Street scammers, hustling for money

The last two years, two men and a woman from Romania have been running illegal street gambling scams in Oslo, Norway. They invite groups of scammers who stay for a short or long time, acting as shills and lookouts. Name Three Card Monte Aka Find The Lady, Chase The Ace, Running The Red, Three Card Molly. Victims Tourists and commuters with a taste for gambling and a quick buck. Crew Two to eight crew members are involved, each with a variety of tasks. The Scam The victim is drawn to a group of people playing a simple card game, follow the winning card amongst two losing cards as all three are mixed face down on a table or box. The victim thinks they have figured out the game but always end up losing. All variations have the following in common: - Their are at least two con artists and one victim. (It COULD be done with just one man but this is not sustainable.) The 'money' card is switched with a losing card without the victim seeing. The victim never wins money. The switch is achieved via a move called The Hype. This move allows the con artist to appear to be throwing the winning ace down at the start, when really is throwing down a losing card. Variations Closed Monte The most basic version of this scam has two con artists. The inside man and the outside man. The outside man pretends to befriend the victim and brings him into the game which is run by the inside man. The outside man and the victim are both players are united against the inside man who is actually tossing the cards. This allows the con artists to convince the victim to play. When the cards are thrown in a fair manner, it is referred to as a "toss" or "throw". However, if the con artist use sleight of hand to throw the winning or 'money' card into a different position, it is referred to as a "hype". The outside man will play a few rounds and win a little. He will encourage the victim to play to. Particularly when it appears to be a sure bet. As soon as the victim plays, the con artist uses the hype and the victim loses. This basic scam is called a "closed monte" and is played in private. The Dollar Store Invented by early 20th Century con artist Ben Marks, The Dollar Store is a cheap shop set up to provide a venue for the Monte. The customer comes in looking for a bargain and just happens to arrive during an seemingly impromptu game of cards is being played. Street Monte To make the game more succesful, other members of a monte crew can be introduced to perform certain tasks, particularly when the game is played on the street. The victim is not aware that these people are a part of the scam. Roper: Similar to the outside man. Brings in new victims. Lookouts/Slides: Looking out for the police. They will shout "fold" or "slide" and the game breaks up. Handler: Runs the whole scam without taking part. Capper: Outbids the victim if he somehow manages to pick correctly. Booster: Loudly wins a large amount of money. Gate Closers: Obscures victims or witnesses that the crew do not want to play or watch. They will also get in the pay of tourist's cameras. Muscle: If the game turns ugly, a beefy protector can come in handy. Street monte can be seen on La Ramblas in Barcelona, Queen's St in Stockholm and at markets such as Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt in Paris. It also has a strong presence in New York subways. Country Boy The victim is brought into the scam as a 'member' of the crew, thinking that another man, usually a bumpkin, is the victim. The victim has to contribute money to the scam in order to be a part of the con. This money is stolen via the Jamaican Switch. Lugs The con artist or a confederate accidentally marks or bends the corner of the winning card so that the victim can always follow it. The mark or bend is moved to a losing card via sleight of hand. The victim bets on the card with the bent corner and loses his money. Obviously, he can not complain that he was cheated because he is cheating. The Keened Eyed Victim One con artist loses the game several times. He then asks the victim for 'help'. With the victim's help, he starts to win money. The victim sees others betting and winning based on his guesses and so beats himself. If the victim does not bet, the hustler will raise the stakes and his confederate will ask the victim to go partners with him to cover the beat. Other Variations Magicians will often swap the winning card for a THIRD losing card. This is never done by con artists despite being depicted this way in films, tv and books. The game is broken up by the police directly after the victim loses preventing him from trying again. The police are paid to do this. Having a confederate lose more then the victim so that the victim does not feel as bad. This is a cool off. The game is a massive distraction to allow pickpockets to crowd in an pick the victim clean. Hungarian Monte Perform with rubber disks instead of cards. The winner disk has a paint spot on it. The shell game (also known as Thimblerig, Three shells and a pea, the old army game) is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud. In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off. The game requires three shells (thimbles, walnut shells, bottle caps, plastic cups, and even match boxes have been used), and a small, soft round ball, about the size of a pea, and often referred to as such. It can be played on almost any flat surface, but on the streets it is often seen played on a mat lying on the ground, or on a cardboard box. The person perpetrating the swindle (called the thimblerigger, operator, or shell man) begins the game by placing the pea under one of the shells, then quickly shuffles the shells around. Once done shuffling, the operator takes bets from his audience on the location of the pea. The audience is told that if a player bets and guesses correctly, the player will win back double his bet (that is, he will double his money); otherwise he loses his money. However, in the hands of a skilled operator, it is not possible for the game to be won, unless the operator wants the player to win or if the player is allowed to touch the shells, in which case the player has a chance. The player must turn over any two shells saying that the pea is under neither of these. Since the pea is usually palmed, it is not under any of the shells and the mark has no choice but to pay up. This can only be done once. When an individual not familiar with the shell game encounters a game on the streets, it appears that bets are being placed by numerous players, when in reality, the people around the game are shills who are all part of the confidence trick. The apparent players actually serve various roles in the swindle: they act as lookouts for the police; they also serve as "muscle" to intimidate marks who become unruly and some are shills, whose job is to pretend to play the game, and entice the mark into betting. Once a mark enters the circle of apparent players and faces the operator, the gang surrounds them to discourage an easy exit and to keep other pedestrians from entering and disrupting the confidence trick gang's action on the main mark. The job of crowding around also protects the operator from any incriminating photographs being taken of the act. The operator and the shills will try to get the mark into a heightened state of anger or greed. Once this is accomplished, one shill will pretend to disclose a winning strategy to the mark. It is all a ruse to get the mark to place a large bet. The operator's trick is sleight of hand. A skilled operator can remove a pea from under any shell (or shells) and place it (or not) under any shell (or shells) undetected by a mark. So it is never of any benefit for the mark to watch the movement of either the shells or the operator's hands. When the operator has finished moving the shells around, he asks the mark if they wish to bet on the play. If a mark agrees, they have to place their money down before they can point to a shell. Using sleight of hand, the pea is revealed to be under a different shell than chosen. If no mark wants to play, one of the shills may start the play in order to animate the mark. The shill will either lift a shell which is "obviously" wrong and will lose his money, or he lifts the "obvious" shell and wins. Or he may pretend that he has discovered some trick, and either "succeed" or clumsily fail. The game should not be mistaken for an honest game. It is not possible for a mark to win, even if they know how the trick is worked, or even if they "accidentally" pick the shell that actually has the pea under it. Through very skilled sleight of hand, the operator can easily hide the pea, without the mark's seeing him do so. Any player who is suspected of understanding the trick, or does not place a bet and just wants to watch, will be quickly edged away from the table by the shills or the muscle. The shell game set-up and lay-out is quick and simple, so that in the event of trouble, or if they are signaled that authorities are approaching, they can remove all traces of the game in seconds.

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