The Confidence Game (book review)

Maria Konnikova ★★★★☆ An interesting read on how con artists operate, and the psychological traits they manipulate in order to trick people into doing what they want. It’s roughly structured around different phases of a con, from picking a target to running off with the ill-gotten goods. The author illustrates it with a number of real cases over the last century or so, some of them recent enough that she interviewed the victims and (alleged) scammers directly. Some key takeaways: Scam victims aren’t stupid. Humans are wired to trust (most of the time), and that’s the only way we get something as complex as modern society. Con artists hijack that trust. The “dark triad” personality combo (subclinical psychopathy + narcissism + Machiavellianism) is common among con artists. They’re very skilled at picking up on what will motivate someone to do what they want, and don’t care who gets hurt by it. When they’re not cold-calling or spamming, scammers zero in on who’s likely to be vulnerable…