Terminology
A confidence trick is also known as:
- con game
- con
- scam
- grift
- hustle
- bunko
- bunco
- swindle
- flimflam
- gaffle
- bamboozle.
The intended victims are known as marks or suckers. The perpetrator of a confidence trick is often referred to as a
- confidence man or woman
- con man or woman
- con artist
- grifter.
When accomplices are employed, they are known as shills.
In David Mamet's film House of Games, the main con artist gives a slightly different description of the "confidence game". He explains that, in a typical swindle, the con man gives the mark his own confidence, encouraging the mark to in turn trust him. The con artist thus poses as a trustworthy person seeking another trustworthy person.
Read more about this topic: Confidence Trick