Why con artists scam Page 1 - 2 

The serial criminal

It's important to understand that delving into the mind of a con artist is like peeling an onion.  Financial con artists are highly intelligent and ambitious.  Their warped personalities are as complex and demanding to individually profile as that of any successful serial criminal.

Like any serial criminal, each scammer's modus operandi seldom changes.  Once a scammer has found his niche, he works to perfect his system.  The patter may change a little, but the basic scheme remains the same.  In other words, there is a fixed, recognizable pattern that the swindler uses over and over again, from city to city and country to country.

Throwing everything into confusion

The con artist can be likened to a chess player as well.  It's not only the swindler's personality that is complex.  His scam often is too.  So complex that law enforcement is occasionally at wit's end to unravel all the threads.  Over-worked local authorities may be reluctant to dig very far into a time-consuming scam while violent, bloody crimes are screaming to be solved.  The swindler knows this and uses it to his advantage by crossing as many jurisdictions as possible, throwing everything into confusion for law enforcement.

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Why fraud is referred to as a con "game"

So.  Why do con artists scam?  Because for them it is a hugely amusing and challenging game.  They get to wake up in the morning and go out to play.  It's a game that hurts lots of people.  When a child plays, he is learning the rules of social behavior and the consequences of all his actions.  When a swindler plays, rules and consequences are mere whispers on the wind.  All that matters to the con artist is that it's fun - a marvelous joke, a trick that can be played over and over again.   And you?  Well you're the brunt of that joke.

And that's not funny.  You will be far better armed than most of your neighbors and it will be harder for a swindler to trick you once you understand the universal profile of a con artist.

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