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The gift of grift? She haz it!

Who says farting around on the Interwebs all day can’t teach you anything?

Because of people like this and some like that, I can identify a good con coming from a mile away.

And OH BOY did I almost get taken in. This particular grifter has been honing her skills with surgical precision.  I hardly saw it coming, so smoothly and cleverly was this little act of treachery constructed.  I didn’t fall for it though.

Many were not so lucky.

So, I just want to share this information with you so that you too can be safe from any common hustler.

Step 1 – Confidence tricks exploit human weaknesses like greed, dishonesty, vanity, but also virtues like honesty, compassion, or a naïve expectation of good faith.

Like, say, when some cute 5 year old tells you that they lost their first tooth so that you can get all excited and ask her if the tooth fairy came to visit her.  When a negative answer is given, the mark is both shocked and slightly offended on behalf of the con artist…the natural progression is  for the little  scammer to ask if they wanted to see where the tooth USED to be.

Step 2 – In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task

Seriously? It is a empty spot on the gums….not EVEN the actual tooth, they’re just being promised the fabulous goodness of looking at NOTHING.  Empty space. Anti-matter. {Insert pitiful face here and affect the winning trifecta of shyness, vulnerability and hesitation to show the empty tooth socket as proof that said tooth did, in fact, come out}

Step 3 – A principal method of separating victims from their cash is the use of short cons, swindles that are quick and need little setup and few helpers.

By sadly letting the mark know that she received no tooth fairy cashout (which was TOTALLY her idea because she wants to keep it in a glitter-filled baggie..WHATEVER!) and feigning reluctance to expose the goods, it inevitably led to someone digging deep in their pocket to make up for the loss of financial windfall in hopes of seeing the payoff of a big toothless grin.

People, I KID YOU NOT, she came home with $10 in her greedy, swindling little hand.

I’m just so, so proud.

Next, I think we’ll work on three-card monte.

Would this face scam you?  Pffft, she’s already starting to send out emails as a lawyer from Nigeria.

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10 Comments on “The gift of grift? She haz it!”

  1. #1 Amo
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 8:30 am

    Awwww….

    Please don’t ever let her meet my oldest. Those two 5-year-old minds would be unbeatable!

    Amos last blog post..And yet these people keep talking to me…

  2. #2 Niki a.k.a. Mommielicious
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Mine has lost her 2 top teeth. And the bottom 2 are now loose. The first was not through an act of God, but via the means of hopping around like a bunny rabbit on Grandma’s tile floor. She tripped and landed on her tummy and hands, but when she realized she had fallen the hands immediately came up and down went the face – HARD! For that tooth she got a trip to the emergency room; waited in the lobby to be seen (covered in her own blood) and pushed the tooth out in the bathroom and was awarded $10 because that what grandmas SAID that the Tooth Fairy used to bring Daddy. (UM hello that was like 25 years ago, no more like 27 years ago – we were NOT getting $10 bucks a tooth!)
    The other top tooth as a result of the fall, did not fall out, but got damaged ad turned nasty brown. Yup I had a kid who looked like she had bottle rot – ewwwww! so off to the pediatric dentist we go! It’s dead and needs to come out. But first she had to take antibiotics because it abscessed. Then we go to the oral surgeon – she prescribes my daughter Valium – 3 of them. Tells me to give her HALF of one! That leaves 2 and a half for me! (ROCKIN!!!) Gives Brooklyn Nitrous Oxide (I however did not get any 🙁 ), and removes the tooth without so much as a tug. This tooth rewards Brooklyn $10 from the tooth fairy because the OTHER Grandma tells her that she deserves that much after all that she had to go through! Um, yeah mom if you hadn’t noticed she was half asleep for the entire time! She couldn’t even walk from the half a Valium i gave her!! Not the type of ordeal that warrants a ten dollar bill.
    So needless to say, when these next 2 come out – she’s lucky if she gets a quarter!

  3. #3 Amy@UWM
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 9:15 am

    Clever girl. She’s way ahead of my daughter who was totally blown off by the tooth fairy this week. She could have used some street smarts to score some cash.

    Amy@UWMs last blog post..Lies We Tell Our Children

  4. #4 foradifferentkindofgirl (fadkog)
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 9:55 am

    Do you think if you got her rolling on a way to raise funds for me to get to BlogHer, she’d also make enough for me to get my hair colored and a few extra sweet outfits, too? This sweet-faced kid of yours has got the system down!

  5. #5 MonsteRawr
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    I wish I had her balls when I was a kid. All I got from the tooth fairy was $1, and what’s worse it was a silver dollar coin, which I was not allowed to spend because they’re “special”. Laaaaame.

    MonsteRawrs last blog post..Sex + Twitter + Badass Bitches = We All Win (But Mostly Me)

  6. #6 Dan Cohen
    on Mar 14th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    awww. yes, that face can scam me easily. She could wipe out my bank acccount in a heartbeat.

    Dan Cohen
    North Miami Beach, FL
    danco1968@hotmail.com

  7. #7 Marie
    on Mar 15th, 2009 at 2:56 am

    Amateur. If she’d thrown in a pitiful “I had wookeemia” coupled with some doe eyes….she’d have got 20. You have to WORK it Peyton!!!!

  8. #8 Rhonda
    on Mar 15th, 2009 at 8:48 am

    She wouldn’t even have to show me the “hole”- I would give her money just cause she’s so stinkin’ cute! You ROCK Peyton!

    Rhondas last blog post..THIS Fat Lady Ain’t singing!

  9. #9 Kyla
    on Mar 15th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    She’s got skillz!

    Kylas last blog post..The Speech, Remix Edition

  10. #10 Brittany
    on Mar 16th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    “she’s already starting to send out emails as a lawyer from Nigeria.”

    I literally spit my drink out!

    Brittanys last blog post..Even I know I suck.