Here are the players in a Confidence, or Con, Game.
THE GRIFTER - This is the boss. This is the person running The Con. He/she is the brains of the operation.
SHILLS - These are the assistants to The Grifter. A Shill is used to distract the victim or to encourage the victim to participate in The Con. Shills can be young or old, male or female, attractive or plain. They can look like anyone.
THE MARK - This is the victim. The person The Grifter and Shills are running The Con on. Also known as THE SUCKER.
Bernie Madoff was a Grifter. He conned people out of billions of dollars. That is the beauty of a Con. If you stick a gun in someone’s face, you get what money there is on their person. In a Con Game, you can steal a lot more money. In many instances, the Mark is so embarrassed by being so easily manipulated, that the police are not notified. The Con may have caused the Mark to believe that he/she was partipating in something illegal so they fail to notify the police for fear they will also be arrested.