The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History

This book examines a broad range of infamous scams, cons, swindles, and hoaxes throughout American history—and considers why human gullibility continues in an age of easy access to information. Covering American cons and hoaxes past and present, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the controversy over "subliminal messaging" (do bands, filmmakers, and advertisers really put secret messages in their works?), the panic about "satanic" daycare operators in the 1980s, and recent Internet scams, this book provides a fascinating, fact-based look at infamous frauds across the centuries. Offering an engaging mix of history, sociology, and psychology, author Nate Hendley gives readers an appreciation of how prominent scams, cons, "confidence men," and hoaxes have impacted American society, past and present. Each entry details the scheme or hoax and the pertinent con artist/schemer involved, examining the sociological, cultural, political, and/or economic effect of the scams. Each topic is accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading selections. As the old saying goes, "There is a sucker born every minute"—and there has always been a keen-eyed swindler to take advantage of the situation. The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History explores this sordid underbelly of American civilization and invites readers to revel in the felonious experience.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Section One Classic Cons Introduction Short Cons The Gold Brick Pig in a Poke The Fiddle Game Dog Store The Glim Dropper The Pigeon Drop Change Raising The Smack The Tat The Money Machine Hot Seat Femme Fatale Modeling/Talent Agency Clip Joint Fake Auction Street Vendor with a Van Sleazy Street Vendor Mentally Handicapped Person Distressed Car Owner Big Cons The Fight Store The Wire The Payoff The Rag The Bigger Rag Rigging the Numbers Racket The Spanish Prisoner Classic Card Scams Huge Duke Bill Kaplan's Card Sharks Three-Card Monte Section Two Business Fraud Introduction Advance Fee Fraud Affinity Fraud ATM Skimming Counterfeiting Charles Ponzi Pyramid Schemes Pump and Dump Leo Koretz Section Three Despicable Scams Introduction Disaster Scams Natural Disasters Man-Made Disasters Faking Cancer Faking Car Accidents Funeral Fraud Faked Funerals Prepaid Ponzi Scamming Senior Citizens The Grandparents Scam Phony Phone Numbers Veteran Scams Additional Scams Involving Senior Citizens Surrogacy/Adoption Fraud Deceiving Prospective Parents Selling Babies Scamming Donors, Surrogates, and Prospective Parents Section Four Great Pretenders Introduction Frank Abagnale James Capone (aka Richard Joseph "Two-Gun" Hart) Emperor Norton of San Francisco Iron Eyes Cody Joseph Pistone (aka "Donnie Brasco") Section Five Hoaxes, Urban Legends, and Popular Delusions Introduction Alan Abel, Master Hoaxer The Bermuda Triangle The Black Hand Extortion Racket Blackout Babies The Cardiff Giant Daycare Devils Extraterrestrials Alien Abduction Roswell The Great Chess Automaton Kentucky Fried Lies Learned Nonsense The Lurid Confessions of Maria Monk New York Newspaper Hoaxes Man-Bats on the Moon Wild Cats in Manhattan The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion The War of the Worlds Broadcast Section Six Dubious Remedies Introduction Drugs Patent Medicines Reefer Madness Curious Cancer Cures Goat Gonad Therapy Health Care Fraud Energizing Elixirs Therapeutic Touch Homeopathy Energy Medicine Devices Dr. Albert Abrams William Nelson Psychic Surgery Radium Medicine Repressed Memories and Multiple Personality Disorder Section Seven Online Scams Introduction Internet Dating Fraud Malware The Nigerian Letter Phishing/Vishing Phony Rentals and Auctions Phone Fraud Cramming Jury Duty Scam Telemarketing Fraud Fake Tech Support Section Eight Para-Abnormal Fraud Introduction The Amityville Horror Sylvia Browne Dowsing for Water—or Bombs The Fox Sisters Remote Viewing Section Nine Pop Culture Cons Introduction Buffalo Bill and the Myth of the "Wild West" Fake Sports/Celebrity Memorabilia James Frey: A Million Little Falsehoods The Mis-Education of Little Tree Movie Cons The Grifters (1990) American Hustle (2013) Argo (2012) Elmer Gantry (1960) The Hustler (1961) The Sting (1973) The 1919 World Series Damon Runyon, Chronicler of the Underworld Subliminal Messaging Politics The 1876 Presidential Election The 1948 Texas Democratic Primary Teapot Dome William "Big Bill" Thompson Section Ten A Gallery of Rogues (and One Hero) Introduction P. T. Barnum, Showman Extraordinaire Jordan Belfort, "The Wolf of Wall Street" Steve Brodie, The Bridge Jumper Rita Crundwell, Municipal Menace The Lonely Hearts Killers Bernie Madoff Old-School Swindlers William Thompson George C. Parker Joseph Weil, "The Yellow Kid" Linda Taylor, The Welfare Queen Kevin Trudeau, TV Pitchman Harry Houdini, Ghost Buster Section Eleven Interviews Interview with Alan Abel Interview with Dr. Stephen Barrett Interview with Dean Jobb Interview with James Randi Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Nate Hendley is a freelance writer and author. He has written several books, primarily in the true-crime genre.

Review :
Serious students and general readers alike will marvel at fraudsters' ingenuity and cringe at human gullibility (sometimes fed by greed). Consider for all public libraries. [A] good overview and resource for public and academic libraries aimed at all levels of beginning students. Summing Up: Recommended. High school, community college, and undergraduate students; general readers. The Big Con is a big book, almost 400 pages, and as such, it is very authoritative, making it a great reference book to have for those who enjoy reading true crime, crime fiction, or who are born skeptics and get a certain 'kick' out reading how easily people can be fooled. . . . Very readable The Big Con is one of those books that you can pick up and start reading anywhere. There is an extensive bibliography at the back for further reading suggestions. Mr Hendley has done sceptics a genuine courtesy by assembling the history of frauds, cons, scams and hoaxes into one beautiful volume. . . . [T]his book is perfect reading for the casual reader, true crime/fiction aficionado, and sceptic. For a comprehensive guide to how the likes of Clem, Lehwess, and other slick-talkers operate, check out The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History. . . . [E]ntertaining and informative.