While the majority of those in business deal honestly and fairly with the public, there is a small minority who, through the promotion of unfair schemes, prey upon the public under the cloak of legitimate business. There are somewhere between 800 and 1,000 of the more prevalent frauds and schemes which are being practiced at any one time with hundreds of variations on the basic con games. In every scheme there is both a perpetrator and a victim.
Every consumer is a potential victim.
This page contains brief descriptions of some prevalent fraudulent schemes, con games and rip-offs which are currently practiced throughout the U.S. in the belief that the consumers best protection against being swindled is consumer awareness of how such swindles operate. But it is not sufficient to know what the schemes are and how they are worked. It is essential to understand human weakness which makes us susceptible to these fraudulent schemes. It is important to remember that the con artists success depends upon universal human desires-such as the desire to be healthy, wealthy, to get something for nothing or to get a lot for a little. For the con artist, the task is often simplified.