Post: #1

I love hearing about clever scams. This is probably for the same reason I have studied sleight of hand magic for the past 20 years. I just love sneaky shit!

There are some really interesting ones out there. Like stealing a fraction of a penny from millions of bank customers. That one actually happened long ago here in the UK.

Anyway - here are a couple that are my favourites. One is fairly big in scale. And the other is alot smaller in scale - [note: this information is for educational purposes only. blah blah blah.]

I only like these things because as with a good magic trick, I appreciate the ingenuity behind a good con.

The first one. Imagine you could promise people that with just 10 minutes of 'hypnosis' - they would pass the entrance interview that you have to take to get into elite universities like Oxford, Cambridge and the Ivy league universities?

Not only that. You are so sure that your method will work. That you offer a 'no quibbles' money back guarantee if it fails?

I think most parents would drop a thousand bucks on a 'money back guarantee' basis to ensure their kids get into their desired university.

So - what is the secret to the scam? The secret is that there is no secret.

Let's say you spend 10 minutes with a 100 kids. And you pretend to hypnotise all 100 of them.

Now - naturally - through luck and talent. A proportion of those kids will pass the interview anyway. Let's imagine ten of them did.

So - you keep the 10,000 dollars from the ten grateful parents. And you refund the rest of the money to the other 90 kids. Simples!

Free money. No work. No talent. And - this is the cool part - no unhappy customers.

----------------

Another great scam is a bar scam. It has leaked out into the mainstream over the past decade (it used to be a legendary scam in magic circles many years ago). As such - I will save some effort by just copying and pasting a description from elsewhere:

Post: #2

Read a stock book one time saying to watch out for this one...so you know it worked at least once.

Some guy would have an email list of about a thousand people. For half of them, he would predict the market would go up over the next month and he would put together a high beta portfolio showing the returns and for the other half he would say that the market was going down and put together a portfolio with a bunch of negative beta securities.

One month goes by and whatever the market did, he would focus exclusively on the group of 500 whose prediction had matched the market. He would ask for investors in his "fund" and then predict to 250 of them that the market would go up next month and to the other 250, it would go down.

Rinse and repeat, and eventually someone always gets suckered in by giving away their nest egg, especially after at least 3 months of solid gains.

Post: #3

If you take a piece of paper and fold it a few times then wrap it around the edge of a quarter, you can jam the quarter into the coin slot of the toy and candy machines. It'll spin freely around over and over until you empty the machine. And when you're done you can even fish your quarter out.

We did this all the time when were kids. You can rob these blind.

Post: #4

Yeah - that is my other favourite, Apollo. Thanks for the reminder!

Derren Brown (a brilliant magician) once used it is as the basis for a TV show here in the UK (look up THE SYSTEM). It is really clever.

I wonder if a similar concept could be applied to a mass mail out to a thousand women on an online dating service? After a few weeks of correct 'hits' - you could fake that you have some kind of mysterious connection with the few reamining girls who you have being accurate with over the previous few weeks.

Just can't think of a good '50/50' category that you would use to make such a connection. Something to think about...

Post: #5

Save Toby!

Post: #6

As mentioned in the 48 Laws of Power, selling the Eiffel Tower.

Post: #7

The same guy who sold the Eiffel Tower also scammed Al Capone. Not because he had to, he just wanted to get away with it.

"In Chicago during the 1920s, he boldly approached gangster Al Capone, promising to double a $50,000 investment in 60 days. Capone recognized the Count as a flimflam man but agreed. After all, Lustig knew the fatal consequence of double-crossing the original Scarface.

Lustig flew to New York, working several other scams, then returned to Chicago. He told the enraged Capone the scam had not worked according to plan, then counted the original $50,000 out onto the desk, apologetically explaining he needed the money, too.

Capone was reportedly flabbergasted, expecting either to double his money at someone else's expense or get scammed out of all of it. As Lustig went to the door, Capone proffered $5,000, either to help out a fellow crook or as reward for unexpected honesty.

In fact, Lustig had deposited the money, never intending to use it. A token reward from Capone was always his plan, earning him the title of the Man Who Conned Al Capone. At least, one who lived."

From: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-man-...-al-capone

What kind of balls do you have to have to scam Al Capone just for fun?

Post: #8

Parlay, can you elaborate on that paper and quarter trick? PM me if you want.

Post: #9

(03-04-2013 04:54 PM)Alpha Hunter Zero Wrote:  Parlay, can you elaborate on that paper and quarter trick? PM me if you want.

Alright. This is how it's done. Take a piece of paper. Gum wrapper, notebook paper, receipt paper. It doesn't matter.

Here I'm using a receipt from my favorite Taco Bell


Fold it in half lengthwise a few times and wrap it around the edge of the quarter.

This is what you're going for.


Now insert the paper and quarter together into the front coin slot. It kind of cups the quarter in there real tight. Turn the handle 1 revolution around and you'll get a handful of candy or a toy. The quarter will stay wedged in there and be back in the top position. If the machine takes your quarter you need to thicken up the paper around it. Fold it once more or use thicker paper.

There's less of a chance of it taking your quarter if you spin it around faster. You'll get a feel for it after a few times.

We used to walk up to a gum ball machine with a small brown paper bag and empty all the gum balls into it in like 2 minutes.

It also works on the March of Dimes Peppermint Patty machines. Same concept except you use a dime instead of a quarter.

Post: #10

^FANTASTIC! Thanks Parlay. Im going to go try this a little later.

Post: #11

(03-04-2013 07:05 PM)Alpha Hunter Zero Wrote:  ^FANTASTIC! Thanks Parlay. Im going to go try this a little later.

You're welcome

Look for coin slots that look like this.


I've never tried the 50¢ machines that take 2 quarters. But you never know. It may work for them too.

Post: #12

(03-04-2013 05:51 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 04:54 PM)Alpha Hunter Zero Wrote:  Parlay, can you elaborate on that paper and quarter trick? PM me if you want.

Alright. This is how it's done. Take a piece of paper. Gum wrapper, notebook paper, receipt paper. It doesn't matter.

Here I'm using a receipt from my favorite Taco Bell


Fold it in half lengthwise a few times and wrap it around the edge of the quarter.

This is what you're going for.


Now insert the paper and quarter together into the front coin slot. It kind of cups the quarter in there real tight. Turn the handle 1 revolution around and you'll get a handful of candy or a toy. The quarter will stay wedged in there and be back in the top position. If the machine takes your quarter you need to thicken up the paper around it. Fold it once more or use thicker paper.

There's less of a chance of it taking your quarter if you spin it around faster. You'll get a feel for it after a few times.

We used to walk up to a gum ball machine with a small brown paper bag and empty all the gum balls into it in like 2 minutes.

It also works on the March of Dimes Peppermint Patty machines. Same concept except you use a dime instead of a quarter.

And you are stealing from a children's charity instead of from a for profit business

Post: #13

I have no morals man. Any of those charities consume >80% of the collected money anyway.
There's no such thing as non-profit. Nobody works for free.

Post: #14

This one is hilarious - though I'm sure that these days fewer people would be ashamed of it.

Post: #15

(02-28-2013 10:32 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  If you take a piece of paper and fold it a few times then wrap it around the edge of a quarter, you can jam the quarter into the coin slot of the toy and candy machines. It'll spin freely around over and over until you empty the machine. And when you're done you can even fish your quarter out.

We did this all the time when were kids. You can rob these blind.

Sh*t.

We used to just steal these things and smash them.

Update:

(Hypothetically speaking and all. In case anyone is watching the forum.)

Post: #16

(03-04-2013 08:03 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  I have no morals man. Any of those charities consume >80% of the collected money anyway.
There's no such thing as non-profit. Nobody works for free.

Dont worry, his dentist will win in the end [Like the house always wins!]

Going to try it here in AUS when i get a chance, NOT interested in the candy, kids can have it, just beating the system is where its @

"Lifes about, shooting you load"

Post: #17

This is not a scam per se, but once again i take my hat of to the amazing MIT think tank, its all about numbers and odds:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massach...?page=full

If any of you cashed up guys do it, i want a cut for showing you the way, please deposit into my Swiss account, many thanks

"Lifes about, shooting your load"

Post: #18

This is a pretty cool and insightful video on fraud. In the video it states that if fraud was an economy, it would be something like the 8th largest economy in the world. Sorry I'm not so computer savy and don't know how to embed....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA4R84xfLOQ

Post: #19

This is ingenious.

http://www.sovereignman.com/corresponden...oins-8943/

The silver content of a pre-1965 US quarter is worth $6.25 (ie the coin is worth 29 times more than its legal tender value due to ithe value of the silver if the coin is melted down).

So - by paying for stuff with pre-1965 US quarters - you can pay the purchase tax at a much lower leverl. Since the price you paid (and which is declared) will be 29 times lower than the true value of the thing you are buying.

The same principle can be used to reduce income taxes.

But don't do it! I think a guy went to prison for doing this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protest...o_be_taxed

Still - I admire the ingenuity of this shit. It brings a smile to my face.

Post: #20

Take a guy's money at a bar, party, whatever:





It's from a pretty cool movie - Poolhall Junkies. Kinda like Rounders with pool instead of poker.

Post: #21

My favorite scam is Seeking Arrangement game because it gets me laid.

Post: #22

Marriage.