Missing instruction
Random and pointless thought.

As I've noted often, TV and radio used to help us avoid scams and frauds by dramatizing the various types of rackets. Media no longer do this because everything is a racket. We're not supposed to detect fraud, only reject TRUMPKKKHITLER brands of fraud so we can pour all of our money into fashionable brands of fraud.

But the old setup missed a big part of the instruction.

This 1947 episode of This is your FBI caught my attention. The story is about a team of scammers running the Wallet Drop, an obsolete variant of the pattern that now gives us the Nigerian Prince. You encounter a potential windfall; you pay the scammer for access to the windfall; the scammer disappears.

At the start of the show the team is arguing.

The last five marks you've picked were a waste of time! They were too rich or too honest!

Okay, if you think you can do a better job, you pick this time.

These shows often mention that the racket fails, but we never hear how the failure happens. We never hear what the mark says or does to break the connection after the connection is made.

When the scam arrives by phone or mail, rejection is simple. No instruction needed. Hang up the call, throw away the letter, delete the email. But when the scam arrives in person through a persuasive or attractive trapper, detection is harder and rejection is not automatic. The old shows didn't give us any guidance, and of course the new media never mention the whole subject.

= = = = =

Later: Some modern instructions via the Spokane-News FB page. This dude is wanted for running a car sale scam, and his picture was posted because the cops don't know his name. Dozens of people have encountered his rackets in real estate and cars and dating. He's a real vocational criminal. Some of them tell how they resisted his scams, others fell for the traps. His name is given repeatedly in the comments, and the victims say they've reported him to the cops by name.
  ¶ 6:49 AM