Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

for the aircraft or the aircraft is hijacked. Because of the need for secrecy, the pilots are usually killed.

Because of the Federal RICO statute, the vehicles used in a commission of a crime are forfeited to the government. It is much easier and less costly to steal vehicles, vessels and aircrafts to be used in the transportation of illegal contraband.

A con artist's greatest feat is to remove money from your pocket and place it into his without putting a scratch on you or threatening physical violence. It is a saying among police detectives that any punk can grab a gun and rob you, but it takes a special, smart, cunning and sophisticated person to be a good con artist.

Salesmen of Fraud

When you write about con artists, remember one thing: They are very flamboyant characters. They are salesmen whose product is fraud. Being defined as a nonviolent crime, swindling involves elements of intentional deceit, concealment, corruption, and misrepresentation to gain the property of another, and it is facilitated by the willing cooperation of unaware or unknowing victims. Because of this trickery, the victim is often silent. Either the victim does not realize that a fraud has been perpetrated, or he is unwilling to report it for fear of being branded a sucker by his friends or the police. In New York City, the con artist capital of the world, the police department groups this type of crime under "crimes against persons."

Con artists are motivated by one thing: money, money and more money! To truly appreciate a con artist, you must watch him in action. When you take the time to observe a con artist, it is almost a shame to see the energy and intelligence expended in fraud. Since con artists are flamboyant, you might portray them as eccentric, outgoing and overzea-lous. In the pecking order of criminals, they are slightly above the sediment, because they actually use their intelligence, rather than brute force, to steal.

Take for instance Frank Abagnale, who was one of the most successful con artists in the history of the United States. For five years Mr. Abagnale worked as a pilot with Pan American Airlines and worked himself up through the cockpit from flight engineer to captain, all with a simple Pan Am identification card. Although he was a high school drop out, Abagnale passed the bar exam on his third try, and with a false Harvard Law Transcript practiced law in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also became a pediatrics consultant at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, after reading only a handful of medical books and producing a false degree from Columbia University in New York City. He was also a Professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University. In all these places Abagnale picked up the jargon of the trade, discovered the perks of each job, and bilked company after company of either cash or free business expenses.

Quick Change/Short Change Artists

These con artists do a flimflam with money, and only need a twenty dollar bill and a one dollar bill to make quick cash, so they are in business very quickly. Often times they only need to go to a young or inexperienced cashier in a store that is so busy the cashier is only more willing to get rid of a difficult customer as soon as possible.

Restaurants are very good marks for these types of con artists. This is a complicated scheme for those of us who don't have natural criminal tendencies, so here's a breakdown of how it works:

1. The con artist enters a restaurant and purchases a small item such as a cup of coffee, so the entire check is less than one dollar. He drinks his coffee, and check in hand, heads for the cashier.

2. He produces a twenty dollar bill for payment to the cashier. As soon as he hands the cashier the money, he begins to talk to the cashier about something that is good enough to interest her: the news of the day, a local event, or something personal such as her hair, lipstick or figure. Remember, con artists are really actors, so he must be debonair—someone a female clerk wouldn't mind taking compliments from.

3. The cashier places the twenty dollar bill in the register while trying to count and pay attention to the customer. She lays the change from the twenty on the counter. The con artist will pick up the small change but not touch the paper money. At the same time he will ask for another item such as a pack of cigarettes.

4. While the cashier reaches for the cigarettes, he removes a one dollar bill from his pocket. As he pays the cashier the exact change for the cigarettes, he holds up the one dollar bill and says to her, "Wow, that's unbelievable, here I had a dollar bill in my pocket all the time and I didn't know it."

5. The con will keep this dollar bill in sight in one hand, while reaching with the same hand for the nineteen dollars change on the counter from his original purchase. But as his hand approaches the money he folds up the one dollar bill with a swift motion and palms it. At the same time, with another single move, he folds up the ten dollar bill in such a way that it is hidden with the remaining nine one dollar bills (or five and four ones).

6. All the time, the con man is asking the cashier another question about something trivial and looking her straight in the eye. He then holds the nineteen dollars in plain sight, with the ten dollar bill secreted within the other nine dollars. The cashier, if she thinks of it at all, thinks that he has placed the single dollar bill he "discovered" in his pocket with the money still in his hand.

7. Since change is always in demand, he asks if she would like to give him a ten dollar bill for the ten ones. He hands her the pile with one hand and takes