Con artists

Fascinating read on this guy who invented a history as a pro cyclist, decorated soldier, lawyer, etc: https://cyclingtips.com/2022/04/expo...e-pro-cyclist/

It’s like reading a Netflix doc.

Got any con artist stories?

Yeah, I read that story too. Just an amazing arc of events…

When called on his lies for the story, he’s still trying to manipulate the reporter even as he’s forced to admit to things.

(my brain went to political figures first so I’ll not add those here)

It was a good read. I came away thinking that the con artist has the easiest entry point in communities with deep addictions they want to share. I think passionate people are probably easier to convince because they want to accept the excitement of the newbie as genuine.

Money. Cycling. Guns. What's next for Nick? Politics? Religion? Backcountry skiing? Soup?

Thought this was another crypto thread.

Someone had linked that article the other day, but I’ll be damned if I remember where.

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Originally Posted by JimmyCarter

Thought this was another crypto thread.

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Thought about making a joke to that effect but I was too lazy.

I’m one of those people who gets really stressed about maintaining a fiction. For example, if we’re planning a surprise bday party and I’m supposed to ‘stop by my house to get something I forgot’ with the birthday person in my car it stresses the fuck outta me. So it’s fascinating to read about these con artists…seems like a stressful shitty way to live.

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Originally Posted by frorider

Thought about making a joke to that effect but I was too lazy.

I’m one of those people who gets really stressed about maintaining a fiction. For example, if we’re planning a surprise bday party and I’m supposed to ‘stop by my house to get something I forgot’ with the birthday person in my car it stresses the fuck outta me. So it’s fascinating to read about these con artists…seems like a stressful shitty way to live.

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that’s what’s so fascinating: they’re not stressed until after the con is blown..

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Originally Posted by ::: :::

that’s what’s so fascinating: they’re not stressed until after the con is blown..

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Anyone interested in con artists and the psychology behind it should check out the Amazon Prime 3 season 30-episode series Sneaky Peat with Giovani Ribisi. It is fiction but a good drama with lots of scamming.

Angel Martin was the best worst con artist ever

"The Dropout" Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos story. She conned some high level people and even got one to disown his own grandson for whistleblowing.

And then there is Trump, most successful one EVAR.

Sticking with the sports con/cheat story line google "Frank Meza" - I believe we discussed that on the bike thread a couple years ago:

https://www.outsideonline.com/health...athoner-death/

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Originally Posted by JimmyCarter

Thought this was another crypto thread.

Someone had linked that article the other day, but I’ll be damned if I remember where.

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I posted it in the “best longform magazine articles” thread - but yeah there are enough of these stories around that a dedicated thread is appropriate.

To continue the sports theme this lady is a student mental health counselor at an expensive private university:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/s...lon-cheat.html

There is also a follow up article from NYT where they prove she cheated in Whistler.

I find this shit fascinating

That was an exhausting read, but a nugget of our times.

But this is not just a tale of a single deceiver and those that fell under his spell – it’s an allegory for the global assault on truth. And that’s why it matters: if the news cycle over the past few years has shown us anything, it’s that reality itself is under siege, and the institutions that we should be able to trust are either unable or unwilling to do a thing about it.

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Originally Posted by mcski

Angel Martin was the best worst con artist ever

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Solid Rockford Files reference

At the tone leave your name and number

The chick went over and above: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8740976/


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You guys remember ISkiBC?

Got in all sorts of flame wars on here, and when the mods said they were going to out his aliases it drew criticism for over moderation, the lively humorous atmosphere the many obviously tongue in cheek aliases created was valued by many. Once they did out his aliases, though, it revealed a completely deranged amount of arguing with himself through aliases in a way that made no fucking sense, was not humorous at all, and was designed to deceive rather than entertain.

steepconcrete made an alias in order to have conversations with himself and post supporting statements to his BS - wasn't so much fascinating as it was pathetic

I wasn't around for that I guess, yea that is pathetic, but not as weird, it makes a certain kind of sense in a pathetic desperate for validation kind of way. ISkiBC did it to fight with himself and have huge ongoing multiple thread spanning flame wars. I still can't wrap my head around that in any way that makes sense, even in a crazy way. I mean hitler was nuts but there was crazy person logic at play at least. No idea wtf ISkiBC's deal was. Honestly think it might have been multiple personality Dissociative Identity Disorder or whatever they're calling it these days.

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Originally Posted by leroy jenkins

I wasn't around for that I guess, yea that is pathetic, but not as weird, it makes a certain kind of sense in a pathetic desperate for validation kind of way. ISkiBC did it to fight with himself and have huge ongoing multiple thread spanning flame wars. I still can't wrap my head around that in any way that makes sense, even in a crazy way. I mean hitler was nuts but there was crazy person logic at play at least. No idea wtf ISkiBC's deal was. Honestly think it might have been multiple personality Dissociative Identity Disorder or whatever they're calling it these days.

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I guess…
Also there’s something in there that touches a theme I’ve been pondering for a while now: there are numerous discordant views of what this forum is, how it’s supposed to be used, what to expect from it, etc.

One of those views seems to be that fiction and characters are all a part of it. That view manifests intermittent clashes with the view that this is more like a club of honest people sharing their own honest views and experiences, where fictional writing and fictional characters are an offense to the general order.

It seems possible IskiBC, and others, were doing something not unlike writing dialogue in a novel or a screenplay. We don’t think of those writers as inherently mental because the social framework of what they’re doing is well understood…but then you have guys like Andy Kaufman and Sasha Baron-Cohen and Nathan Fielder who take fictional nonsense into the real world. There’s a thrill in getting away with it, there’s humor in the absurdity of ridiculous characters interacting with dumbfounded real people, there’s tension in the risk, there’s appreciation for the skill in improvisation.
The real question about iskibc is whether he was grounded in reality while he did it, and then you have that basic “what exactly is an Internet forum and what’s acceptable in that environment” question, where some people are going to be fine with somebody dicking around playing characters that argue with each other, and others are set in a mentality that we’re all real except for the username…so something like iskibc comes off as split personality mental case stuff.

A lot of the discord on here comes from different competing concepts of how posting on the internet is supposed to work and what the ground rules are.
It’s not solved, and I’m not sure it’s solvable, given how intuitive and entrenched some of the views are.

I worked with a woman a few years ago who was a bad con artist. A supervisor hired her on their way out. She would lie and cheat constantly. Her work background made any sense, in the two years she was there we couldn't figure out what her past position(s) and work exp. were because she constantly lied. Thankfully she moved on. She sucked.

^ IAS - I watched her cheat during a pack test. She brought her own vest-questionable given her character, and when she thought no one was watching she would run.

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Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy

t is supposed to work and what the ground rules are.
It’s not solved, and I’m not sure it’s solvable, given how intuitive and entrenched some of the views are.

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How about making fun of someones miscarriage?

About halfway through Sneaky Pete....entertaining.

A lot of people like to claim they were SpecOps in our military. I don't call them out but ask a couple of questions that only people that have been in the game would answer even remotely correctly. When I am sure they are full of shit, I just ignore them.

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Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy

I guess…
Also there’s something in there that touches a theme I’ve been pondering for a while now: there are numerous discordant views of what this forum is, how it’s supposed to be used, what to expect from it, etc.

One of those views seems to be that fiction and characters are all a part of it. That view manifests intermittent clashes with the view that this is more like a club of honest people sharing their own honest views and experiences, where fictional writing and fictional characters are an offense to the general order.

It seems possible IskiBC, and others, were doing something not unlike writing dialogue in a novel or a screenplay. We don’t think of those writers as inherently mental because the social framework of what they’re doing is well understood…but then you have guys like Andy Kaufman and Sasha Baron-Cohen and Nathan Fielder who take fictional nonsense into the real world. There’s a thrill in getting away with it, there’s humor in the absurdity of ridiculous characters interacting with dumbfounded real people, there’s tension in the risk, there’s appreciation for the skill in improvisation.
The real question about iskibc is whether he was grounded in reality while he did it, and then you have that basic “what exactly is an Internet forum and what’s acceptable in that environment” question, where some people are going to be fine with somebody dicking around playing characters that argue with each other, and others are set in a mentality that we’re all real except for the username…so something like iskibc comes off as split personality mental case stuff.

A lot of the discord on here comes from different competing concepts of how posting on the internet is supposed to work and what the ground rules are.
It’s not solved, and I’m not sure it’s solvable, given how intuitive and entrenched some of the views are.

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Yea, for the record I have no and have never had an aliases, and when referrgin to the ones people valued, they were they ones everyone knew were someone's alias, operated purely for collective entertainment. Like aliases with the name of a public figure that died decades ago, Nikola Tesla, etc. They'd chime in every once in a while with an on topic joke when their name was brought up and that was about it. Deceipt had nothing to do with those.

I know there were some good ones but I can't remember them.

But yea I get what you mean, but at the same time, I think theres a level of crazy to ISkiBC arguing with himself that was probably a lot less deliberate than anything Sasha Baron Cohen does.

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Originally Posted by leroy jenkins

Yea, for the record I have no and have never had an aliases, and when referrgin to the ones people valued, they were they ones everyone knew were someone's alias, operated purely for collective entertainment. Like aliases with the name of a public figure that died decades ago, Nikola Tesla, etc. They'd chime in every once in a while with an on topic joke when their name was brought up and that was about it. Deceipt had nothing to do with those.

I know there were some good ones but I can't remember them.

But yea I get what you mean, but at the same time, I think theres a level of crazy to ISkiBC arguing with himself that was probably a lot less deliberate than anything Sasha Baron Cohen does.

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Okay Butch


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

About halfway through Sneaky Pete....entertaining.

A lot of people like to claim they were SpecOps in our military. I don't call them out but ask a couple of questions that only people that have been in the game would answer even remotely correctly. When I am sure they are full of shit, I just ignore them.

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I worked with a stolen valor type a while ago, like some cons he’d actual experience (been in Vietnam on a PBR) but exaggerated for some reason. Also claimed he had a PHD (didn’t) and cycled theough jobs every year before they figured he was a fraud. Cut n pasted an article he got published in a tech industry trade pub


almost got taken by a shortcon guy in Colombo with an exgf, the way the guy worked the confidence part was really something- it’s acting. Ended up out an overpriced drink at a bar where the bar tender was probably getting kickbacks, but was worth it for the artistry

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Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

How about making fun of someones miscarriage?

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Yeah. I think what goes on is “let’s see how this person (or these people) react to this villain in their midst”, and as people get more and more hard-boiled to the shock of internet shit-talk, the provocation ratchets up in causticity and that’s where you end up.

So how about it?..well it sucks, but I think it’s consistent with the viewpoint that internet discussion is all a kind of prank, and that people who bring their real life into it are naive and people who get upset about it are the punchline.
Again, the more I think about it, the more I see how the ugly aspects of this whole thing come from differing core concepts of how this is supposed to work.

It’s not unlike how some podcaster might think of his role as comedy and entertainment, while other people (listeners, reporters, politicisns..) see that role as a political leader or journalist or public information officer. If we all agree on one framework, no problem, but when approaches and expectations get mixed and mashed, people get super upset and the whole thing gets dramatic

Leroy, you were there for that. Dave provided an insight into pure narcissism meets internet. There was nothing to fall for. He does actually ski, and he's a breeder now. Him and Brett are living well with kids. Brett could ski too.

I just choose not to troll or breed. It's the fucking internet. DYOR and all that.

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Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy

Yeah. I think what goes on is “let’s see how this person (or these people) react to this villain in their midst”, and as people get more and more hard-boiled to the shock of internet shit-talk, the provocation ratchets up in causticity and that’s where you end up.

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I'd be an even deeper fool should I disagree.
But that's about the reaction.

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So how about it?..well it sucks, but I think it’s consistent with the viewpoint that internet discussion is all a kind of prank, and that people who bring their real life into it are naive and people who get upset about it are the punchline.
Again, the more I think about it, the more I see how the ugly aspects of this whole thing come from differing core concepts of how this is supposed to work.

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Either 'on point' or 'duh'.

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It’s not unlike how some podcaster might think of his role as comedy and entertainment, while other people (listeners, reporters, politicisns..) see that role as a political leader or journalist or public information officer. If we all agree on one framework, no problem, but when approaches and expectations get mixed and mashed, people get super upset and the whole thing gets dramatic

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I'm hoping that after some time, we all just get tired of the hysteria, the spontaneous dumb, of which I have excreted more than my fair share.
I'm projecting, because I'm tired.

There's some balance to caring that I forget about. It's not all rabid vituperations, but it's not all I don't care.

I don't get upset by peoples choice in cars. clothes, food, styles. So for me, I'm getting to where all that tcposturing is like choosing colors for your kitchen.

It's not that I think lots of behavior is classless, but some, yeah. I do think some standard of conduct is appropriate.

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Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

How about making fun of someones miscarriage?

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May I ask what you are referring to?

Not my old avatar right? I don't think it was you but someone messaged me about it years ago saying their wife had recently had a miscarriage and demanding I change it. I actually totally would have if they had asked remotely nicely but they started off on a fuck you for even having that note so I kept it out of spite. Even if they'd started on that note and sent a second message apologizing and asking remotely nicely I'm sure I would have. I'd never directly make fun of another's suffering.

I'm probably just being self centered I'm sure you're referencing something else.

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Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark

Leroy, you were there for that. Dave provided an insight into pure narcissism meets internet. There was nothing to fall for. He does actually ski, and he's a breeder now. Him and Brett are living well with kids. Brett could ski too.

I just choose not to troll or breed. It's the fucking internet. DYOR and all that.

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I hope they're good dads. We all have our narcissism healthy and otherwise. Something about aliases to FIGHT with oneself instead of using them to kiss your own ass is a whole other level in my mind, and perhaps not just narcissism.

I guess you're right though, it doesn't really fit the "con man" theme, but it was an interesting life experience to be a spectator to.


In Aspen, one of the Marolt brothers invented many different aliases to write letters to the editor of the local paper, some of them arguing with each other, but it was done in a way that seemed less crazy and more meaning to create a dialogue for different issues. I can't remember how the truth came to light, I think someone else outed him, I don't think he just admitted it, but when it did come to light the paper just game him his own column, which I believe he still has to this day. Also not a con man, but interesting.

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Originally Posted by leroy jenkins

May I ask what you are referring to?

Not my old avatar right? I don't think it was you but someone messaged me about it years ago saying their wife had recently had a miscarriage and demanding I change it. I actually totally would have if they had asked remotely nicely but they started off on a fuck you for even having that note so I kept it out of spite. Even if they'd started on that note and sent a second message apologizing and asking remotely nicely I'm sure I would have. I'd never directly make fun of another's suffering.

I'm probably just being self centered I'm sure you're referencing something else.

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Something else.

“PM Rontele”
(If you get it, you get it).
On another note, it makes me downright angry that IAS isn’t analyzing and writing for a living.

One of my wife’s websites got hacked. Some guy cracked her password and went in and changed almost all of her content to add a bunch of crazy good deals (too good to be true), left her name and business name at the top of the page, but redirected all contact information to himself. So he could make sales, collect the money, and not deliver. And then my wife would be blamed since it was her website with her name at the top.

We found out about this only because we got a call from someone else the hacker had done the same thing too. So, she’s been chasing this guy around the internet looking for other people like us that got hacked in the same way. Luckily, we were only compromised for a couple days before we were warned about it.

So my wife went in and changed her password and removed the content he added and is working on restoring the site. Luckily he wasn’t able to change the password himself.

But the kicker is now he is harassing my wife for the changes she made, and wants her to restore what changes he added and give him the new password! He’s texting her multiple times a day. I told her to keep all the texts as evidence, but not respond to him at all. At some point we may need to take this to the police.

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Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Something else.

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Ahh, I gotcha. If you were the butt of that 'joke' then I'm sorry someone stooped to be such a shitstain.

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Originally Posted by Chair 6

I worked with a woman a few years ago who was a bad con artist. A supervisor hired her on their way out. She would lie and cheat constantly. Her work background made any sense, in the two years she was there we couldn't figure out what her past position(s) and work exp. were because she constantly lied. Thankfully she moved on. She sucked.

^ IAS - I watched her cheat during a pack test. She brought her own vest-questionable given her character, and when she thought no one was watching she would run.

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Oh man…

Pack test shenanigans…

Lol “we lost all the results, Sharon, so you have to retake it tomorrow”

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Originally Posted by billyk

One of my wife’s websites got hacked. Some guy cracked her password and went in and changed almost all of her content to add a bunch of crazy good deals (too good to be true), left her name and business name at the top of the page, but redirected all contact information to himself. So he could make sales, collect the money, and not deliver. And then my wife would be blamed since it was her website with her name at the top.

We found out about this only because we got a call from someone else the hacker had done the same thing too. So, she’s been chasing this guy around the internet looking for other people like us that got hacked in the same way. Luckily, we were only compromised for a couple days before we were warned about it.

So my wife went in and changed her password and removed the content he added and is working on restoring the site. Luckily he wasn’t able to change the password himself.

But the kicker is now he is harassing my wife for the changes she made, and wants her to restore what changes he added and give him the new password! He’s texting her multiple times a day. I told her to keep all the texts as evidence, but not respond to him at all. At some point we may need to take this to the police.

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You've probably already done this but if not--make a police report and I think you can also file a complaint with the FBI. This is identity theft, he's a criminal--although the fact that he keeps after her suggests not a very smart one. Maybe reporting to LE will send him to jail or at least she will have proof that she did it, should any of this guy's customers come after her.

Yea I'm not a calling the cops kind of guy at all, but there is no reason not to report that.

I know we should have, but my wife just deleted everything. The guy stopped pestering her after we mentioned the cops.

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Originally Posted by rideit

On another note, it makes me downright angry that IAS isn’t analyzing and writing for a living.

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One time in high school when the word “chode” was just getting going, my English class was working on Grapes of Wrath, and we had an assignment to write an extra chapter to insert into the book wherever. I wrote a whole thing after Noah Joad wanders off from the family to stay near the Colorado river where he ends up finding an early Las Vegas and changing his name to Noah Chode, and opening a whorehouse called Noah Chode’s Arc.
My teacher made me read that out loud in front of the class, it was really something.