The Confidence Game By Maria Konnikova Summary

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The Confidence Game

Author : Maria Konnikova
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0143109871
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (431 download)

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Book Synopsis The Confidence Game by : Maria Konnikova

Download or read book The Confidence Game written by Maria Konnikova and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It’s a startling and disconcerting read that should make you think twice every time a friend of a friend offers you the opportunity of a lifetime.” —Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and bestselling author of Devil in the White City Think you can’t get conned? Think again. The New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes explains how to spot the con before they spot you. “[An] excellent study of Con Artists, stories & the human need to believe” –Neil Gaiman, via Twitter A compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists—and the people who fall for their cons over and over again. While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true conmen—the Bernie Madoffs, the Jim Bakkers, the Lance Armstrongs—are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again? These are the questions that journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova tackles in her mesmerizing new book. From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Insightful and gripping, the book brings readers into the world of the con, examining the relationship between artist and victim. The Confidence Game asks not only why we believe con artists, but also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.

The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova (Summary)

Author : QuickRead
Publisher : QuickRead.com
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova (Summary) by : QuickRead

Download or read book The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova (Summary) written by QuickRead and published by QuickRead.com. This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you want more free books like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. The Confidence Game (2016) lays bare the psychology behind pyramid schemes, get-rich-quick scams, and every other con artist trick in the book to help us understand why we so easily fall prey to manipulators. If you’ve ever wondered why we fall for con artists or even why we can be easily manipulated by others in everyday life, The Confidence Game has the answers. Drawing on examples from psychology and history, Maria Konnikova explains why confidence can create a master manipulator or a victim, why we’re attracted to successful people, and what’s wrong with our self-perception.

The Confidence Game

Author : Instaread
Publisher : Instaread
ISBN 13 : 1945048204
Total Pages : 38 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (45 download)

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Book Synopsis The Confidence Game by : Instaread

Download or read book The Confidence Game written by Instaread and published by Instaread. This book was released on 2016-03-02 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova | Summary & Analysis Preview: The Confidence Game is a nonfiction examination of con games. It considers both the minds and methods of con artists and the minds and weaknesses of the people who fall victim to their schemes. Con artists are some of the most intuitive psychologists in the world. They are able to read people quickly and easily. They understand what different people want and they take advantage of this by offering them easy solutions: by appearing at the right time, in the right way, with the desired offer… PLEASE NOTE: This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. Inside this Instaread Summary of The Confidence Game: · Overview of the book · Important People · Key Takeaways · Analysis of Key Takeaways

Mastermind

Author : Maria Konnikova
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101606231
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Mastermind by : Maria Konnikova

Download or read book Mastermind written by Maria Konnikova and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-01-03 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling guide to thinking like literature's greatest detective. "Steven Pinker meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" (Boston Globe), by the author of The Confidence Game. No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes. But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction, or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves, to improve our lives at work and at home? We can, says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova, and in Mastermind she shows us how. Beginning with the “brain attic”—Holmes’s metaphor for how we store information and organize knowledge—Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights. Drawing on twenty-first-century neuroscience and psychology, Mastermind explores Holmes’s unique methods of ever-present mindfulness, astute observation, and logical deduction. In doing so, it shows how each of us, with some self-awareness and a little practice, can employ these same methods to sharpen our perceptions, solve difficult problems, and enhance our creative powers. For Holmes aficionados and casual readers alike, Konnikova reveals how the world’s most keen-eyed detective can serve as an unparalleled guide to upgrading the mind.

The Biggest Bluff

Author : Maria Konnikova
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0525522646
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (255 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biggest Bluff by : Maria Konnikova

Download or read book The Biggest Bluff written by Maria Konnikova and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book “The tale of how Konnikova followed a story about poker players and wound up becoming a story herself will have you riveted, first as you learn about her big winnings, and then as she conveys the lessons she learned both about human nature and herself.” —The Washington Post It's true that Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings, and convinced him to be her mentor. But she knew her man: a famously thoughtful and broad-minded player, he was intrigued by her pitch that she wasn't interested in making money so much as learning about life. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance had led her to a giant of game theory, who pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish between what can be controlled and what can't. And she certainly brought something to the table, including a Ph.D. in psychology and an acclaimed and growing body of work on human behavior and how to hack it. So Seidel was in, and soon she was down the rabbit hole with him, into the wild, fiercely competitive, overwhelmingly masculine world of high-stakes Texas Hold'em, their initial end point the following year's World Series of Poker. But then something extraordinary happened. Under Seidel's guidance, Konnikova did have many epiphanies about life that derived from her new pursuit, including how to better read, not just her opponents but far more importantly herself; how to identify what tilted her into an emotional state that got in the way of good decisions; and how to get to a place where she could accept luck for what it was, and what it wasn't. But she also began to win. And win. In a little over a year, she began making earnest money from tournaments, ultimately totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. She won a major title, got a sponsor, and got used to being on television, and to headlines like "How one writer's book deal turned her into a professional poker player." She even learned to like Las Vegas. But in the end, Maria Konnikova is a writer and student of human behavior, and ultimately the point was to render her incredible journey into a container for its invaluable lessons. The biggest bluff of all, she learned, is that skill is enough. Bad cards will come our way, but keeping our focus on how we play them and not on the outcome will keep us moving through many a dark patch, until the luck once again breaks our way.

Summary of The Confidence Game

Author : Instaread Summaries
Publisher : Idreambooks
ISBN 13 : 9781945272035
Total Pages : 30 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Summary of The Confidence Game by : Instaread Summaries

Download or read book Summary of The Confidence Game written by Instaread Summaries and published by Idreambooks. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inside this Instaread Summary of The Confidence Game:*Overview of the book*Important People*Key Takeaways*Analysis of Key Takeaways

The Big Con

Author : David Maurer
Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 030775572X
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis The Big Con by : David Maurer

Download or read book The Big Con written by David Maurer and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-10-27 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic 1940 study of con men and con games that Luc Sante in Salon called “a bonanza of wild but credible stories, told concisely with deadpan humor, as sly and rich in atmosphere as anything this side of Mark Twain.” “Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat,” wrote David Maurer, a proposition he definitely proved in The Big Con, one of the most colorful, well-researched, and entertaining works of criminology ever written. A professor of linguistics who specialized in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers, who let him in on not simply their language but their folkways and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty, were “taken off” – i.e. cheated—of thousands upon thousands of dollars. The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send) and indelible characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie, Larry the Lug). It served as the source for the Oscar-winning film The Sting.

The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults)

Author : Ta-Nehisi Coates
Publisher : Ember
ISBN 13 : 1984894056
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (848 download)

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Book Synopsis The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults) by : Ta-Nehisi Coates

Download or read book The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults) written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and published by Ember. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adapted from the adult memoir by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Water Dancer and Between the World and Me, this father-son story explores how boys become men, and quite specifically, how Ta-Nehisi Coates became Ta-Nehisi Coates. As a child, Ta-Nehisi Coates was seen by his father, Paul, as too sensitive and lacking focus. Paul Coates was a Vietnam vet who'd been part of the Black Panthers and was dedicated to reading and publishing the history of African civilization. When it came to his sons, he was committed to raising proud Black men equipped to deal with a racist society, during a turbulent period in the collapsing city of Baltimore where they lived. Coates details with candor the challenges of dealing with his tough-love father, the influence of his mother, and the dynamics of his extended family, including his brother "Big Bill," who was on a very different path than Ta-Nehisi. Coates also tells of his family struggles at school and with girls, making this a timely story to which many readers will relate.

Uncertainty in Games

Author : Greg Costikyan
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262527537
Total Pages : 150 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Uncertainty in Games by : Greg Costikyan

Download or read book Uncertainty in Games written by Greg Costikyan and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How uncertainty in games—from Super Mario Bros. to Rock/Paper/Scissors—engages players and shapes play experiences. In life, uncertainty surrounds us. Things that we thought were good for us turn out to be bad for us (and vice versa); people we thought we knew well behave in mysterious ways; the stock market takes a nosedive. Thanks to an inexplicable optimism, most of the time we are fairly cheerful about it all. But we do devote much effort to managing and ameliorating uncertainty. Is it any wonder, then, asks Greg Costikyan, that we have taken this aspect of our lives and transformed it culturally, making a series of elaborate constructs that subject us to uncertainty but in a fictive and nonthreatening way? That is: we create games. In this concise and entertaining book, Costikyan, an award-winning game designer, argues that games require uncertainty to hold our interest, and that the struggle to master uncertainty is central to their appeal. Game designers, he suggests, can harness the idea of uncertainty to guide their work. Costikyan explores the many sources of uncertainty in many sorts of games—from Super Mario Bros. and Dungeons & Dragons to Rock/Paper/Scissors, from Monopoly to CityVille, from FPS Deathmatch play to Chess. He describes types of uncertainty, including performative uncertainty, analytic complexity, and narrative anticipation. And he suggests ways that game designers who want to craft novel game experiences can use an understanding of game uncertainty in its many forms to improve their designs.

Performing Under Pressure

Author : Hendrie Weisinger
Publisher : Currency
ISBN 13 : 0804136726
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (41 download)

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Book Synopsis Performing Under Pressure by : Hendrie Weisinger

Download or read book Performing Under Pressure written by Hendrie Weisinger and published by Currency. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody performs better under pressure. Regardless of the task, pressure ruthlessly diminishes our judgment, decision-making, attention, dexterity, and performance in every professional and personal arena. In Performing Under Pressure, Drs. Hendrie Weisinger and J.P. Pawliw-Fry introduce us to the concept of pressure management, offering empirically tested short term and long term solutions to help us overcome the debilitating effects of pressure. Performing Under Pressure tackles the greatest obstacle to personal success, whether in a sales presentation, at home, on the golf course, interviewing for a job, or performing onstage at Carnegie Hall. Despite sports mythology, no one "rises to the occasion" under pressure and does better than they do in practice. The reality is pressure makes us do worse, and sometimes leads us to fail utterly. But there are things we can do to diminish its effects on our performance. Performing Under Pressure draws on research from over 12,000 people, and features the latest research from neuroscience and from the frontline experiences of Fortune 500 employees and managers, Navy SEALS, Olympic and other elite athletes, and others. It offers 22 specific strategies each of us can use to reduce pressure in our personal and professional lives and allow us to better excel in whatever we do. Whether you’re a corporate manager, a basketball player, or a student preparing for the SAT, Performing Under Pressure will help you to do your best when it matters most.

The King of Confidence

Author : Miles Harvey
Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 0316463582
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (164 download)

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Book Synopsis The King of Confidence by : Miles Harvey

Download or read book The King of Confidence written by Miles Harvey and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "unputdownable" (Dave Eggers, National Book award finalist) story of the most infamous American con man you've never heard of: James Strang, self-proclaimed divine king of earth, heaven, and an island in Lake Michigan, "perfect for fans of The Devil in the White City" (Kirkus) A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist for the Midland Authors Annual Literary Award A Michigan Notable Book A CrimeReads Best True Crime Book of the Year "A masterpiece." —Nathaniel Philbrick In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the Midwestern frontier and converted to a burgeoning religious movement known as Mormonism. In the wake of the murder of the sect's leader, Joseph Smith, Strang unveiled a letter purportedly from the prophet naming him successor, and persuaded hundreds of fellow converts to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan, where he declared himself a divine king. From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country. The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.

Heavens on Earth

Author : Michael Shermer
Publisher : Henry Holt
ISBN 13 : 1627798579
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (277 download)

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Book Synopsis Heavens on Earth by : Michael Shermer

Download or read book Heavens on Earth written by Michael Shermer and published by Henry Holt. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans' belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality by radical life extentionists, extropians, transhumanists, cryonicists, and mind-uploaders, along with utopians who have attempted to create heaven on earth. For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, the place where souls go after the death of the physical body. Religious leaders have toiled to make sense of this place that a surprising 74% of Americans believe exists, but from which no one has ever returned to report what it is really like. Heavens on Earth concludes with an uplifting paean to purpose and progress and what we can do in the here-and-now, whether or not there is a hereafter" --

Talking to 'Crazy'

Author : Mark Goulston
Publisher : AMACOM
ISBN 13 : 0814439594
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (144 download)

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Book Synopsis Talking to 'Crazy' by : Mark Goulston

Download or read book Talking to 'Crazy' written by Mark Goulston and published by AMACOM. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[Goulston’s]ideas are a bit counter-intuitive but they really do shift the dynamic and help people diffuse and disarm the irrational person leading to more positive outcomes.” -- Online MBA Because some people are beyond difficult... Let’s face it, we all know people who are irrational. No matter how hard you try to reason with them, it never works. So what’s the solution? How do you talk to someone who’s out of control? What can you do with a boss who bullies, a spouse who yells, or a friend who frequently bursts into tears? In his book, Just Listen, Mark Goulston shared his bestselling formula for getting through to the resistant people in your life. Now, in his breakthrough new book Talking to Crazy, he brings his communication magic to the most difficult group of all—the downright irrational. As a psychiatrist, Goulston has seen his share of crazy and he knows from experience that you can’t simply argue it away. The key to handling irrational people is to learn to lean into the crazy—to empathize with it. That radically changes the dynamic and transforms you from a threat into an ally. Talking to Crazy explains this counterintuitive Sanity Cycle and reveals: Why people act the way they do • How instinctive responses can exacerbate the situation—and what to do instead • When to confront a problem and when to walk away • How to use a range of proven techniques including Time Travel, the Fish-bowl, and the Belly Roll • And much more You can’t reason with unreasonable people—but you can reach them. This powerful and practical book shows you how.

Nightmare Alley

Author : William Lindsay Gresham
Publisher : New York Review of Books
ISBN 13 : 1590174283
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Nightmare Alley by : William Lindsay Gresham

Download or read book Nightmare Alley written by William Lindsay Gresham and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2011-04-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soon to be a major motion picture from Academy Award–winning director Guillermo del Toro and starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Toni Collette. Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a carnival-show geek—alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd’s gleeful disgust and derision—going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him. And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.

Trust Agents

Author : Chris Brogan
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119666015
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (196 download)

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Book Synopsis Trust Agents by : Chris Brogan

Download or read book Trust Agents written by Chris Brogan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 10th Anniversary Edition of Trust Agents helps companies get back on track in their efforts to build reputation, attention, and trust. In the years since authors Chris Brogan and Julien Smith first released their groundbreaking book Trust Agents, social media channels have become inundated by questionable, low-quality content. As a result, many businesses have suffered from damaged reputations and poorly performing social media initiatives. The power of social media is as strong as ever, yet businesses are struggling when trying to re-capture the trust and attention of their audience. This special 10th Anniversary Edition of Trust Agents helps companies of all kinds regain their reputation and re-establish the attention and trust of the marketplace. Celebrating a decade in print, this New York Times bestseller has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the new business realities of social networks and the latest digital technologies. All-new content and supplemental materials show business leaders how to attract the right kind of attention, communicate directly to specific groups, and leverage human innovation and originality in this age of Artificial Intelligence and automation. From using the latest social apps and platforms to build trusted networks of influence, to implementing laser-focused marketing strategies to cut through the digital clutter, critical information is supported by real-world examples and case studies, advanced theory, and practical, actionable guidance. This must-have guide: Provides expert advice on creating and growing brand influence Features specific strategies for small businesses, nonprofits, the hospitality industry, corporations, and more Discusses the six main tenets of trust agents and their use Explores online tools that foster better relationships, increased sales, and greater profits Explains the relationship between trust, social capital, and media The 10th Anniversary Edition of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust is a valuable source of

Lying for Money

Author : Dan Davies
Publisher : Scribner
ISBN 13 : 1982114932
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

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Book Synopsis Lying for Money by : Dan Davies

Download or read book Lying for Money written by Dan Davies and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An entertaining, deeply informative explanation of how high-level financial crimes work, written by an industry insider who’s an expert in the field. The way most white-collar crime works is by manipulating institutional psychology. That means creating something that looks as much as possible like a normal set of transactions. The drama comes later, when it all unwinds. Financial crime seems horribly complicated, but there are only so many ways you can con someone out of what’s theirs. In Lying for Money, veteran regulatory economist and market analyst Dan Davies tells the story of fraud through a genealogy of financial malfeasance, including: the Great Salad Oil swindle, the Pigeon King International fraud, the fictional British colony of Poyais in South America, the Boston Ladies’ Deposit Company, the Portuguese Banknote Affair, Theranos, and the Bre-X scam. Davies brings new insights into these schemes and shows how all frauds, current and historical, belong to one of four categories (“long firm,” counterfeiting, control fraud, and market crimes) and operate on the same basic principles. The only elements that change are the victims, the scammers, and the terminology. Davies has years of experience picking the bones out of some of the most famous frauds of the modern age. Now he reveals the big picture that emerges from their labyrinths of deceit and explains how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy.

Confident Women

Author : Tori Telfer
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062956043
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (629 download)

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Book Synopsis Confident Women by : Tori Telfer

Download or read book Confident Women written by Tori Telfer and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thoroughly entertaining and darkly humorous roundup of history’s notorious but often forgotten female con artists and their bold, outrageous scams—by the acclaimed author of Lady Killers. From Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Delvey to Frank Abagnale and Charles Ponzi, audacious scams and charismatic scammers continue to intrigue us as a culture. As Tori Telfer reveals in Confident Women, the art of the con has a long and venerable tradition, and its female practitioners are some of the best—or worst. In the 1700s in Paris, Jeanne de Saint-Rémy scammed the royal jewelers out of a necklace made from six hundred and forty-seven diamonds by pretending she was best friends with Queen Marie Antoinette. In the mid-1800s, sisters Kate and Maggie Fox began pretending they could speak to spirits and accidentally started a religious movement that was soon crawling with female con artists. A gal calling herself Loreta Janeta Velasquez claimed to be a soldier and convinced people she worked for the Confederacy—or the Union, depending on who she was talking to. Meanwhile, Cassie Chadwick was forging paperwork and getting banks to loan her upwards of $40,000 by telling people she was Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter. In the 1900s, a 40something woman named Margaret Lydia Burton embezzled money all over the country and stole upwards of forty prized show dogs, while a few decades later, a teenager named Roxie Ann Rice scammed the entire NFL. And since the death of the Romanovs, women claiming to be Anastasia have been selling their stories to magazines. What about today? Spoiler alert: these “artists” are still conning. Confident Women asks the provocative question: Where does chutzpah intersect with a uniquely female pathology—and how were these notorious women able to so spectacularly dupe and swindle their victims?