Like many of you I lamented the death of the original History Channel, with the replacement of Hitler documentaries with reality shows and the like. But I was actually tricked - or should I say “scammed” - into watching a show, Scammed, featuring a guy named Paul Wilson who is apparently the world’s greatest con man. (So if he really is, clearly he isn’t that great if he’s been “outed” as such.)
Basically the show walks you through a number of cons, with marks followed by secret cameras. I admit that it’s quite interesting, essentially because the cons all rely on people’s intrinsic greed and assumptive nature.
The best con on the show was a variant of the Nigerian 419 scam. Essentially, the mark was convinced to put up $40K of his money to get a huge payday by transferring some foreign dude’s money. It was pretty elaborate and involved a whole cast of confederates (about 8), renting a fake office, and taking the mark to a fancy dinner. In the end, the mark is left with a suitcase full of blank paper… until he gets a call from the Paul guy confessing to the scam and gets his money back. (His nephew who himself was taken on a 419 scam was in on the con.)
Pretty entertaining and let me feel a sense of superiority. “I’d never fall for that!” (Yes, I know, that’s what the next mark always says.) Anybody else watching it?