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Con Man
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, 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 Other terms for "scam" include confidence trick, con, con game, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, stratagem, finesse, grift, hustle, bunko, bunco, swindle, flimflam, gaffle, and bamboozle. The perpetrator is often referred to as a scammer, confidence man, con man, con artist, grifter, hustler, or swindler. The intended victims are known as marks, suckers, stooges, mugs, rubes, or gulls (from the word ''gullible''). When accomplices are employ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Confidence Trick - JM Staniforth
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, ''English articles, a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Police Gazette
The ''National Police Gazette'', commonly referred to as simply the ''Police Gazette'', is an American magazine founded in 1845. Under publisher Richard K. Fox, it became the forerunner of the men's magazine, men's lifestyle magazine, the illustrated sports magazine, sports weekly, the girlie/pin-up magazine, the celebrity gossip column, Guinness World Records-style competitions, and modern tabloid/sensational journalism. Publication history The magazine was founded by two journalists, Enoch E. Camp, an attorney, and George Wilkes, a transcontinental railroad booster. It began as a chronicler of crime and criminals, intended for consumption by the general public. In 1866, Wilkes and Camp sold the ''Gazette'' to George W. Matsell. The editor and proprietor from 1877 until his death in 1922 was Richard Kyle Fox, an immigrant from Ireland. Ostensibly devoted to matters of interest to the police, it was a Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid-like publication, with lurid coverage o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asymmetric Information
In contract theory, mechanism design, and economics, an information asymmetry is a situation where one party has more or better information than the other. Information asymmetry creates an imbalance of power in transactions, which can sometimes cause the transactions to be inefficient, causing market failure in the worst case. Examples of this problem are adverse selection, moral hazard,Dembe, Allard E. and Boden, Leslie I. (2000). "Moral Hazard: A Question of Morality?" New Solutions 2000 10(3). 257–79 and monopolies of knowledge. A common way to visualise information asymmetry is with a scale, with one side being the seller and the other the buyer. When the seller has more or better information, the transaction will more likely occur in the seller's favour ("the balance of power has shifted to the seller"). An example of this could be when a used car is sold, the seller is likely to have a much better understanding of the car's condition and hence its market value than the bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Securities Fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information."Securities Fraud Awareness & Prevention Tips faq by FBI, accessed February 11, 2013 The setups are generally made to result in monetary gain for the deceivers, and generally result in unfair monetary losses for the investors. They are generally violating securities laws. Securities fraud can also include outright theft from investors ( embezzlement by [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naïvety
Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of Deontology, moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may be called a ''naïf''. Etymology In its early use, the word ''naïve'' meant "natural or innocent", and did not connote ineptitude. As a French adjective, it is spelled ''naïve'', for French grammar#Nouns, feminine nouns, and ''naïf'', for French grammar#Nouns, masculine nouns. As a French noun, it is spelled ''naïveté''. It is sometimes spelled "naïve" with a Diaeresis (diacritic), diaeresis, but as an unitalicized English word, "naive" is now the more usual spelling. "naïf" often represents the French masculine, but has a secondary meaning as Naïve art, an artistic style. "Naïve" is pronounced as two syllables, in the French manner, and with the stress on the second one. Culture The naïf appears as a cultural type ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panic
Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frantic agitation consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur singularly in individuals or manifest suddenly in large groups as mass panic (closely related to herd behavior). Etymology The word "panic" derives from antiquity and is a tribute to the ancient god Pan. One of the many gods in the mythology of ancient Greece, Pan was the god of shepherds and of woods and pastures. The Greeks believed that he often wandered peacefully through the woods, playing a pipe, but when accidentally awakened from his noontime nap he could give a great shout that would cause flocks to stampede. From this aspect of Pan's nature Greek authors derived the word ''panikos'', "sudden fear", the ultimate source of the English word: "panic". The Greek term indicates the feeling of total fear that is als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moral Responsibility
In philosophy, moral responsibility is the status of morality, morally desert (philosophy), deserving praise, blame, reward (psychology), reward, or punishment for an act or omission in accordance with one's moral obligations. Deciding what (if anything) counts as "morally obligatory" is a principal concern of ethics. Philosophers refer to people who have moral responsibility for an action as "moral agents". Agents have the capability to reflect upon their situation, to form intentions about how they will act, and then to carry out that action. The notion of free will has become an important issue in the debate on whether individuals are ever morally responsible for their actions and, if so, in what sense. Incompatibilists regard determinism as at odds with free will, whereas compatibilists think the two can coexist. Moral responsibility does not necessarily equate to legal liability, legal responsibility. A person is legally responsible for an event when a legal system is liabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lust
Lust is an intense desire for something. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food (see gluttony) as distinct from the need for food or lust for redolence, when one is lusting for a particular smell that brings back memories. It is similar to but distinguished from passion, in that properly ordered passion propels individuals to achieve benevolent goals whilst lust does not. In religion Religions tend to draw a distinction between passion and lust by further categorizing lust as an immoral desire and passion as morally accepted. Lust is defined as immoral because its object or action of affection is improperly ordered according to natural law and/or the appetite for the particular object (eg sexual desire) is governing the person's will and intellect rather than the will and intellect governing the appetite for that object. Whereas passion, regardless of its strength, is maintaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opportunism
300px, ''Opportunity Seized, Opportunity Missed'', engraving by Theodoor Galle, 1605 Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances — with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term can be applied to individual humans and living organisms, groups, organizations, styles, behaviors and trends. Opportunism or "opportunistic behaviour" is an important concept in such fields of study as biology, transaction cost economics, game theory, ethics, psychology, sociology and politics. Etymology In the early 19th century, the term "opportunist" as a noun or adjective was already known and used in several European languages, but initially, it rarely referred to political processes or to a political tendency. The English term "opportunism" is possibly borrowed originally from the Italian expression ''opportunismo''. In 19th-century Itali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dishonesty
Dishonesty is acting without honesty. The term describes acts which are meant to deceive, cheat, or mislead. Dishonesty is a basic feature of most offences defined in criminal law, such as fraud, which relates to the illicit acquisition, conversion, or disposal of property, tangible or intangible. English law Dishonesty has had a number of definitions. For many years, there were two views of what constituted dishonesty in English law. The first contention was that the definitions of dishonesty (such as those within the Theft Act 1968) described a course of action, whereas the second contention was that the definition described a state of mind. A clear test within the criminal law emerged from ''R v Ghosh'' (1982) 75 CR App. R. 154. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal held that dishonesty is an element of ''mens rea'', clearly referring to a state of mind, and that overall, the test that must be applied is hybrid, but with a subjective bias which "looks into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greed (emotion)
Greed (or avarice, ) is an insatiable desire for material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions) or social value, such as status or power. Nature of greed The initial motivation for (or purpose of) greed and actions associated with it may be the promotion of personal or family survival. It may at the same time be an intent to deny or obstruct competitors from potential means (for basic survival and comfort) or future opportunities; therefore being insidious or tyrannical and having a negative connotation. Alternately, the purpose could be defense or counteractive response to such obstructions being threatened by others. Modern economic thought frequently distinguishes ''greed'' from ''self-interest'', even in its earliest works, and spends considerable effort distinguishing the line between the two. By the mid-19th century – affected by the phenomenological ideas of Hegel – economic and political thinkers began to define greed inherent to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corroboration
Corroborating evidence, also referred to as corroboration, is a type of evidence in lawful command. Types and uses Corroborating evidence tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence, therefore confirming the proposition. For example, W, a witness, testifies that she saw X drive his automobile into a green car. Meanwhile, Y, another witness, ''corroborates'' the proposition by testifying that when he examined X's car, later that day, he noticed green paint on its fender. There can also be corroborating evidence related to a certain source, such as what makes an author think a certain way due to the evidence that was supplied by witnesses or objects.For more information on this type of reasoning, see: Casuistry. Another type of corroborating evidence comes from using the Baconian method, i.e., the method of agreement, method of difference, and method of concomitant variations. These methods are followed in experimental design. They were c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
