Con Artists and Flimflam
THE FINE ART OF FOOLING PEOPLE!
By definition, a con artist is a person who cheats or tricks others by convincing them to believe something that is not true. Through deception, they fool people into believing they can make easy money when, in fact, it is the con artist who ends up taking the victim’s money.
In Dutty’s story, the shell game is used by flimflam artists, another name for con artists, but there are all kinds of tricks used by small time operators on the streets, or boardwalks, or carnies at side shows, or bigger schemes used by career criminals.
Watch the Shell Game!
The shell game can just be a fun was to impress your friends, but as Dutty finds out, it can be used to trick people out of their money by flimflam aritists!
See how the pros can fool you. Watch as a master plays the shell game!
Play the shell game with your pet!
Learn how to play the shell game with your doggie. It will help keep your pet's brain sharp while having fun at the same time!
Who was Charles Ponzi?
Dutty, The Un-Invisible Boy, takes place in the summer of 1919. In real life that summer, a man named Charles Ponzi opened an office in Boston. A little more than a year later he was in jail as the biggest con artist in history. His name is still used today. The Ponzi Scheme is a term used now to describe any plan that involves “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.” People give money expecting to make a lot more. They get paid a high rate of interest to prove their investment is safe but, in fact, their money has been used to pay other investors who think they too have made a good deal. The interest payments only come so long as there is a new investor who has also been taken in by the trickster. When no more people are willing to invest, the scheme ends, and everyone loses their money. Even today people are taken in by similar frauds. Bernie Madoff used the Ponzi Scheme until his operation collapsed in 2008.