License To Steal: Traveling Con Artists: Their Games, Their Rules—Your Money [Paperback]

Dennis Marlock (Author), John Dowling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

This is an in-depth study of the Gypsy Mafia, the criminal element of the Romani population. Through police files, newspapers, historical data and interviews with victims, the authors expose the truth about this highly organized multibillion dollar business and tell you how to protect your money from con artists of all kinds.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dennis M. Marlock recently retired from the Milwaukee Police Department, where he spent most of his 31-year career investigating frauds and confidence crimes. He cofounded and currently oversees the daily operation of Professionals Against Confidence Crime. He is known throughout the United States as an expert on fraud prevention, and he has written two books and numerous articles on fraud and transient con artists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873647513
• ISBN-13: 978-0873647519
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,966,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accurate and informative, November 23, 1999

By 

William Randall (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: License To Steal: Traveling Con Artists: Their Games, Their Rules—Your Money (Paperback)

I manage an insurance investigation department. Though this book did not cover the many insurance fraud schemes, it was very accurate in describing the culture of this group of fraud artists. Invaluable reading for a fraud investigator.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gypsie Travelers are a real problem!, February 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: License To Steal: Traveling Con Artists: Their Games, Their Rules—Your Money (Paperback)

I have read this book after dating a Scottish Traveler. He told me about the book, after he told me about himself and his "life" and family. Why I could not fit in his world, and he could not fit in mine. Having heard first hand from one of "them", I can truly say the author of this book has done a very accurate job in describing this clan of people! It is an interesting story of these people and how they "survive", by scaming people, as well as, (sometimes) hard work. Not all of these Gypsie Travelers are ALL bad.... but they are GREAT talkers and the more one knows of "them" the better!!!!!!! His name is Jimmy Gordon, he never stole anything from me... EXCEPT my heart... for though I no longer know his whereabouts, I sill love him. He does have dirty hands, but his heart is clean. Home is where the heart is, and Jimmy, you can always come home.....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My own expericnes confirm this, July 9, 2009

By 

I. Chudov (Chicagoland, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: License To Steal: Traveling Con Artists: Their Games, Their Rules—Your Money (Paperback)

I come from Russia, where we have Gypsies also. They do the same things as described by Marlock's book, except that instead of stealing cars, they would steal horses in the older times.

The book is very helpful, as crooks try to create artificial situations that confuse the marks, so being a little prepared would help dealing with them immensely.

All the negative reviews seem to be motivated by motives other than merits of Marlock's book.