The confidence game
by Maria Konnikova · first published 2016
12mentions
7recommended by
9HN commenters
2014–2026first – last mentioned
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains the psychology behind how cons work and why people fall for them, drawing on examples like scams and fraud; suits readers curious about persuasion, scams, and behavioral economics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Explores the psyches, motives, and methods of con artists to reveal why they are consistently successful, identifying common hallmarks of cons to share additional insights into the relationship between artists and victims.
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Ah, the story of Demara. I read about him in the book "The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It... Every Time" by Maria Konnikova [1]. Recommended read. My interest isn't so much becoming a great imposter; it is rather how to defend myself and my loved ones against cons. Ie.…
on “How to become a great impostor” ↗…people "like you" were not your friends. I spent my Jr High/High School years in Las Vegas and got to see so many 'confidence men' fleece tourists with so many schemes. There is a great book called 'The Confidence Game' by Maria Konnikova. It is excellent and reading it you'll come to understand that not only is it possible for even 'smart' people to be taken, there are lots of people who work on being good at it. But…
on “Did my old job only exist because of fraud?” ↗The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time by Maria Konnikova is definitely worth checking out if you're curious in learning more about why these types of scams (and cons in general) are so often successful.
on “Ask HN: My grandfather was a target of a scam using my information” ↗Could've been written about the con in general. I recently read a book about this called The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It Every Time by Maria Konnikova [1]. I can highly recommend it. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25387895-the-confidence-...
on “The Der Spiegel journalist who messed with the wrong small town” ↗…Life episode (replayed this week) offers a slightly more benign version of this truism: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/323/the-super/act-two I'm an aficionado of the genre (read Maria Konnikova's The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It Every Time recently) and I think this is my favorite con story ever. It looks like audio isn't available at the moment but should be back online by tomorrow. If you listen, make sure…
on “Why we fall for cons” ↗…when he called them. 4 out of 6 weren't. That's outrageous. Target should be on the hook for any unredeemed cards from the time he called to report the scam. BTW: I recommend Maria Konnikova's book "The Confidence Game" https://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Game-Fall-Every-Time/dp/01...
on “My dad got scammed for $3k worth of gift cards” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Game-Fall-Every-Time/dp/01... is an interesting read
on “Books to read to understand financial crime” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Game-Fall-Every-Time/dp/01...
on “Books to read to understand financial crime” ↗I'm on a streak of reading Neuromarketing/behavioral economic type books. 1. Predictably irrational is particularly good. Especially the first half. 2. The Confidence Game explains the steps of how con trick people to fool themselves. 3. Buyology is very focused on purchases/retail. 4. Brainfluence. I'm halfway through it. Mostly bite-sized chapters and it's similar…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗…biases [1] even while we're not aware of them or when we are weak to fall for them. [1] It is worth summing them all up but I am by no means an expert on this subject. I'm currently reading the book "The Confidence Game" by Maria Konnikova and it explains various of them in detail.
on “Alex Stamos: Asking tech companies to police hate speech is “a dangerous path”” ↗…the author states in the article: Mr. Ackman once made a similar bet against the bond insurer MBIA, one that reaped him and his investors a $1.1 billion return. In a book about his MBIA wager called “Confidence Game,” the reporter-turned-financial analyst Christine S. Richard chronicled how he fought with regulators for SEVEN YEARS before his prediction that MBIA stock would “spiral downward” came true. What this…
on “After Big Bet, Hedge Fund Pulls the Levers of Power” ↗I just finished reading the book "The Confidence Game", and the stories of Delvey or Holmes would fit right into that book. It's easy to look from the outside in and question how these people could fall for these types of frauds, but I think most people…
on “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People (2018)” ↗