Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.....

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.

I must say I am appalled at the negative feedback on this book, and can only deduce that these reviews are written by those of whom this book speaks! Granted not ALL people of any ethnic race or population are bad, Dennis is simply exposing a behind the scenes multi-billion dollar business that just so happens to be run by the Gypsy culture. The stories in here are true and not fabrications. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Marlock and listening to him speak. He is a very knowledgeable individual who has certainly done his homework and knows exactly what he is talking about. I highly doubt Mr. Marlock is making millions on this, it seems to be his passion, his life's work to get the word out there so less innocent people fall victim to such cruel crimes. The honest people work hard for their money legitimately, and no one should be allowed to just take it away. To all the scam artists out there, spend less time writing bad reviews and go get an education and a real job!
Dennis, continue the great work! You are doing society a favor by showing us what we might not see on our own!

The disparaging reveiws about this book, to me, can mean only one thing: there are people out there who don't want the truth to be told. Is there such a thing as the Gypsy Mafia? Yes. Are they costing all of us by perpetuating their very lucrative scams? Yes.

Do those involved want you to read this book? No! Why? Because if we don't they exist we won't see them coming.

This is not a racist book and only those with an agenda would see it as one.

Gypsy, gypsy, Rom, Sinti, Romany, Romani, Gypsies; have been persecuted and slaughtered since medieval times,right alongside of the Jews. Even after the bitter lesson of the Holocaust, Roma are still being persecuted at the same level as medieval times. Roma homes are torched, their families are frequently roused from their sleep by angry torch and club wielding xenophobic mobs, who force Gypsy women and children to flee into the night, those that can't run fast enough are beaten, some to death, or set on fire. This isn't a scene from Kristallnacht - this is occurring right now, all over the world! Roma are currently (2009) experiencing a humanitarian crisis, they are victims of racial hysteria and xenophobia, that is fueled by the world wide financial crisis. Perpetuating a dehumanizing stereotype that dictates any people to be genetically inferior, or predisposed to be of degenerate and subhuman character is inaccurate, and cruel. The psychological damage of this type of marginalization, abuse and oppression trickles down onto Roma/Gypsy/gypsy children. Words hurt, so does xenophobic violence, bullying, taunting, shunning, constant debasing and berating. Such violent abuse of any people, especially their children who have to suffer the fall out, should not be tolerated. Mr. Marlock is out of step with the times. The state of the world is in crisis. This is not the time to incite more violence, xenophobia, mass hysteria, racism and intolerance. The fact is: Con Artists come from all ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds. Sadly, it appears that Mr. Marlock is unable to stimulate interest in his crime prevention books, without exploiting the false criminality of the Gypsy stereotype. This shames all of us!

People of all groups, ethnicities, religions, and races commit cons, steal, and such. To paint a whole ethnic group, Gypsies (Romani folk) with the same broad brush as the few among them who commit crimes is no more valid than to call all whites "oven tenders" because of the Holocaust or call all corporate officers "embezzlers" because of Enron or to call all men as rapists because a few have done so. These sorry characterizations merely illustrate how twisted the slanderer's own views are.

While the grain of truth is that some people of all groups might con other people, the larger truth is that all groups have their share of criminals and no group has a monopoly on virtue.

Marlock clearly has written a book that is quite racist and wrong in spite of the grain of truth that some few people are indeed criminals.

Marlock tries to cover his tail by saying that he does not mean "all" Romani folk but then he goes on to make it quite clear that means "virtually all" but can't say so, without legal liability issues. It's pure CYA and then he goes on and on with his racist slanders.

Yes, cons do exist and this book describes many of them. No, they are not "Gypsy crimes" but just crimes and are committed by people of all ethnicities. Too bad he doesn't just stick to describing the crimes and never mind discussing his racial hatreds.

Marlock's agenda is clear. If he only wanted to protect innocents from crimes, he would not focus on a single very-small group of people. The number of Romani people in this world is miniscule compared to the number of criminals in the world so his focus on Gypsies illustrates his true agenda here is merely to demonize a tiny, relatively-defenseless group of people. The Furer's Reichspropagandaleiter Minister Dr. Goebbels would be proud of Marlock as one of their own, I am sure.

Well, if you can't blame anyone else, blame the Gypsies. Dennis Marlock is doing very well probably, using Gypsies as his career enhancer. However, replace Gypsies with Jews, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and you would have a libel lawsuit on your hands. Dennis, keep talking about Gypsies, and you true racism continues to show through.

Wouldn't this be hate literature if you replaced the word "Gypsy" with "Black" or "Jew"? Or is it okay to disparage an entire race as long as we can all agree on which one?

Just curious.

The author, using a self-fooling technique transparent to outward observers, attemps to convince himself that to speak of "Gypsy crime" is not a racist slur on an entire ethnic group, because he doesn't say "Romani Crime" or some other atrocity of the sort.
That really is his problem though, and should not be a reason to let potential readers also be fooled by this pathetic scam and part with their money.