3. The False Good Samaritan

There might not be any simpler or more ancient con than the so-called “false Good Samaritan”. It usually involves a team of two con men working in tandem, and the victim is usually a lone person walking a city street at night. The first con man approaches the person and mugs them, stealing their wallet or purse and taking off down the street. The second con man, posing as a passerby, will give chase to the mugger, tackle them, and get back the wallet. The mugger, of course, always manages to escape during the fray. The false Good Samaritan will then return the wallet or purse to the mark, who will have been witness to the entire performance. The hope is that the grateful victim will repay the con man for his help with some kind of cash reward, which they can then split with the mugger later on. When sold correctly and performed on the right kind of person, this con is capable of earning the grifters even more money than they would have ever gotten from just keeping the stolen wallet.