T he Sting , mentioned elsewhere in this book (and in my opinion probably the best movie that's ever been made about a con operation), lays out its tricky plot in fascinating detail. The sting operation in the movie is an exact depiction of how top grifters run "the wire," one of the three types of major swindles referred to as "big cons." If you want to know how a team of professionals pulls off a scam raking in a great deal of money in a single evening, there's no better textbook.