guy who means well.
Lesson: People need to finish tasks -- they’ll take solutions to invented obstacles.
Step 1: The conman puts a sign over the buzzer of a warehouse, saying it is broken and to call his mobile. A scheduled delivery arrives, and the driver calls him.
Step 2: The con explains the door mechanism is broken, and sends his assistants to collect. They just take the delivery around the corner to another entrance.
Step 3: The mark leaves, thinking his job is done. Meanwhile, the assistants take the sign down, load the goods into a van and drive away.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
