Episode 86 • Dishonesty
Scam
Dupe someone into doing something
Fall for something
Con artist
Be in on it
Story
Susie: Hey, Will, you know what could be fun? Right across the street there’s that psychic I always go to. Why don’t you go in?
Will: Baby, we’ve already talked about this… I don’t believe in that stuff and you shouldn’t either…The only goal these people have is to scam people like you.
Susie: Oh, come on! You don’t have to believe in it… Just do it for fun!
Will: No, I told you. I don’t like that woman… The last time you went she even duped you into buying $50 worth of ‘special stones’… I still can’t believe you fell for it. Really… That woman is just a con artist!
Susie: That’s not true! Cynthia is a professional… Want to know how I know? Because I went to a different lady last week and she said the same exact things she did.
Will: Of course she did. They probably knew each other. She was in on it…
Will. Baby, please… Do it for me…. Susie: Pleeeease.
Will: Fine… Only five minutes.
[Clock ticking]
Susie: So? How did it go? You were in there for almost an hour!
Will: Uh… Well… I booked another session next week. I also bought these stones Cynthia recommended. She said they might help with work. Oh, and also… We should start looking at apartments because she said we’re gonna have a baby soon…
Questions
Scam
'The only goal these people have is to scam people like you.'
• If someone scams you, what do they usually want from you? Your time or your money?
If someone scams you, it's because they are after your money. They want your money. That's their end goal.
• If someone scams you, do they do so openly?
No. If someone scams you, they're not going to come up to you and be like, "Hey, give me your money." They're going to trick you. Let me give you an example. You see this beautiful hotel online, you love it, you book it. The reviews seem great. Everything seems great about it. Then you get there, and it's horrible. It's disgusting. It's dirty. It's falling apart. There are no services. The worst of the worst. While you're still going to have to pay them, these people, the owners of the hotel, they are scamming you. They're getting their money by tricking you.
• Have you ever been scammed?
Hey, maybe I have and I don't know. Just last week, I thought I was getting scammed because I had paid so much money to an agency to help me out with a few last things for the website, and then I hadn't heard back from them. They were fine at first, but then I hadn't heard back from them for a week. I emailed them, this was on a Friday, and I didn't get any response on Friday. I thought, "Okay, I'm just going to wait till Monday." Then on Monday, I send them another email and they don't reply to me. Plus, I try calling them and they don't pick up. It always goes straight to voicemail. I'm freaking out. I had invested so much money. I'd asked them to-- Obviously, I'm so ready for this website to come out. I was just so frustrated, and I was nervous all morning. Then the guy finally called me back. He had actually replied to me, but his email had ended up in the spam folder, and that's why I couldn't see it. There was a second when I thought, "Oh my God, these guys are scamming me. They're going to run away with all my money." That's it.
Dupe someone into doing something
'... she even duped you into buying $50 worth of ‘special stones’...'
• If someone dupes you into doing something, do they get you to do something or not?
Yes. If someone dupes you into doing something, they want you to do something and they achieve that. They are able to convince you to do something.
• Does duping someone involve physically forcing someone to do something?
No. It doesn't have anything to do with physically forcing someone. If I'm duping you, I am convincing you, but I'm not forcing you using my physical strength.
• And if someone dupes you into doing something, who will gain an advantage from that? You or them?
They're the ones who will gain an advantage. If they want to dupe you into doing something, they're trying to convince you, they're trying to trick you so that you will do something that will benefit them.
• Have you ever been duped into doing something? What was it?
What was it? I was going to say no, but actually, I remembered something. A few weeks ago, I went to the hairdresser. I think I told the story. I went there and the guy showed me how damaged my hair was. I could see that. I could see the hair was really damaged. I was freaking out like, "Okay, how do I fix this? How do I make sure this doesn't happen in the future?" The guy is like, "Oh, don't worry. We have this line of products. It's great. It's perfect. It's all-natural ingredients. Your hair is going to love this." I was like, "Yes, this sounds great." I didn't even ask how much money that was. He's done with my hair, I go to pay, and he puts all this stuff in a bag. Then he gives me the bag and tells me the price. It's like €150. I don't know. Something crazy for-- He hadn't done much to my hair, so it was all about the products that he was giving me. I thought, "Oh my gosh, this has got to be some really good stuff. The product must be really good." Then I got home, I read what it said on the back of the shampoo that he had given me, and it was pretty much the same as the shampoo that I already bought for like €1 at the supermarket. He had definitely duped me into buying those products. It was stupid of me to not check and make sure that those products were worth my money. I think that taught me a lesson, so next time a hairdresser tries to sell me something I'll look more carefully.
Fall for something
'I still can’t believe you fell for it.'
• If you fall for something, like a scam or a trick, do you believe the person scamming you?
Yes. If you fall for something, or even a lie, it can be a scam or a lie, that means that you believe the person that's tricking you, that's scamming you, or lying to you. If someone tells you a lie and you believe them, then later when you find out, you can say, "I can't believe I fell for that."
• If a friend plays a trick on you, do you usually fall for it?
Yes, I do. I usually don't trust strangers, but friends, I usually believe them. If someone plays a trick on me, then I'll usually fall for it.
Con artist
'Really… That woman is just a con artist!'
• Who is a con artist? Someone who helps people who have been tricked to get their money back or someone that deceives others to get their money?
It's definitely the second. It's someone who tricks others in order to get their money.
• Do you know any famous con artists?
There are a lot of con artists, in general, so guys, beware. Always do your research. Never believe something the first time you hear that, or the first time you meet someone, because you never know. I remember this one time when I was back in Italy. I was maybe- I don't know, I was pretty young. There was this lady that for a while was always on the news. Her name was [unintelligible 00:11:06]. The reason why she was on the news is because they had found out that she was duping people into buying things like precious stones and all these sorts of magical objects in order to either cure their cancer or help with a problem that a relative was having. She was trying to convince them that these things that she was selling were going to help them. People would spend so much money on these objects. She ended up in jail. I don't know where she is right now, actually. Maybe we'll do some research and see what she's up to.
Be in on it
'They probably knew each other. She was in on it…'
• If someone tricks you or lies to you and someone else is in on it, do they know about the lie?
You got one person telling the lie, and then another person, not you, who is in on it. Does that person know that they're lying? Yes. They know that they're lying. If they are in on it, they know that they're lying.
• And if that someone is in on it, will they tell you the truth or will they lie to you as well?
If someone is in on it, they're not going to tell you the truth. They're going to either not say anything or they're going to lie to you as well.
• When was the last time you tricked someone? Who was in on it?
he last time I tricked someone was two weeks ago. I had decided I would invite my boyfriend's uncle over to spend the whole weekend with us, but I didn't tell anything to my boyfriend. Obviously, his uncle was in on it. Whenever they texted, he never mentioned anything, and so we were able to pull off the surprise. It was really good, and we had a really nice weekend.
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