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Green Goods Scam
The green goods scam, also known as the "green goods game", was a fraud scheme popular in the 19th-century United States in which people were duped into paying for worthless counterfeit money. It is a variation on the pig-in-a-poke scam using money instead of other goods like a pig. In the typical green goods scam, the mark, or victim, would respond to flyers circulated throughout the country by the scammers ("green goods men") which claimed to offer "genuine" counterfeit currency for sale. This currency was sometimes alleged to have been printed with stolen engraving plates. Victims, usually living outside major cities, would be enticed to travel to the location of the green goods men to complete the transaction. Victims were guided by a " steerer" to be shown large amounts of genuine currency – represented to be counterfeit – which was then placed in a bag or satchel. Victims then received offers to purchase the money at a price much less than face value. While a victim neg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fraudulent
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. Internal fraud, also known as "insider fraud", is fraud committed or attempted by someone within an organisation such as an employee. A hoax is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value than the real thing. Counterfeit products are fakes or unauthorized replicas of the real product. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product. The word ''counterfeit'' frequently describes both the forgeries of currency and documents as well as the imitations of items such as clothing, handbags, shoes, pharmaceuticals, automobile parts, unapproved aircraft parts (which have caused many accidents), watches, electronics and electronic parts, software, works of art, toys, and movies. Counterfeit products tend to have fake company logos and brands, which results in patent or trademark infringement in the case of goods. They also have a reputation for being lower quality, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pig-in-a-poke
A ''pig in a poke'' is a thing that is bought without first being inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality. The idiom is attested in 1555: I wyll neuer bye the pyg in the poke Thers many a foule pyg in a feyre cloke A "poke" is a bag, so the image is of a concealed item being sold. Starting in the 19th century, this idiom was explained as a confidence trick where a farmer would substitute a cat for a suckling pig when bringing it to market. When the buyer discovered the deception, he was said to "let the cat out of the bag", that is, to learn of something unfortunate prematurely, hence the expression "letting the cat out of the bag", meaning ''to reveal that which is secret''. The French idiom ''acheter (un) chat en poche'' and the Dutch ''een kat in de zak kopen'' and also the German ''die Katze im Sack kaufen'' (all: to buy a cat in a bag) refer to an actual scam of this nature, as do many other European equivalents, while the English expression refers to the ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accomplice
Under the English common law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even if they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and demands the money is guilty of armed robbery. Anyone else directly involved in the commission of the crime, such as the lookout or the getaway car driver, is an accomplice, even if in the absence of an underlying offense keeping a lookout or driving a car would not be an offense. An accomplice differs from an accessory in that an accomplice is present at the actual crime, and could be prosecuted even if the main criminal (the '' principal'') is not charged or convicted. An accessory is generally not present at the actual crime, and may be subject to lesser penalties than an accomplice or principal. At law, an accomplice has the same degree of guilt as the person(s) who committed the underlying crime, and is subject to the same lev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satchel
A satchel is a bag with a strap, traditionally used for carrying books. The Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 25 January 2020 The strap is often worn so that it diagonally crosses the body, with the bag hanging on the opposite hip, rather than hanging directly down from the shoulder. The back of a satchel extends to form a flap that folds over to cover the top and fastens in the front. Unlike a , a satchel is soft-sided. School bag The satchel has been a typical accessory of English students for centuries, as attested in 's famous monologue, " |
Arrest
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questioned further and/or charged. An arrest is a procedure in a criminal justice system, sometimes it is also done after a court warrant for the arrest. Police and various other officers have powers of arrest. In some places, a citizen's arrest is permitted; for example in England and Wales, any person can arrest "anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing, have committed or be guilty of committing an indictable offence", although certain conditions must be met before taking such action. Similar powers exist in France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland if a person is caught in an act of crime and not willing or able to produce valid ID. As a safeguard against the abuse of power, many countries require that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Money Scam
The black money scam, sometimes also known as the "black dollar scam" or "wash wash scam", is a scam where con artists attempt to fraudulently obtain money from a victim by convincing them that piles of banknote-sized paper are real currency that has been stained in a heist. The victim is persuaded to pay fees and purchase chemicals to remove the dye, with the promise of a share in the proceeds. The black money scam is a variation of what is known as advance fee fraud. Phases Initial contact Typically the scammer will send out thousands, if not millions, of e-mails to known and random e-mail addresses, hoping for a few replies. The initial message may read something like this: I am a lawyer in Belgium and I am charged with seeking the rightful heir to certain assets which were deposited many years ago with a security company here in Brussels by a man who died a few years ago. We have made extensive searches to find any living heirs, but with minimal success. A man with your na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
419 Scam
An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears. FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that "An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value - such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift - and then receives little or nothing in return." There are many variations of this type of scam, including the Nigerian prince scam, also known as a 419 scam. The number "419" refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud and the charges and penalties for such offenders. The scam has been used with fax and tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Appo
George Washington Appo (born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 4, 1856; died in New York City on May 17, 1930) was a pickpocket and fraudster whose manner of speech in a testimony became influential in depictions of criminals . George himself wrote an autobiography, unpublished, and became the subject of a book. Quimbo Appo Appo's father was a Chinese American with various names ("Quimbo Appo" or "Chang Quimbo Appo", Chinese name "Lee Ah Bow"), while his mother, Catherine Fitzpatrick, was an Irish American. His father spent time in prison, while his mother and sister died enroute to California to visit her brother. His mixed ancestry led a Louis Beck to present Appo as a story warning against "miscegenation". Incarceration and life of crime Appo served time in various New York penitentiaries including Sing Sing, the Blackwell's Island Penitentiary, and the upstate penitentiary in Dennamora. In a biography by Timothy Gilfoyle, the prison system of New York in the later half of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence Tricks
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ..intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men') at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". Terminology Synonyms include con, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, scam, and stratagem. The perpetrator of a confidence trick (or "con trick") is often referred to as a confidence (or "con") man, con-artist, or a "grifter". The shell game dates back at least to Ancient Greece. Samuel Thompson (1821–1856) was the original "confidence man". Thompson was a clumsy swindler who asked his victims to express confidence in him by giving him money or their watch rather than gaining their confidenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Lustig
Victor Lustig (; January 4, 1890 – March 11, 1947) was a highly skilled con artist from Austria-Hungary, who undertook a criminal career that involved conducting scams across Europe and the United States during the early 20th century. Lustig is widely regarded as one of the most notorious con artists of his time, and is infamous for being "the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice" and for conducting the "Rumanian Box" scam. Early life Lustig was born in Hostinné, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. He was exceptionally gifted at learning throughout his youth, but also proved to be a source of trouble. At the age of 19, while taking a break from his studies in Paris, Lustig took to gambling. During this time he received a scar to the left side of his face from the jealous boyfriend of a woman he consorted with. Upon leaving school, Lustig applied both his education and his fluency in several languages to embark on a life of crime, eventually focusing on conducting a variety of scams an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deception
Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight of hand as well as distraction, camouflage or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. It can also be called, with varying subjective implications, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge. Deception is a major relational transgression that often leads to feelings of betrayal and distrust between relational partners. Deception violates relational rules and is considered to be a negative violation of expectations. Most people expect friends, relational partners, and even strangers to be truthful most of the time. If people expected most conversations to be untruthful, talking and communicating with others would require distraction and misdirection to acquire reliable information. A significant amount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
