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 Alot of grey areas May 31, 2008
I bought this book after looking at the table of contents and seeing the plothera of cons that can be done to people and businesses. I wanted to use the book as a comparative to ethical marketing. Well guess what? You can argue that the con man and the businessman uses the same tatics!!!! Indeed, in this book there are some straight cons that are blankety illegal, but, others really aren't so cut and dry. Some methods that marketers use and "get away" with you can find on informocials past and present. Some of the biggest names and best selling products and services in history have been used by marketers using some of the methods in this book. I think the blur between whats legal and illegal can be a matter of what the government and law enforcement choose to do with a company.
This book was an eye opener and I thought that there is no way I could be conned, but, I see as the author pointed out that anyone can be conned, including the author with all his knowledge.
My only caveat is that a consumer can read this book and may think that everything is a con because the con man and legitimate companies are so much alike. The real difference is what is deemed as value by consumers, lawyers, gov't and all who choose to be involved.
My only other complaint is that I was left wanting more details!! Things such as the economics of the con and cost analysis of hiring and building the company of each con and a whole lot of other specifics which probably would've catapult this book to 1000 pages!
7 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Informative, and Fun to Read Jun 10, 2006
A must-read. The author describes in details many different types of scams through which people get defrauded. The book is also fun to read because it shows how the scammers use people's psychological traits (like greed, insecurity, or even loneliness) to get them to part with their money. It's very interesting and you can actually see analogous strategies being played out in TV commercials or even in your daily interactions with people who try to get things from you. I feel much more prepared to deal with life after reading this.
36 of 39 found the following review helpful:
Better Safe Than Sorry! Jan 18, 2005
Reading Les Henderson's Crimes of Persuasion is much like observing a series of 40-foot long steel containers being dropped from a dockside ocean freighter onto a flat-bed truck. The impact, over and over again is huge, as the trailer bounces and flexes, as its tires resist the extra weight of each drop. With each page you keep saying to yourself, "That's how they do it!" "That's how they organize!" "That's the come-on!" "So, that's the hook!" We learn all about the players in the game too: the "Fronter," the "Qualifier," the"No-Saler," the "Takeover" Man. We learn all about the mechanics of the games themselves--"clean sheeting," "blind pools," much more. ##### Sometimes it takes simple minds to understand complicated situations. Thank goodness. Because con games are usually very complex--thoroughly thought out, prepared, and worked by brilliant people--we "Marks" (simpletons--the victims), in this case have a chance. ##### With the aid of this book you are prepared for just about anything the con man might throw at you. It's beautifuly Contents-ed and Indexed. Want to know about sweepstakes scams? Right there. Just look it up. How about telemarketing frauds, home equity, elder abuse, home repair, identity theft, internet shenanigans, etc. On and on. On and on. On and on. It's all right here. You only have to look it up. It's a great defensive tool for everyone, in this day and age of get-rich-quick, follow the bouncing ball, smoke and mirrors trickery. ##### What's the underlying premise of con games? Gain your confidence. Pure and simple. Here's just one example: You get a call from a smooth-talking stock "Expert," who is pitching you because he knows you are an investor. He tells you to watch ABC co. stock; it's going up. A week later, after the stock of ABC co. has gone up, as he said it would, he calls you back and confides that the stock of XYZ co. is going down; keep tabs. When the stock drops, exactly as he said it would, you now have a level of confidence in him when he calls the third time. Right? That's the point. You are now "set-up," vulnerable to whatever kind of investment he may now say is desirable. How did he do it? How did he know ABC was going up and XYZ was going down? Easy. He started out with a list of 200 names from the phone book. He was right on 100 of them. He then called that 100 and was right again on 50. You were in that list of 50. Presto! ##### In all, this book is about the most encylopedic tome for consumer protection I've seen, covering the whole gauntlet of cons, scams, and frauds like the proverbial "blanket." The next time you are in Ceasar's Palace, note the small warning sign by the door, "Gambling can be addictive; if you think you have a gambling problem, call the number below to contact Gamblers Anonymous." Similarly, if you think you might have a Susceptibility-to-Con-Games problem, ownership of this book, Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, Scams, Frauds is your "Gamblers Anonymous".
6 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Poor language makes this book uninteresting to read Aug 04, 2004
The author certainly knows a lot about the subject, however he fails to make the book readable. Run-away sentences filled with precise numbers, most probably taken out of the sky, results in totally unreadable text. The book reminded me of a really boring free newspaper, except the editor never learned to use a spell checker.
Apart from really poor language skills, some "facts" are really doubtful. For example, on page 9, Les Henderson writes that "... it is impossible to recover anything to compensate their victims because most of their money has gone to purchase recreational drugs...". I have hard time to believe that criminals smart enough to come up with a working fraud scheme cannot come up with a better use of the money then drugs. Then again, what do I know...
I also absolutely hated the way particular facts are mixed and equated with generalizations, such as the bulleted list on pages 33-34, which includes vitamins, promotional items and ... "small trinkets of minimal value compared to the payments made".
In any case, I would not recommend to buy this book unless you are studying this particular subject and have no other sources of information on it.
6 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Very informative book Feb 12, 2001
I have read Mr. Henderson's book and found it to be very informative. My elderly mother was scammed and I wish I had read the book prior to the event to help warn her of the signs that she could have been made aware of. This book would make a great gift to anyone who you would like to inform. I have done a lot of research on the "art of scamming" since this event has taken place, and this book is very good in explaining the different types of scams and how they work. I may add that I am one of those people who never dreamed that "this" could happen in my family......sad to say, it happens more than we even know.
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