Confidence Trick

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual operating alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty, honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naïveté or greed.

Read more about Confidence Trick:  Terminology, History, Vulnerability To Confidence Tricks

Famous quotes containing the words confidence and/or trick:

    “In a war everybody always knows all about Switzerland, in peace times it is just Switzerland but in war time it is the only country that everybody has confidence in, everybody.”
    —Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)

    “Think of all the really successful men and women you know. Do you know a single one who didn’t learn very young the trick of calling attention to himself in the right quarters?”
    —Storm Jameson (1891–1986)