Monday, February 27, 2012

The Con, James Munton and Jelita McLeod

The Con: how scams work, why you're vulnerable, and how to protect yourself
James Munton and Jelita McLeod
ISBN: 9781442207318, 2011 Rowman and Littlefield Publishers

Oh how fun!  Lots of stories (details changed to protect the innocent... ) of people falling for various types of scams and cons, lots of advice (usually pretty good: don't check your online banking on unsecured "open" wireless networks, but sometimes a little paranoid-sounding: lock your mailbox or get a PO box) on how to protect yourself, and really interesting question and answer sessions with imprisoned or reformed conners on what they were thinking about and how they chose their marks.

I think it could have been a lot more powerful if it had taken more time delving into the psychology of victims, and especially dealt with the "reloading" from the victim's perspective rather than the conners (reloading being contacting the victim of a previous scam by pretending to be law enforcement or other agencies trying to help the victim get their money back... and then scamming the poor sheep yet again).

Overall, really interesting, and information that should be part of every modern person's education.  We live in a modern world, and cons and scams are one of the most prevalent types of modern crime there is - people should be wary!

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