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?
Download or read book Grifters Swindlers written by Cynthia Manson and published by Carroll & Graf Pub. This book was released on 1993 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compendium of short stories about con men, swindlers, and grifters features selections from some of the most popular mystery writers, including David Morrell, Simon Brett, Donald E. Westlake, Jim Thompson, Julian Symons, and others.
Download or read book The Longest Con written by Joe Conason and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2024-07-09 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sardonic chronicle of how conservatism turned into a racketeering enterprise – and why Donald Trump became the living emblem of the American right’s moral decay. The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump’s path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him. From the “professional anti-communists” (whose tactics even J. Edgar Hoover despised) to the “populist” grifters of the Tea Party movement and the religious charlatans of the “prosperity gospel” (who provided a pious front for Trump), the right-wing ripoff has remained remarkably consistent, even as personalities change and new technologies emerge: Stir up anger and resentment, demonize political opponents, promise vengeance, and collect donations from the gullible. It’s a highly lucrative game that any unscrupulous charlatan can play, as many have – and they are named in these pages. In an unsparing and often comic narrative, Joe Conason explores the right’s long, steep descent into a movement whose principal aim is not to protect freedom or defend the Constitution, but merely to line the pockets of pretenders and blowhards whose malevolent tactics now endanger the nation.
Download or read book Hype written by Gabrielle Bluestone and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hype is the best kind of nonfiction: juicy, sharp, savage and wildly entertaining, with a celebrity behaving badly on every page. What more could you want?” -Cat Marnell, New York Times-bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life From former Vice journalist and executive producer of hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists, grifters and snake oil salesmen of the digital age—and why we can’t stop falling for them. We live in an age where scams are the new normal. A charismatic entrepreneur sells thousands of tickets to a festival that never happened. Respected investors pour millions into a start-up centered around fake blood tests. Reviewers and celebrities flock to London’s top-rated restaurant that’s little more than a backyard shed. These unsettling stories of today’s viral grifters have risen to fame and hit the front-page headlines, yet the curious conundrum remains: Why do these scams happen? Drawing from scientific research, marketing campaigns, and exclusive documents and interviews, former Vice reporter Gabrielle Bluestone delves into the irresistible hype that fuels our social media ecosystem, whether it’s from the trusted influencers that peddled Fyre or the consumer reviews that sold Juicero. A cultural examination that is as revelatory as it is relevant, Hype pulls back the curtain on the manipulation game behind the never-ending scam season—and how we as consumers can stop getting played.
Download or read book Grifters Frauds and Crooks written by Richard Estep and published by Visible Ink Press. This book was released on 2023-06-20 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Power, Money, Sex: The Corrupt Trifecta! This captivating book uncovers the insidious web of deceit that infiltrates every facet of our nation's past and present. Immerse yourself in the stories of 50 of the most audacious frauds, cons, and lies! Discover the dark underbelly of American history as you delve into the gripping pages of Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks: True Stories of American Corruption. From the heights of Wall Street to the heart of Main Street, from the hallowed halls of the Capitol to the battlefields of the military, and from the glitz and glamour of entertainment to the sanctity of science, no realm is immune to the clutches of corruption. Through meticulous research, this riveting account exposes both notorious figures and obscure swindles, including … Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi schemes Big Pharma scandals the Black Sox the dark secrets of the Catholic Church Operation ABSCAM the seedy underworld of the Mafia Harvey Weinstein Corruption in the White House the Enron deceit the shocking depths of NYPD corruption Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker the Lehman Brothers collapse the Watergate break-in and cover-up the Clinton/Lewinsky affair J. Edgar Hoover’s abuse of power the Sackler family’s opioid empire and many other dishonest and duplicitous people and organizations!! With more than 120 photos and graphics, Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. In the pursuit of money, influence, and fame, the line between right and wrong sometimes becomes blurred, leaving a trail of shattered trust and broken dreams. Take an illuminating journey into the cons, scams, and shady deals that have shaped our nation.
Download or read book Hype written by Gabrielle Bluestone and published by . This book was released on 2021-04 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Vice journalist and executive producer of hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists, grifters and snake oil salesmen of the digital age-and why we can't stop falling for them. "Scams are hot right now, and Bluestone covers the hottest here." - Booklist We live in an age where scams are the new normal. A charismatic entrepreneur sells thousands of tickets to a festival that never happened. Respected investors pour millions into a start-up centered around fake blood tests. Reviewers and celebrities flock to London's top-rated restaurant that's little more than a backyard shed. These unsettling stories of today's viral grifters have risen to fame and hit the front-page headlines, yet the curious conundrum remains: Why do these scams happen? Drawing from scientific research, marketing campaigns, and exclusive documents and interviews, Vice reporter Gabrielle Bluestone delves into the irresistible hype that fuels our social media ecosystem, whether it's from the trusted influencers that peddled Fyre or the consumer reviews that sold Juicero. A cultural examination that is as revelatory as it is relevant, Hype pulls back the curtain on the manipulation game behind the never-ending scam season-and how we as consumers can stop getting played. "Juicy, sharp, savage and wildly entertaining" - Cat Marnell, New York Times-bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life
Download or read book The Smack written by Richard Lange and published by Mulholland Books. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rowan Petty is a conman down on his luck. He's flat broke, living out of cheap hotels, and wondering how it all went wrong. His car quits on him in Reno, and he takes a job there on the bottom rung of a lousy phone scam. When he's not swindling lonely widows, he tries to turn nickels into dimes at the poker table. One snowy night, he crosses paths with a sweet-talking hooker who's tired of the streets, and sparks fly. When an old friend of his turns up spreading a rumor about two million dollars in army money smuggled out of Afghanistan and stashed in an apartment in Los Angeles, it seems like a chance at the score of a lifetime. So Petty and the hooker head south, and straight into trouble. A wounded vet, a washed-up actor, and Petty's estranged daughter are all players in the dangerous game they find themselves caught up in. For the winner: a fortune. For the loser: a bullet to the head. Propulsive, suspenseful, and written with a searing lyricism, The Smack shows once again that "Lange is a writer firing on all cylinders who belongs in the top tier of novelists working today" ( Omaha World-Herald).
Download or read book The Grifters written by Jim Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2014-06-29 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Story of a con man, his mother, and his girlfriend, and the ways in which they prey on each other.
Download or read book Hype How Scammers Grifters Con Artists and Influencers Are Taking Over the Internet and Why We re Following written by Gabrielle Bluestone and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-04-29 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Vice journalist and executive producer of hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists, grifters and snake oil salesmen of the digital age—and why we can’t stop falling for them. "Scams are hot right now, and Bluestone covers the hottest here." – Booklist
Download or read book Hype written by Gabrielle Bluestone and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-04-29 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the journalist behind hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists and serial scammers of the digital age--and why we can't stop falling for them. 'Juicy, sharp, savage and wildly entertaining' CAT MARNELL, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life
Download or read book The Complete Idiot s Guide to Frauds Scams and Cons written by Duane Swierczynski and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-12-03 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: -- The main target for scams are those 50 years of age or older. -- This book will expose all the latest scams, frauds, and cons -- and can be updated yearly, if necessary, to expose all the latest schemes. Fraud -- credit card fraud, telemarketing scares, Internet scares, identity theft and hundreds of other items that are geared to separate you from your money -- is a multi-billion dollar business, both in the U.S. and worldwide. From a simple three-card monte game on a street corner to sophisticated banking and Wall Street swindles, cons, frauds and scams are destined to strike one in ten Americans this year. Check kiting, ATM scares, bankruptcy fraud, real estate scams, Nigerian money offers, and even slave reparation scams -- there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of ways to get suckered by telemarketers or just plain fast-talking swindlers. Scary stuff, right? This book identifies the myriad of scams, cons, and frauds perpetrated every minute of every day in this country, and gives cutting-edge, up-to-date advice on how you can protect yourself from unscrupulous cons of every conceivable stripe. There will also be an entertaining section on con artists through history, from the infamous grifters of the Great Depression to the masterminds of the recent Enron collapse -- perhaps one of the greatest scams in America's history.
Download or read book Old West Swindlers written by Laurence J. Yadon and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-23 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: True stories of nineteenth-century crooks, con artists, and quacks—including the man who “sold” the Brooklyn Bridge. Gunslingers and outlaws weren’t the only ones who made the West wild. The nineteenth century was the golden era of riverboat gamblers, crooked railroad contractors, and filthy-rich medical quacks. These crooks made a living deceiving people who took a stranger at face value and left their doors unlocked. Throw in some get-rich-quick schemes and a generous mixture of whiskey and there was never a shortage of suckers. Conman George Parker was able to stay in business for forty years by “selling” public structures such as Madison Square Garden and the Statue of Liberty. He even “sold” the Brooklyn Bridge as often as twice a week. For most, the Salted Gold Mine or the Magic Wallet cons were enough to satisfy their greed. However, the more ambitious grifters tried the Big Store, an illegal underground betting parlor like the one seen in the movie The Sting. With an honest-looking face and a lack of morals, these scammers played a big role in giving the frontier its lawless reputation—and this book tells their stories.
Download or read book When Journalism was a Thing written by Alexandra Kitty and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-27 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journalism used to be a thing. It used to be a powerful and wonderful thing, yet now it has become a curiosity, and not even the Internet can resurrect it. When Journalism was a Thing considers the downfall and the reasons why, but also offers a model for a new approach to the once-noble profession.
Download or read book Speaking American written by Richard W. Bailey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-04 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When did English become American? What distinctive qualities made it American? What role have America's democratizing impulses, and its vibrantly heterogeneous speakers, played in shaping our language and separating it from the mother tongue? A wide-ranging account of American English, Richard Bailey's Speaking American investigates the history and continuing evolution of our language from the sixteenth century to the present. The book is organized in half-century segments around influential centers: Chesapeake Bay (1600-1650), Boston (1650-1700), Charleston (1700-1750), Philadelphia (1750-1800), New Orleans (1800-1850), New York (1850-1900), Chicago (1900-1950), Los Angeles (1950-2000), and Cyberspace (2000-present). Each of these places has added new words, new inflections, new ways of speaking to the elusive, boisterous, ever-changing linguistic experiment that is American English. Freed from British constraints of unity and propriety, swept up in rapid social change, restless movement, and a thirst for innovation, Americans have always been eager to invent new words, from earthy frontier expressions like "catawampously" (vigorously) and "bung-nipper" (pickpocket), to West African words introduced by slaves such as "goober" (peanut) and "gumbo" (okra), to urban slang such as "tagging" (spraying graffiti) and "crew" (gang). Throughout, Bailey focuses on how people speak and how speakers change the language. The book is filled with transcripts of arresting voices, precisely situated in time and space: two justices of the peace sitting in a pumpkin patch trying an Indian for theft; a crowd of Africans lounging on the waterfront in Philadelphia discussing the newly independent nation in their home languages; a Chicago gangster complaining that his pocket had been picked; Valley Girls chattering; Crips and Bloods negotiating their gang identities in LA; and more. Speaking American explores--and celebrates--the endless variety and remarkable inventiveness that have always been at the heart of American English.
Download or read book The Everything Guide to Sports Betting written by Josh Appelbaum and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to bet on sports safely, smartly, and responsibly—and profit big—with this easy-to-use guide, perfect for beginners! Betting money on sports can be great fun and is a sure way to turn any sports game into an exciting must-watch event. However, it can be dangerous to the uninitiated—new gamblers can risk too much, bet randomly, or even lose it all. The Everything Guide to Sports Betting won’t let that happen. Filled with tips, tricks, and tactics, this handy guide shows you how to place bets strategically. You’ll learn all of the different types of bets you can make, how to spot a potentially profitable bet, and when to walk away. Covering all of the major sports leagues, The Everything Guide to Sports Betting will introduce you to the sports betting world and show you how to beat the casinos at their own games. In no time, you’ll be a gambling pro—and cash in on some major wins!
Download or read book Twelve Mighty Orphans written by Jim Dent and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-08-19 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Junction Boys" comes this amazing, inspirational story of a group of orphans and the man who created one of the greatest football teams Texas has ever known. 16-page b&w photo insert.
Download or read book Sparo Rising House of Bexington written by Erik Schubach and published by Erik Schubach. This book was released on with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sparo Rising is a spinoff series from the Techromancy Scrolls. Each book features a standalone story of a different side character from the Techromancy Scrolls that readers wished to hear more about. This fourth book centers around Ranelle of the Andrei, and her rise to power. Almost three thousand years after an extinction level event on Earth, mankind seeks to regain its former glory, in a new world where magic and technology collide. There are few people in the history who have contributed more to the technological rise of Sparo toward parity with the Great Wizards of the Before, than the founder of House Bexington and his twins, Bryony and Bowyn. In this new age of heroes, they have reawakened many of the wonders from before the Great Impact. This story follows the twins as they attempt a first that would redefine the way all of Sparo looks at the world as they know it. Fraught with adventure, peril, and... who is this Arcadian artisan who has caught Bryony's eye?
