Page 290 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

Other Applications 343

Once you have committed yourself and have parted with your money or acted in other ways
which will turn out not to be in your best interests, achievement lies are characterized by:

• failure to deliver the benefits promised, usually for reasons supposedly beyond the liar’s con-
trol;

• failure to respond to your complaints, to return telephone calls or requests for meetings – the
liar deliberately remains inaccessible;2

• almost limitless exculpatory lies, including blaming you for any failure;
• changing the ground rules, denying earlier promises by suggesting loss of memory on your

part;
• feigned anger if you question him, perhaps stating that he is ‘sick of your insults’3 and claiming

the moral high ground to the extent that he is the injured party.

Finally, the victim usually loses and the liar escapes to fight another day. Often his goals are
short term to the extent that he only intends to get your money and run.

If the deal looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true

PRIME BANK GUARANTEES

Over 20 years ago, shady American loan $100 million, bearing interest at 4% per
brokers and advance fee scamsters hit annum and being repayable in ten years’
upon the idea of Prime Bank Guarantees time. This instrument can then be used as
(PBGs). These fictional ‘bank instruments’ collateral for a loan of $100 million from
are supposedly issued by ‘prime banks’ another bank. This money is then used to
as a method of raising off balance sheet immediately liquidate the loan, leaving the
funds. The scamsters claim to have an borrower with an immediate ‘fall out’ of say
inside route for obtaining these for ‘self- $10 million after all fees have been paid. It
liquidating loans’. Essentially the scheme all sounds a great idea and many victims
is that a person or company that wishes to have fallen for it, but the logic is fatally
raise finance (usually in ‘tranches’ of $100 flawed4 and PBGs, in the form suggested,
million) can buy for $85 million a PBG from don’t exist.
a leading bank which has a face value of say

Tricks of the trade

The most important attributes of a conman are that he is plausible and determined, with an
extremely thick skin, ruthlessly exploiting the greed and gullibility of his intended victims.
The conman may use fine words and appear to be your dearest friend, but his intention is
simply to do or say anything necessary to gain an advantage.

Sometimes the conman will inveigle his victims into illegal acts, in the process knowingly
depriving them of any form of redress.

2 This is often for two reasons: the first is to avoid you and the second because he is busy ripping off new victims
3 Conmen seem to use this word rather a lot
4 When you look at the instrument in terms of net present value, why should one bank give a value of $85 million
and another $100 million?