Confidence tricks

Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices created by the American author L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard initially presented his ideas in 1950 as a form of talk therapy called Dianetics. He later expanded and reframed those ideas as a religion, which he named Scientology. In 1953, he founded the Church of Scientology, which, by one 2014 estimate, had around 30,000 members.

Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and often transparently mirror the site being targeted, allowing the attacker to observe everything while the victim navigates the site, and traverses any additional security boundaries with the victim. As of 2020, it is the most common type of cybercrime, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting more incident

false or misleading information presented as news

fraudulent investment scheme that pays earlier investors with proceeds from later investors

Tencent () is a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments. Its associated stock-market-listed variable interest entity Tencent Holdings Ltd is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

type of unsustainable business model

thumb|upright=1.35|Political cartoon by Joseph Morewood Staniforth| Staniforth: [[Herbert Kitchener attempts to raise £100,000 for a college in Sudan by calling on the name of Gordon]] A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually

type of fraud where the victim unknowingly engages in one way trade with the perpetrator

former media project / scam themed around private spaceflight

organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system

July 2020 compromise of multiple verified Twitter accounts to post scam Tweets

Theranos Inc. () was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company. Founded in 2003 by then 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised more than US$700 million from venture capitalists and private investors, resulting in a $9 billion valuation at its peak in 2013 and 2014. The company claimed that it had devised blood tests that could be performed rapidly and accurately, while requiring very small amounts of blood, all using compact automated devices that the company had developed. These claims were proven to be false.

European folk story

confidence trick

thumb|An FBI SWAT team during training

creating an email spam or phishing messages with a forged sender identity or address

Corruption scandal in India in the 1980s related to defence equipment.

trading scheme used to defraud traders

website that deliberately publishes hoaxes and disinformation

Online scam starting with using social-engineering on the victim and building over an extended amount of time likened to fattening an animal before slaughter

type of fraud and confidence trick

card game, usually fraudulent

technique used when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances

former for-profit US education company

Wikimedia list article

building in Wichita Falls, Texas

Israeli financial firm

scheme that falsely promises high rates of return for a small investment of money or labor

deceitful technique used in e-commerce to boost seller ratings

type of confidence trick

island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

a type of account takeover fraud that generally targets a weakness in two-factor authentication, with the second factor being a text message or call placed to a mobile telephone

financial scandal in India

confidence trick

intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual through email

buying multiple parcels together for future use

American political controversy

scams focused on businesses run from one's home

confidence trick

scam on the Bombay Stock Exchange

phone caller faking the phone number sent to the recipient of a phone call

idiom for an item purchased without inspection