International Law

Con Criminal Myths

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Nice story by Anthony Gottlieb, former editor of the Economist.com, about his meeting with Madoff.

"Mr Madoff gave no hint of any weariness with or hostility towards the burden of regulatory oversight.

Perhaps this is because, as we now know, it was in fact too ineffective to cramp his style.

But at the time he came across merely as calm, strikingly rational, devoid of ego, and the last person you would expect to make your wealth vanish.

I certainly would have trusted him with my money. I cannot say the same of other financial superstars I interviewed."

This highlights one of the myths of con criminals - that they are of a type that you could spot by their mannerisms.

Con criminals work their magic by delivering to you what you want to hear. Chameleons at their very best. They appear to be worthy of trust precisely because they appear to be saying wonderful things: espousing values which in reality are yours and yours alone.

A con criminal waits until he or she can detect what phantom dream excites you, an excitement which takes you past rational thought, and right into commitment. Once they have the fragments of your phantom dream, they simply feed it back to you. All the while waiting for the best time to betray you.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on December 30, 2008 (boomark / email).