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title: "The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time"
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# The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

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## Description

"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.

Review: Gutsy and commendable - a very important read - The Confidence Game reads like a detective novel of the human character. Maria Konnikova weaves a masterful tale of intrigue into the various ways how some have been extraordinarily successful at deceiving their fellow human beings at a large scale and how many are quite successful on a small scale pretty much anywhere you go - through their story. I like to say that I am "addicted" to facts and have very rarely been conned. Konnikova suggests that the successful con artist rarely if ever lets her/his mark get to the point where the mark finds out. She builds her case slowly and deliberately. In fact, I found it reading like walking an ever widening spiral - the reader gets back to a similar point as before (which to some might make it seem repetitive), except that Konnikova then introduces another aspect to the case in question. The most fascinating part of reading The Confidence Game for me was that the writing style and the way that the material was presented loosened up my rigid emotional mindset towards my family which mindset had prevented me from viewing my relatives for what they (mostly) really are - a bunch of con artists with very convincing stories. This is the result of one specific comment that Konnikova makes in a passage where she discusses the psychological aspects of the confidence game. There are more of these precious insights that add special value to the book and that extend its reach beyond merely a discussion of the con game itself. To explain what I mean by the personal discovery mentioned above, my fact based defense mechanism against con artists didn't prevent me from being conned by people whom I falsely believed I could trust - my own family (mother, brother etc) who constantly reassured me that they love me, care about me and stand by me in times of trouble. That they actually did very little yet professed profusely how much they cared instead had always been obvious to me, yet their abundance of words always seemed to make up for the lack of action. The Confidence Game allowed me to see, for the first time ever, and not until almost the end of the book (that's how deliberate the con artist's game is, one really needs to know the whole truth), how my family was able to pull the wool over my eyes since birth basically. Indoctrination of others for some people can apparently not start too early. In other words, I thought I had protected myself against con artists by insisting on facts, but where I refused to insist on facts was with people I mistakenly believed I could trust because of a natural bond. I read only non-fiction material, academic and non-academic. I don't recall ever having read non-fiction without footnotes. In that sense, Konnikova has pulled off a commendable job. I found it very liberating not to be bombarded with reference material. The few cases that I looked up for further information were valid and supportive. Also, I didn't feel that I had to question her perspective. In fact, I feel encouraged to apply what I have learned from The Confidence Game to any past, present and future situation in my life and to reconsider everything and anything as the need arises without necessarily blaming anyone, least of all myself. Stories can be short and long. Konnikova shows that anybody with bad intentions is capable of coming up with a story and how important it is to ignore them. That is not to say that facts cannot be deceiving, yet anyone presenting them might have a good story to tell why you should believe their facts over other facts. The Confidence Game easily gets my five stars yet deserves many more for the impact it has had on my perspective on human behavior.
Review: "Rationality, and its departure" - Konnikov, aside from having the PERFECT name to tackle this topic, is a talented writer. She is conversational without being too present (in that creepy, uncle-at-your-bedroom-window kind of way) and knowledgeable about the history of cons and cognitive science behind how they work and why we fall for them. She tackles the fascinating subject with the perfect blend of engaging writing, rigorous research and guilty appreciation for con men (and they are almost all men, apparently) and their devious trade. She uses plenty of historic examples of memorable and lucrative cons, as well as some painfully recent examples (Madoff, for example), strategically stretching them out across chapters to make this a borderline page-turner, as I always wanted to find out how badly the marks would be taken and if the cons ever got their comeuppance. I also appreciated the thought that went into the overall structure (the sure sign of a writer who understand the psychology of storytelling), organizing the chapters around the components of a big con — the put-up, the rope, the send, etc. — which is a great way to seed the lingo and reinforce just how complicated a con is and just how much they rely on instinctive (or learned) understanding of deep psychological concepts. Cons can only work because we humans are, mostly, wired to trust. “We are so bad at spotting deception because it’s better for us to more trusting. Trust, and not adeptness at spotting deception is the most beneficial path.” For such social, collaborative creatures, trust is vitally important to work together. And cons take advantage of that. Cons, it seems, are wired a little differently than most, often scoring high on the “dark triad” of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. That leaves them self-interested and joyously amoral. Luckily, evolution has seen to it that those who possess those and other maladaptive traits ever only exist in relatively small numbers, or else risk dragging the whole species down into oblivion. “Calculated nonchalance [regarding moral imperatives] is only an adaptive strategy when it’s a minority one.” Otherwise, we’d all be so busy fleecing each other and exacting revenge, the human race might just flicker out. So, along with exploitable trust, add in greed, an overwhelming desire to feel special and a few other psychological traits like “egocentric anchoring” (“We assume that other know what we know, believe what we believe, and like what we like.”) and “the mere exposure effect” (familiarity breeds affection), and the stage is set for being suckered. The part that resonated the most with me is how victims of cons often fall for a scam because of a shared predilection of all humans — our love of stories. Our brains are wired to receive information in story form, and cons are really just an elaborate, and expensive, form of story-telling that puts the victim in the center of a new and interesting universe where it makes perfect sense that they can get money for nothing or that they are of the blood line of an ancient religious order and must liquidate their resources to go on the run. It’s exciting! People want to feel special, and stories about them are the best ways to make that happen, lowering defenses and loosening purse strings in the process. And we especially love a good story that resonates with our core beliefs. “Why form accurate judgments when the inaccurate one make our life far more pleasant and easy?” Easy because we don’t have to challenge our long held assumptions (such as the fact that we really are special). The comforting story soothes away the cognitive dissonance because, “when a fact is plausible, we still need to test it. When a story is plausible, we often assume it’s true.” And cons often invoke “information priming” which exploits “the ease that comes from familiarity. Mention something in passing, and when you elaborate on it later – especially if it’s a few days later – it seems that much more convincing. It’s a phenomenon known as the illusion of truth: we are more likely to think something is true if it feels familiar.” And that goes double if that something has emotional appeal. “Our emotional reactions are often our first. They are made naturally and instinctively, before we perform any sort of evidence-based evaluation.” In other words, “Con men … are likewise expert at rapidly involving greed, pity and other emotions that can eclipse deliberation and produce an override of normal behavioral restraints.” Equal parts journalism and psychology, the end result is a riveting look at what it takes to convince people to, against all their better instincts, act against their own self-interest.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #112,218 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #123 in Popular Applied Psychology #168 in Medical Cognitive Psychology #312 in Cognitive Psychology (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,804 Reviews |

## Images

![The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71SQVp6XlwL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gutsy and commendable - a very important read
*by V***T on March 11, 2016*

The Confidence Game reads like a detective novel of the human character. Maria Konnikova weaves a masterful tale of intrigue into the various ways how some have been extraordinarily successful at deceiving their fellow human beings at a large scale and how many are quite successful on a small scale pretty much anywhere you go - through their story. I like to say that I am "addicted" to facts and have very rarely been conned. Konnikova suggests that the successful con artist rarely if ever lets her/his mark get to the point where the mark finds out. She builds her case slowly and deliberately. In fact, I found it reading like walking an ever widening spiral - the reader gets back to a similar point as before (which to some might make it seem repetitive), except that Konnikova then introduces another aspect to the case in question. The most fascinating part of reading The Confidence Game for me was that the writing style and the way that the material was presented loosened up my rigid emotional mindset towards my family which mindset had prevented me from viewing my relatives for what they (mostly) really are - a bunch of con artists with very convincing stories. This is the result of one specific comment that Konnikova makes in a passage where she discusses the psychological aspects of the confidence game. There are more of these precious insights that add special value to the book and that extend its reach beyond merely a discussion of the con game itself. To explain what I mean by the personal discovery mentioned above, my fact based defense mechanism against con artists didn't prevent me from being conned by people whom I falsely believed I could trust - my own family (mother, brother etc) who constantly reassured me that they love me, care about me and stand by me in times of trouble. That they actually did very little yet professed profusely how much they cared instead had always been obvious to me, yet their abundance of words always seemed to make up for the lack of action. The Confidence Game allowed me to see, for the first time ever, and not until almost the end of the book (that's how deliberate the con artist's game is, one really needs to know the whole truth), how my family was able to pull the wool over my eyes since birth basically. Indoctrination of others for some people can apparently not start too early. In other words, I thought I had protected myself against con artists by insisting on facts, but where I refused to insist on facts was with people I mistakenly believed I could trust because of a natural bond. I read only non-fiction material, academic and non-academic. I don't recall ever having read non-fiction without footnotes. In that sense, Konnikova has pulled off a commendable job. I found it very liberating not to be bombarded with reference material. The few cases that I looked up for further information were valid and supportive. Also, I didn't feel that I had to question her perspective. In fact, I feel encouraged to apply what I have learned from The Confidence Game to any past, present and future situation in my life and to reconsider everything and anything as the need arises without necessarily blaming anyone, least of all myself. Stories can be short and long. Konnikova shows that anybody with bad intentions is capable of coming up with a story and how important it is to ignore them. That is not to say that facts cannot be deceiving, yet anyone presenting them might have a good story to tell why you should believe their facts over other facts. The Confidence Game easily gets my five stars yet deserves many more for the impact it has had on my perspective on human behavior.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Rationality, and its departure"
*by C***S on April 21, 2017*

Konnikov, aside from having the PERFECT name to tackle this topic, is a talented writer. She is conversational without being too present (in that creepy, uncle-at-your-bedroom-window kind of way) and knowledgeable about the history of cons and cognitive science behind how they work and why we fall for them. She tackles the fascinating subject with the perfect blend of engaging writing, rigorous research and guilty appreciation for con men (and they are almost all men, apparently) and their devious trade. She uses plenty of historic examples of memorable and lucrative cons, as well as some painfully recent examples (Madoff, for example), strategically stretching them out across chapters to make this a borderline page-turner, as I always wanted to find out how badly the marks would be taken and if the cons ever got their comeuppance. I also appreciated the thought that went into the overall structure (the sure sign of a writer who understand the psychology of storytelling), organizing the chapters around the components of a big con — the put-up, the rope, the send, etc. — which is a great way to seed the lingo and reinforce just how complicated a con is and just how much they rely on instinctive (or learned) understanding of deep psychological concepts. Cons can only work because we humans are, mostly, wired to trust. “We are so bad at spotting deception because it’s better for us to more trusting. Trust, and not adeptness at spotting deception is the most beneficial path.” For such social, collaborative creatures, trust is vitally important to work together. And cons take advantage of that. Cons, it seems, are wired a little differently than most, often scoring high on the “dark triad” of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. That leaves them self-interested and joyously amoral. Luckily, evolution has seen to it that those who possess those and other maladaptive traits ever only exist in relatively small numbers, or else risk dragging the whole species down into oblivion. “Calculated nonchalance [regarding moral imperatives] is only an adaptive strategy when it’s a minority one.” Otherwise, we’d all be so busy fleecing each other and exacting revenge, the human race might just flicker out. So, along with exploitable trust, add in greed, an overwhelming desire to feel special and a few other psychological traits like “egocentric anchoring” (“We assume that other know what we know, believe what we believe, and like what we like.”) and “the mere exposure effect” (familiarity breeds affection), and the stage is set for being suckered. The part that resonated the most with me is how victims of cons often fall for a scam because of a shared predilection of all humans — our love of stories. Our brains are wired to receive information in story form, and cons are really just an elaborate, and expensive, form of story-telling that puts the victim in the center of a new and interesting universe where it makes perfect sense that they can get money for nothing or that they are of the blood line of an ancient religious order and must liquidate their resources to go on the run. It’s exciting! People want to feel special, and stories about them are the best ways to make that happen, lowering defenses and loosening purse strings in the process. And we especially love a good story that resonates with our core beliefs. “Why form accurate judgments when the inaccurate one make our life far more pleasant and easy?” Easy because we don’t have to challenge our long held assumptions (such as the fact that we really are special). The comforting story soothes away the cognitive dissonance because, “when a fact is plausible, we still need to test it. When a story is plausible, we often assume it’s true.” And cons often invoke “information priming” which exploits “the ease that comes from familiarity. Mention something in passing, and when you elaborate on it later – especially if it’s a few days later – it seems that much more convincing. It’s a phenomenon known as the illusion of truth: we are more likely to think something is true if it feels familiar.” And that goes double if that something has emotional appeal. “Our emotional reactions are often our first. They are made naturally and instinctively, before we perform any sort of evidence-based evaluation.” In other words, “Con men … are likewise expert at rapidly involving greed, pity and other emotions that can eclipse deliberation and produce an override of normal behavioral restraints.” Equal parts journalism and psychology, the end result is a riveting look at what it takes to convince people to, against all their better instincts, act against their own self-interest.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Informative, interesting, well written
*by T***N on December 14, 2025*

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