How to Not Get Conned

Said to be in his early 40s the poor guy just found out he had cancer and was going through chemo at a nearby hospital.

He had all of us at attention as he recapped his day at the doctor’s office right around Christmas, ironically when he got the horrible news about his health.

I bought his story, hook, line and sinker way back in 1991 when I didn’t consider myself naÃ?¯ve as he told me his last name was Heinz and he was an heir to the Ketchup throne. He talked me into visiting him at the hospital only he wasn’t registered there.

The explanation? He had two last names and they had him under his middle name.

He even hired me to help him coordinate a lavish holiday party to be held at his house on the beach for all his friends and gave me the number of the florist who I promptly called only to be told that Chase had arrived on foot, seemed to have no money for any deposit, and appeared to be shady.

Chase told me he would pay me to clean his house so I showed up early on a Saturday and was very surprised to see the decrepit house he lived in.

I cleaned most of the day and he only paid me a paltry amount, not what we’d agreed on.

The night before I had taken him and his boyfriend to Chase’s mom’s house – a trailer in the middle of nowhere to pick up a key or deliver some money or some such nonsense.

The day of the party came and went and my husband at the time said we should have convened at Chase’s house to see the non-party that night, a party that was supposed to be full of magic and money with many big-wigs in attendance.

Turns out Chase was neither terminally ill nor rich.

“Impulsive, amoral, detached, and abnormal” is how author Chuck Whitlock describes the con artist in his book.

“The con artist is compulsive, much like the compulsive gambler or compulsive liar,” said Whitlock. “He gets an adrenaline rush from scamming people.”

I also knew a woman who came under the net of a con artist who was wanted in five states for forgery, larceny, and grand theft. He liked to take rich widows’ money and tell them they were investing in his “business.” Then, they would never hear from him again. There was usually some kind of fake romance involved too on his part.

This particular lady became suspicious before handing over her money though and worked with the police to bust him at a Denny’s where they were to meet for breakfast and she was supposed to hand over the proverbial check to this guy.

The successful con artist approaches victims with a nice guy approach according to one website.

Being well-informed and skeptical are your best means of protection.

Con artists can’t be spotted by looks.

Here are some of the buzz words cons use in sales presentations, for instance:

“It’s free!”

“It’s 50 percent off.”

“It’s factory to you.”

“We’ll pay off your down payment.”

“Work at home for free.”

“It’s a going-out-of-business sale.”

“You’ve just won!”

“These coins will put your child through college.”

“Cash only, get rich quick, secret plans.”

“Something for nothing, contests, haste.”

“Today only, too good to be true, last chance.”

“Left-over material.”