- time principle: the victim is persuaded that they need to act quickly (before they can think rationally and exercise self-control)
- distraction: make the victim focus on something else, e.g. a physically attractive accomplice
- making the victim look at certain things
- directing the victim's mind towards something else
- talking to the victim
- touching the victim's body
- gradually breaking personal space
- attentional overload
- stimulation of deep desires: trick the victim with something they really want, e.g. in online dating
- deference to authority: the victim is tricked into trusting an alleged authority, e.g. through the use of uniforms
- exploit kindness: advantage is taken of the victim's willingness for voluntary (financial) support, e.g. after a natural disaster
- appeal to innate dishonesty: make the victim act criminally themself through their reduced inhibition threshold, e.g. in Nigerian scam
- herd principle: the scam is suggested to be legitimate by making use of people's tendency to act like their friends or people around them
- pig-in-a-poke (information asymmetry): the victim thinks they are buying a "pig" when they are actually buying a "cat" hidden in the bag
- Shell game (sleight of hand)
- scammer has three shells and a small coin
- scammer places coin under one of the shells and shuffles them quickly
- victim from the audience is asked to place a bet on the location of the coin for doubling or losing their bet
- skilled scammer will never lose due to dexterity but must therefore remove coin completely and turn over shells themself
- other people from the audience include
- shills pretending to play the game and allegedly placing genuine bets
- lookouts for the police
- bouncers discouraging an easy exit
- guards intimidating victims who become intractable
- the audience also serves as a protection against photographers
- when the police is approaching, all traces of the game can be removed in seconds
- pickpockets may be part of the game as well so that when the scammers seem to run away from the police they're actually leaving with theft
- Fortune telling
- uses cold reading to trick victims into paying money for alleged fortune telling
- Clip joint
- trick played in an establishment (usually strip club or entertainment bar)
- possibility of sex is often suggested
- victim is tricked into paying money at excessively high prices
- victim receives poor goods/service (e.g. watered-down drinks) — or even none at all
- victim is later ejected
- Dropped Wallet scam
- scammer pretends to unintentionally drop their purse
- victim picks up the purse in good faith and wants to return it to the scammer
- scammer accuses victim of stealing, asks for "stolen" money to be returned and threatens to call the police
- Badger game (extortion)
- the victim (usually a married man) is deliberately coerced into a compromising position (usually a supposed affair)
- the victim is threatened with public exposure unless blackmail money is paid
- Thai gems
- selling jewelry or custom-made suits — both overpriced — telling the victim they will make money by importing it to their home country
- Coin-matching game
- one operator begins the game with the victim
- second operator joins and briefly leaves again
- first operator agrees with victim to cheat on second operator
- when rejoining, the second operator loses and angrily threatens to call the police
- the first operator and the victim agree to pay hush money — later split up between the two operators
- Fiddle game / Glim-dropper (pigeon drop technique)
- first scammer goes to expensive restaurant and after eating finds out they have "forgotten" their purse at home (nearby)
- first scammer leaves expensive and rare good (e.g. musical instrument) as collateral or pledge and goes to get their purse
- second scammer arrives and approaches victim
- second scammer claims they want to buy that rare item for a large amount (e.g. 10,000 USD)
- second scammer "has to" leave abruptly for an appointment but leaves contact information
- victim is to inform potential buyer when the owner returns
- first scammer returns and wants to get back their collateral or pledge — but victim thinks they might make money now
- victim offers the "owner" of the collateral or pledge a considerable amount (e.g. 5,000 USD)
- victim buys the item in good faith and greed to make profit by re-selling it to the second scammer — who never returns
- chronology of the discovery of the valuable item and the offer to buy may be swapped when second scammer claims to have lost something
- Lottery fraud by proxy
- scammer fakes an alleged winning ticket but claims not to be eligible for its redemption
- victim buys "winning ticket" from scammer — and will later even be held criminally liable when trying to redeem it
- Spanish Prisoner scam / Nigerian scam
- enlisting the victim to aid in retrieving some stolen money from a hidden place
- taking advantage of the victim's greed
- tricking the victim into believing into the existence of the money
- preventing the victim from going to the police by making them act criminally themself which they would have to admit
- luring with faked cheques that have a manipulated recipient but are otherwise genuine
- Romance scam (advance-fee fraud)
- cultivating romantic relationship with victim
- making promises of a future marriage
- beloved person is stuck in a foreign (usually their home) country and lacks the money to leave
- Gandparent scam (fraudulent impersonation)
- grandparent gets a call or message from alleged grandchild in trouble (abroad)
- grandchild may be arrested in another country needing money to pay the bail
- Fake antivirus / Fake support call
- Computer users are unsolicitedly contacted by
- scammers claiming to represent Microsoft etc.
- alleged company behind antivirus software installed on their computer
- scammers tell unsuspecting victim that they have problems/errors on their computer which must be fixed
- victims may be tricked into
- paying money for no service
- actually installing viruses, malware or spyware
- allow the scammers remote access to the computer
- Computer users are unsolicitedly contacted by
- Fake casting agent scam
- scammer pretends to be casting agent for a modeling agency searching for new talents
- victim is told they need a professional portfolio — which requires an upfront payment
- Fraudulent directory solicitations
- victims (business owners) receive a solicitation from a business directory designed like an invoice
- the scammers hope that the business owners fall victim to them by mistaking the solicitation ...
- ... for an actual invoice and paying it
- ... for updates/corrections that must be made to an existing entry (resulting the victim signing the document)
- It is ridiculously easy to buy fake reviews, likes and followers online. Be suspicious.