TL;DR
6/10. An engaging crime-writer’s reference by a private investigator on con artists and confidence games, profiling the swindles, the swindlers, and especially the psychology of why victims fall for them, fertile material for deception-driven crime fiction. Its 1998 schemes are dated by internet fraud, but the human dynamics of the con endure. A capable, unusually interesting niche tool.
Rip-off by Fay Faron is a crime-writer’s reference on con artists and the cons they run, from street-level shell games to high-stakes real-estate swindles, profiling the swindlers, their schemes, and their victims. Written by a professional private investigator, it gives mystery, thriller, and crime writers authentic grounding in the world of fraud and confidence games, a rich and underused vein of criminal material. Reviewed as the specialized craft tool it is, it does a focused, genuinely interesting job, with the usual caveat about its age.
The lens, as with these references, is craft: the value is authentic detail for writing believable cons and con artists, and this review treats it as that tool, focused on what it offers a storyteller.
The anatomy of the con
The book’s value is its detailed, real-world anatomy of the confidence game across its range, the small street hustles, the elaborate long cons, the property and investment swindles, and crucially the psychology that makes them work. Faron profiles the con artists, the mechanics of the schemes, and the victims, illuminating not just how cons are run but why people fall for them. For a writer, this is fertile material: a well-rendered con is one of the most satisfying things in crime fiction, a puzzle of deception and misdirection, and understanding how real cons actually operate lets a writer build a swindle that is both believable and clever rather than a vague hand-wave.
Keep reading
Writing a mystery built on deception and misdirection — Faron’s anatomy of the con, in the craft of the deception-driven story.
The psychology of the mark
The most useful dimension for a writer may be the psychology, because a con is fundamentally a story the swindler tells the victim, and the victim’s willingness to believe it is the heart of the crime. Faron’s attention to why victims fall for cons, the greed, trust, hope, and self-deception the con artist exploits, gives a writer insight into both sides of the dynamic: a con artist who understands human nature, and a victim whose downfall feels psychologically true rather than stupid. That understanding lets a writer create cons that work on the reader too, and victims who are sympathetic rather than merely foolish, which is what makes a fictional swindle land.
Keep reading
Writing villains who manipulate rather than menace — the con artist as a study in the manipulator, feeding character and plot.
The honest caveats
The standard limitations apply. The book dates from 1998, and while the timeless psychology of the con, greed, trust, deception, is unchanging, the specific schemes have evolved enormously, especially with the internet: today’s cons run heavily through email, online fraud, identity theft, and digital schemes that the book predates, so a writer setting a contemporary con must update the methods even as the underlying psychology holds. As with all such references, it is grounding for fiction, not a how-to, and its value is in believable storytelling. It is also a narrow specialist reference, useful to the crime writer and dated in its specific schemes like its shelfmates.
Verdict
It is a genuinely interesting and useful crime-writer’s reference on con artists and confidence games, valuable for its real-investigator anatomy of how cons work and, above all, for the psychology of why victims fall for them, fertile material for the deception-driven crime story. It loses ground for its 1998 vintage, which dates the specific schemes significantly in an era of internet fraud, though the underlying psychology endures. Treat it as authoritative on the human dynamics of the con and a dated starting point on the specific scams, useful to the crime writer and best updated for any modern setting. A capable, unusually engaging niche tool.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rip-off about?
Fay Faron’s crime-writer’s reference on con artists and the cons they run, from street-level shell games to high-stakes real-estate swindles, profiling the swindlers, their schemes, and their victims, written by a professional private investigator.
How is it useful to writers?
It gives authentic grounding in the world of fraud and confidence games, the mechanics of real cons across their range, so a writer can build a swindle that is believable and clever rather than a vague hand-wave, drawing on a rich and underused vein of criminal material.
What is its most valuable dimension?
The psychology of why victims fall for cons, the greed, trust, hope, and self-deception the swindler exploits. A con is a story the con artist tells the victim, and understanding that dynamic lets a writer create cons that work on the reader and victims who are sympathetic rather than merely foolish.
Is the information current?
The timeless psychology of the con endures, but the book is from 1998 and the specific schemes have evolved enormously, especially with internet fraud, identity theft, and online scams the book predates, so a writer must update the methods for a contemporary setting.
Who should read it?
Mystery, thriller, and crime writers who want to feature con artists or confidence games and want authentic grounding in how cons really work, with the understanding that the specific schemes need updating against current fraud.
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