Confidence trick

A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. The confidence trickster, con man, scam artist or con artist often works with an accomplice called the shill, who tries to encourage the mark by pretending to believe the trickster. In a traditional con, the mark is encouraged to believe that they will obtain money dishonestly by cheating a third party, and is stunned to find that due to what appears to be an error in pulling off the scam they are the one who loses money; in more general use, the term con is used for any fraud in which the victim is tricked into losing money by false promises of gain.

Origin of the term

Though dishonesty for financial gain had existed long before, the specific term "confidence man" was first coined in 1849 by the New York Herald to describe the deceptions of William Thompson. Thompson, dressed in genteel fashion, would approach wealthy New Yorkers and, after brief conversations, ask, "Have you confidence in me to trust me with your watch until tomorrow?" The mark, placing "confidence" in Thompson's honesty, would lend him his watch, only to have Thompson never return. Thompson's arrest was a nationwide sensation, and the term "confidence man" passed into widespread use, including the title of Herman Melville's 1857 novel The Confidence-Man.

Related Topics:
1849 - New York Herald - William Thompson - New York - Herman Melville - 1857 - Novel - The Confidence-Man

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