{"product_id":"anatomy-of-a-con-artist-isbn-9780593797167","title":"Anatomy of a Con Artist","description":"\u003cb\u003eThese are the 14 red flags to identify the scammer in your life \u003ci\u003ebefore\u003c\/i\u003e they con you—from a victim-turned-vigilante and host of the hit podcast \u003ci\u003eQueen of the Con\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Johnathan Walton has written a master class on how to spot scammers, con artists, grifters, and thieves. And his storytelling reads like a crime novel. . . . A must-read.”—Joe Navarro, FBI special agent (ret.) and author of the international bestseller \u003ci\u003eDangerous Personalities\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Some people play golf on the weekends,” Johnathan Walton says. “I hunt con artists.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCon artists are everywhere—your new boyfriend or girlfriend, your new neighbor or coworker, your new friend—and they don’t out\u003ci\u003esmart\u003c\/i\u003e you; they out-\u003ci\u003efeel\u003c\/i\u003e you to get their hands on your money. In \u003ci\u003eAnatomy of a Con Artist\u003c\/i\u003e, Walton lays out “the tells” based on hundreds of real-life cases he’s investigated, including:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #1—A Stranger Offering Help:\u003c\/b\u003e Someone new and overly helpful insinuates themselves into your life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #3—Drama, Drama, Drama:\u003c\/b\u003e Constant dramatic “emergencies” to pull you in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #8—Beak Wetting:\u003c\/b\u003e Faux generosity—gifts, money, or favors to bring your guard down.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter being scammed out of nearly $100,000 by a devious con artist, Walton was turned away by police. Infuriated and armed with the investigative skills he’d gained from years as a TV reporter, Walton launched his own investigation and built a compelling criminal case authorities could not ignore. Walton got his con artist charged, prosecuted, and convicted, then devoted his life to helping other victims do the same. This book packs in all he has learned. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome con artists scheme for money, some for attention, some just for the thrill of lying. And if you think it can’t happen to you, then you are exactly the kind of “mark” a professional con artist is looking for. With this insightful guide in your hands, you are far less likely to get conned and far more likely to spot these nefarious manipulators from a mile away—and cross the street when you see them coming.“Johnathan Walton has written a master class on how to spot scammers, con artists, grifters, and thieves. And his storytelling reads like a crime mystery novel. A must-read.”\u003cb\u003e—Joe Navarro, FBI special agent (ret.) and author of the international bestseller \u003ci\u003eDangerous Personalities\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Conversationally written, grippingly told, and full of practical advice, \u003ci\u003eAnatomy of a Con Artist\u003c\/i\u003e yanks the veil off the suite of tricks swindlers use to ensnare even the most skeptical targets. Con artists should fear Walton.”\u003cb\u003e—Waylon Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize–winning Reuters business reporter \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’ve watched with admiration as Walton has turned lemons into lemonade—by outing the criminal who wronged him, creating a hit podcast about how he did it, and now, writing this fine new book about how you, too, can spot a hustler.”\u003cb\u003e—Lisa Napoli, nationally bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eSusan, Linda, Nina \u0026amp; Cokie\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAnatomy of a Con Artist\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling and insightful guide to understanding the tactics of scammers. Walton’s expertise shines through as he breaks down 14 key red flags, offering readers practical tools to protect themselves from manipulation. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to navigate the world with greater awareness and avoid falling victim to con artists.”\u003cb\u003e—Carlos Verdoni, economic crimes detective, Sarasota, Florida\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’m a victim of a con artist and lost all my money. And they were waving every single one of these red flags at me and I didn’t realize it until reading this book. Don’t be like me. Learn these red flags so you can spot these evil people before they get you.”\u003cb\u003e—Vanessa Spatz, victim of red flag #1, swindled out of her savings\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohnathan Walton\u003c\/b\u003e is an Emmy-winning former TV reporter and current reality TV producer who has written and produced shows for NBC, ABC, HBO, Disney+, Discovery Channel, and many others. He is also the host, writer, and executive producer of the hit podcast \u003ci\u003eQueen of the Con\u003c\/i\u003e. And in his free time, he helps fellow victims of scammers get justice.\u003cb\u003e1.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe 14 Red Flags Con Artists Wave\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve spent years analyzing the red flags con artists unintentionally wave that signal who they are. I’ve given them names. And throughout this book, I will show you how they appear in real life—in every single con. That way, when you see them waving from a distance in your own life, you will cross the street and avoid getting scammed. Or you’ll be able to point them out to a loved one who’s in the cross-hairs of a con artist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #1: “I Just Want to Help.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time interviewing former FBI criminal profiler Candice DeLong—a truly amazing woman. She taught me about the concept of a “rescue merchant.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA lot of con artists are what the FBI calls rescue merchants. They suddenly show up when there’s a problem or a disaster or unrest. Regular people would flee these dire situations, but professional con artists gravitate toward them. They’ve learned that if they can offer a solution to a major problem someone’s having (or what seems like a solution but is really just a lie), the person in trouble will focus exclusively on the offered solution, and it’ll blind them to everything else—ultimately enabling the con artist to scam them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe woman who scammed me, Mair Smyth, was a rescue merchant. She showed up at a time of turmoil in the community where I live and she offered a solution. And we all fell for it, hard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdmittedly, I fell harder than most. Her solution was her “in,” and it worked like a charm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou need to be suspicious of a stranger who suddenly shows up offering to help. Your inclination is to like them (even love them!) and be grateful to them. But those are the precise feelings a sophisticated con artist will weaponize against you in order to bleed you dry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #2: Too Kind, Too Quick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou meet someone new. It could be a new boyfriend or new girlfriend, a new co-worker or a new neighbor. They’re so kind, so thoughtful, so sweet. They’re always paying for meals, giving you gifts, going out of their way to be as kind as possible. You can’t help but like them—or even love them, on a truncated timetable, because they seem like the nicest person you ever met.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat is a major red flag.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe thing you need to keep in mind is that love is the most powerful force in the universe. I’m not waxing poetic here. It’s just a fact of life. You will do anything for the person you love. People kill for love all the time, die for love all the time. Professional con artists know this, and they rely on it. They trade on it. It’s how they get you to do what they want you to do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a con artist meets a new mark, their mission is to get that mark to love them—or love “the cause” they’ve invented for the mark. That’s because when you’re making decisions based on love, they win. You’ll give them your money, your property, your treasured items. It happens thousands of times every day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #3: Drama, Drama, Drama\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce a con artist has gained your love, your admiration, and your trust, the drama starts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLook, bad things happen to people all the time. People get cancer, have a death in the family, have a major car accident, have an angry brother or sister or cousin trying to “get” them. But all these bad things don’t happen to the same person at the same time—unless they’re a sophisticated con artist trying to distract you and trying to influence you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlso, if you happen to have any drama whatsoever in your own life already, they will use that drama to manipulate you. If you have a crazy boyfriend stalking you, the con artist will tell you they saw them drive by your house yesterday.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMair apparently “roofied” one of her other victims whom she met up with at a Los Angeles bar one night. Then she pretended she had gotten “roofied” too. This terrifying experience bonded the victim to Mair very quickly, in a way nothing else could have. It was a trauma bond, and it was powerful. Ultimately, it helped Mair scam that victim out of thousands of dollars. Drama in and of itself is not a red flag, but drama mixed with the other red flags is an absolute indicator that you are in the midst of chaos being deliberately created by a sophisticated con artist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #4: Isolation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis one’s a biggie. For a con artist to successfully scam you, they need to be able to lure you away from people who might talk you out of going along with their scam. And it’s remarkably easy to do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMair tricked me into believing that my neighbor was a criminal on the run from authorities. So I avoided her. She then convinced my neighbor that I was mentally ill and violent. So my neighbor avoided me. That way she could scam us both using different stories, and we were none the wiser until months later when I started my investigation. Even then, this neighbor was hard to get ahold of. She was actively avoiding me. She blocked my cellphone number and blocked me on social media. She was clearly terrified of me. I had to create a new email address to send her court records and criminal background checks so I could prove to her that Mair was the evil one here. Then I had to get other victims I had discovered to call this woman and explain to her that they had been victimized by Mair as well. That did the trick. But it took longer than it should have.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnyone telling you not to talk to this person or that person is about the biggest red flag there is. It’s a very effective tool for a “working” con artist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #5: “I’m Better Than You”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost con artists are narcissists. They care only about themselves. They are incapable of caring about anyone else.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut they’re really great at faking it. When you first meet them, they seem to care about you and about a lot of things, and they appear to be kind, generous, and loving people. But that is only an act—one that they have perfected over the course of their entire lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLikely when they were children, social cues and dropped-jaw reactions from others taught them at a very young age that something was inherently wrong with them. Something was “off” or different. They weren’t like their peers. They were cold and they seemed uncaring. People didn’t like that and didn’t like them. But to their credit, con artists are super smart and quick studies. Over the years they cleverly learn how to cover up and compensate for their personality deficits. So by the time you meet a con artist in adulthood, they’re a perfected apparition of everything they’ve learned they need to be to impress you, or anybody. Then the scam is on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA professional con artist wants you to be impressed by them. They need you to be impressed by them. In fact, their con relies on it, because you need to think the world of them in order for their confidence tricks to work on you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo after they get you to like them—or, God forbid, love them—they have to get you to respect them and ideally be in awe of them. To achieve that, they’ll essentially brag about themselves. Backdoor brags. Front door brags. They’ll show off. They’ll paint a picture for you that they are the wealthiest, or most talented, or most connected person you ever met. They want you to feel lucky or blessed to know them, because that feeling goes a long way in gaining your confidence in them and paving the way for them to get their hands on your money.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s worth noting here—and forgive me if you know this already—that the term con artist is actually short for confidence artist. These people are brilliant at engineering ways to gain your confidence so they can have their way with you and your bank account.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRed Flag #6: Technology\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow many times has someone held up their cellphone for you to see and said, “Look what this guy\/girl\/my cousin\/boss\/parent just texted me”? Did you ever think this person had created a fake online texting account so they could text themselves—as these various characters—to trick you into believing a story?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow many times have you spoken to someone on the phone claiming to be your landlord, or someone calling from the phone company or the electric company? Did you ever for a second think that it wasn’t any of those people, that it was actually someone you knew who knew you really well and was calling you using a voice-changing app on their phone to disguise their voice to get you to believe whatever it was they were telling you while sounding like various other characters?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday’s working con artist relies heavily on technology. They’ll show you text messages from someone that tell a story. They’ll share with you emails from someone to back that story up. You’ll even get text messages, emails, and phone calls from people who you believe are real. But they’re not. They’re all just clever creations of a professional con artist. These are things you never think about, but in this day and age you need to.Co-creator of the Queen of the Con podcast","brand":"Rodale Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48232926642405,"sku":"NP9780593797167","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593797167.jpg?v=1767721537","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/anatomy-of-a-con-artist-isbn-9780593797167","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}