Easy Money

Exposes every kind of underhanded trick that can cause individuals and businesses to lose money, from the simple street con to million dollar "tax shelter" hoaxes.

In 1992, some nine million persons were victimized by various forms of confidence trickery, according to business consultant Whitlock in this massive, well-organized and depressing overview. This catalogue of theft and extortion tells of an entrepreneur who breaks windows at night and sells window repair by day; a Fed Ex driver who collects $96.25 each on 50 false COD packages in a day; fake repairmen who charge an old woman $1200 for unneeded household repairs and steal her TV. Other areas where the buyer must beware include travel, where deposits for tour packages disappear; banking, where stolen credit card numbers are "retailed" to con artists; and medicine, where physicians file false Medicare claims. The author assiduously lists government and private agencies for the bilked to notify. So prevalent are crooked schemes in American life that law enforcement agencies can't investigate, let alone prosecute, more than a small fraction of them.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Whitlock uncovers telemarketing scams, credit card fraud, and credit repair scams, infamous cons like fraudulent investment schemes, and simple bait-and-switch street games like three-card monte. At the conclusion of each chapter, Whitlock teaches the reader how to recognize a scam, how to avoid being swindled, and what to do if you do get ripped off (complain, complain, complain; always tell the police or the Better Business Bureau; don't try to handle it yourself, because the people you're dealing with could be dangerous criminals). In addition to scams targeting individuals, Whitlock outlines schemes to cheat businesses, including insurance companies (the cost of these cons is ultimately passed on to the average schmo in the form of higher premiums), and even Uncle Sam (he includes eye-popping stories of welfare fraud.) Luckily, Whitlock (who admits to being ripped off in the past himself) presents a handy appendix listing Better Business Bureautype organizations that work to help the victimized. Joe Collins

Scams are not like the usual white-collar crimes because victims willingly participate. The victims, or "marks," are those of us who are greedy, lazy, anxious, or scared, who want to believe that they can get something for nothing. The con artist "promises the moon for a few paltry dollars and delivers nothing," aiming at people who are essentially honest and often deeply religious. The lonely and the elderly are especially vulnerable. Whitlock, a business lecturer, describes about 20 major cons, using anecdotal evidence that keeps the narrative moving. Each chapter concludes with the answers to "How you can protect yourself" and "What you should do if you've been conned?" Two caveats predominate: If it sounds too good to be true, it is; and people's infatuation with the telephone needs to be tempered. An entertaining (and precautionary) choice for most collections.
Alex Wenner, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.