The con artist and her mark – the very modern morality tale of Caroline Galloway | Sarah Ditum

For any victim of a scam, the most brutal part is this thought: it could only work because in some way or other, you were asking for it. You had to invite the vampire over the threshold before they could suck you dry. The successful con artist is a true artist, with an instinctive grasp of character that makes the average fiction writer look like an unsophisticated child.

The con artist knows all your petty, humiliating wants. Your thirst for unearned wealth. Your hunger for approval. Your terrible pride, which means that, even when