Customer Reviews

How To Become A Professional Con Artist

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The way this book was written was more for victims then Con artists. Being a retired con this book really didn't teach me anything that I didn't already know except maybe on how to sell a dog using a persons greed, this has me thinking what else I can use other then a dog to use to sell on the greed factor.

The author also makes the assumption that cons have long rap sheets and go to jail quite often, in my career I have been arrested once back in the 80's when I first started out and had a 90 day stay at the gray bar hotel and was given a one way ticket out of town on condition of my release and that I would not talk to the press (The police chief didn't want me to talk to the town reporter)

He also makes the assumption that a con has no friends and no social connection, first rule on being a con, do not con people in your backyard or city for that matter, airline tickets are cheap these days and it is not hard taking a Friday night flight out and a Sunday night flight back (Day job you know in sales)

The author also makes the assumption that all con games are illegal, with the right lawyer that you can bounce off ideas with can come up with how to make it legal.

If you want to get into the business I would still read the book and purchase others on the newer games, if you use any of the tricks in this book you will surly get a stay at the gray bar hotel since these are all well known by now.

Also the author makes note of a lotto scam and you need to be a foreigner from another country to make it work, another reason you can't cash in a lotto ticket yourself is if you owe on child support or back taxes which your winnings will go to pay that off, you don't have to be a big winner in the lotto 5 out of 6 still wins in the thousands.

Just remember seek legal advice before you break the law!

This book is a lightweight book on scams and cons. Of its 10 chaptures, only 2 of them cover cons in detail. And, of those cons, they're all of the old and well known, and well publisized, variety, with little original material. The rest of the 8 chaptures are fluff, and the entire book can be read in about two hours.

I was expecting form this book that, well, at least it would live up to its title. I wanted a book to describe how cons are created and executed. Anyone hoping to earn a second wage as a con by reading this book better not give up his day job!

Author Dennis Marlock cons the reader of his new book, How to Become a Professional Con Artist, even before he's finished the Preface. It only gets better from there.
Do you want to know how con artists think, feel and act? You should -- if you hope to hang onto a good part of your life savings when you meet one or more of these scoundrels. The information you need is all here, distilled from 31 years of first-hand experience as a police detective investigating frauds and confidence crime.
If you're a potential con artist, thinking that this may provide a blueprint for your success in swindling, you'll discover why you may want to rethink that idea.
How to Become a Professional Con Artist is as entertaining as it is informative. I highly recommend you read it before someone approaches you on the street with a line like this: "Pardon me, ma'am. Look at this wad of cash I just found. Did you happen to lose it?"

I'm an amature magician and got this book in hopes of finding an interesting angel for some of my magic. However the title is misleading - the book being written by an Ex Police officer only stands to dupe the internet buyer into thinking he has found an instructional manual for the con artist. I have to say that the truly interesting thing about this book is that the writter takes the moral high ground and keeps the constant underlying tone that "you have to not like people to con them" and yet he is conning them into buying is book by having a misleading title.

Don't buy this book if you want to learn about cons

Do buy this book if you want to hear about old scams and how scammers are amoral people.

Now you see it, now you don't. The traditional forms of the well-known con games--the old hat tricks--are well covered in this book. But, the book is remiss in covering the trend toward legalization of cons. (Yes, a "sanitization" process is in full sway, which threatens all of us. This is not touched upon.)This book, however, is excellent at delving into the psyche of the con man. It examines, and exposes, the thinking processes to a remarkable degree of accuracy.In all, there are some valuable points to be learned and absorbed about this "profession" from this book.

This boook is a must read for everyone, young and old. It is amazing how many different types of cons are played out on the average citizen and wealthy business tycons alike. This book explains many cons in detail, and tells you exactly what to watch out for. I can see how easy it is to fall for a scam. I never thought that I, an educated individual would ever fall for such scams, you would think that they are obvious. What Mr. Marlock shows us in this book, is that ANYONE can fall prey to a con artist, no matter how "educated" he/she may be. The book was also written in laymen terms. Mr. Marlock did not use large confusing words or terms that may have been used in his profession as a Lieutenant, but rather plain english which was very enjoyable. He also used sarcasm and humor throughout the book keeping you interested in the topic and making you want to continue turning the pages. I recommend this book to EVERYONE. It is a must read if you don't want to be parted with your hard earned money in the future!!!

An interesting look at a crime that often is overlooked as a crime. A very honest and engaging look into the lives of con-men and how this shouldn't be tolerated. The author really states his opinions and reason for writing the book in the last chapter.

The author of this book is a retired policeman and the book seems to have been written as his continuing attempt to fight con artists, though you could probably get more information from the movies. While the greater part of the book is written in a highly entertaining style and that's the main reason I recommend reading it, the latter part of the book has a tone of desperation that more has not been done to fight con artists.

While the author makes several attempts to define what a con artist is, the world we live in doesn't really make it clear what separates a con artist from anyone else,
If you want to get to the bottom of it, if you have a physical body, no matter how honest or good-hearted you may be, you may be already considered a con-artist, because to maintain the body, you need to provide for food, clothing and shelter, and how you go about it may be left to interpretation. A small child may cry or throw a tantrum or play other games with his parents which have been proven successful in helping him to get what he needs to survive - does that make him a con artist?

The author then attempts to draw the line between someone getting legally what one wants and illegally and one of the examples he offers is that charitable organizations take money from people for good causes, but they only give 20% to a good cause, while they keep 80% of the money or more for themselves, to run the business and make some profit. On the other hand, if an individual independently used the same method of raising money, even if he then gave 50% of money to a good cause, he may be legally considered a con artist, because he didn't first register a charitable organization. From the legal perspective, if you are paying taxes on the profit you make you are considered an honorable person, if you are not paying taxes, you're not an honorable person.

The author then attempts to draw the line between con artists and the rest by stating that con artists do not like to work, and well even people on welfare and social assistance who are living off the work of others would then fall in the category of con artists. But the author soon adds to the category of con artists other people who are all working and some of them may be working long hours every day - and here are included politicians, doctors, lawyers, marketers, advertisers, salespeople - and since every individual who is working is actually selling some kind of products or services - the perceived value of the products or services offered is left to interpretation.

The author further shares "When you obtain money by misleading people you are called a con artist, a thief, or a cheat. When you do this on a broad scale, it's called journalism. So prevalent is this practice that it appears in the dictionary ' yellow journalism - Journalism that explains, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers."

Eventually the author does describe several games that are played by con artists like pigeon drop, the Jamaican Switch, the bank-examiner scheme and few others, and you may learn just enough not to fall for those schemes - though some con artists seem to be endlessly creative and people who keep on hoping to get something for nothing will tend to be the prime targets. As the saying goes "what goes around comes around". Reading this and similar books and watching movies on this topic (e.g. TV series Hustle) which can be highly entertaining, as well as educational, will help you to be aware of what is going on in the world in which we live and lower your chances of falling for something you couldn't see coming - and neither will turn anyone into a con artist - that is ultimately a matter of individual's conscience. While we all must provide in some way for our physical needs, in the end our lives (and our souls) are enriched by the values we added to the world.

I liked the book, although I was looking for a much more in depth treatment of the subject. The author consistently stresses that if you choose to be a con artist you will be caught and exhibits some frustration that con artists are not punished more severly than they are, since most con artist crimes are perceived as crimes the victims brought on themselves through their own greed and avarice.

The title is somewhat misleading. Don't read this is you want to actually be a con artist as you won't learn too many tricks. There is a detailed explanation on how to short change someone, which I found interesting, but most other con artist tricks are given vague explanations.

If you want to know about con artists read this as part of a more extensive study as it does not stand on its own as a resource.

Dennis has written a book that, by the title, has you thinking he has crossed over to the other side. However, once you finish the book, "How to become a Professional Con Artist", you will understand that those who have chosen this life are void of any human committment such as love, family and a future. Dennis takes you into the world of the con artist and shows you that money is to be made, but at a supreme sacrifice. His having worked as a law enforcement officer for 31 years and dealing with these low lifes, he shows that you may not get rich with a regular job, but the rewards are far better. I commend Dennis for a great book. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Each page is filled with great advice and humorous points. Being a law enforcement officer and a magician, who also works bunco, I highly recommend this for not only cops, but members of the general public as well. Keep up the great work ...