An Unusually Sick Group - The Man Behind The Mask

An Unusually Sick Group

Quoting a studies by Richard Blum (Deceivers and Deceived: Observations on Confidence Men and Their Victims, Informants and Their Quarry, Political and Industrial Spies and Ordinary Citizens), Chuck Whitlock points out that most con artists are:

... impulsive, amoral, uncontrolled and detached from normal

The essential feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others ...

This pattern has also been referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy, or dissocial personality disorder...

Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder frequently lack empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others."

Chuck Whitlock, Chuck Whitlock's Scam School, © 1997, macmillan, New York, NY, pages 20, 21; Richard H. Blum, Deceivers and Deceived: Observations on Confidence Men and Their Victims, Informants and Their Quarry, Political and Industrial Spies and Ordinary Citizens, (Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 1972), pp 49-50.

All in all, the con artist is a master psychologist. He is a psychological illusionist, able to convince anyone to viscerally believe in his illusions.

Shame, guilt, and fear

Once a con artist has completed his scam, he will yank the rug out from under you. Suddenly, without warning, you have to come to terms with the fact that you have been taken to the cleaners.

—The effect is devastating - it was planned to be —

From the very start of a scam you are kept just slightly off balance so that you feel you must cling to the con artist for support. During the entire manipulation, you are being emotionally positioned so that when the con artist disappears, you will feel as if you have pushed off a merry-go-round. In effect, you were.

You are suddenly left without the rudder in whom you believed with all your heart. To admit you were wrong can be emotionally shattering. You are left reeling and alone with that voice inside your head yelling, "What have I done?!"

Dignity and self-esteem are gone, replaced with shame, guilt, embarrassment, and anger (usually self-directed). You think I'm going overboard with this description? Not really. Not only have I been there, but I get letters from victims every day and that's exactly how they all feel.

Why victims don't report fraud

Many don't know where to turn, so they don't file a report anywhere.
Many are so distraught that they contact every agency they can think of, which has no effect at all.

Abridged courtesy of Fraud Aid >>

Thank you, this is so well put and so timely, to those of us who had never experienced abuse first hand, still think this is something that happens to 'other people' and to those of us who have lost loved ones because of this, we somehow wish SOMEONE had warned us to just how ruthless these people can be ! Just like we are warning you now !

'Kansas L', 'Franciene , and many others here know what it is to lose a loved one prematurely, and we suffer double in knowing these deaths could have been prevented by quick action from the authorities.

Ray Fernandez