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Scamming the Bereaved
- 63 statements
- 11 feature instances
- 7 referencing feature instances
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Scamming the Bereaved | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved | comment |
This is a con that is executed by the Hustler looking up recent obituaries and contacting the bereaved to complete a purchase allegedly begun by the dearly departed. The dead person put down a deposit (it says here), which is offered as a refund, to have something personalized for the bereaved. All the bereaved has to do is come up with the remaining 80 percent of the purchase price... which is many times the usual purchase price of the item. | |
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Dropped link to DisabilityAlibi: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_1af0da65 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_1af0da65 | comment |
The Tales of the Unexpected episode, "Clerical Error," is an adaptation of this short story. Interestingly, that anthology series was known for adapting stories by Roald Dahl, whose short story, "The Bookseller" is very similar to Cozzens' tale, even featuring a similar reason as to why the scam is found out. The similarities between Roald Dahl's "The Bookseller" and Cozzens' "Clerical Error," are discussed in The Pretender, by David Belbin. | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_261c8d3f | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_261c8d3f | comment |
The Simpsons: One of many scams attempted by Bart and Homer in the episode "The Great Money Caper", specifically aimed at Ned and involving a Bible which they claim Maude ordered shortly before she died. It doesn't work because Ned Flanders recognizes this plot from watching Paper Moon. | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_29516906 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_29516906 | comment |
In one episode of Dragnet, "The Big Betty", a group of criminals uses this con to sell cheap junk at high prices. | |
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| Dragnet (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Scamming the Bereaved / int_29516906 | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_2c96ae0e | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_2c96ae0e | comment |
Hustle: A young conman pulls this scam on a number of elderly widows, but when he makes the mistake of taking money from Danny's grandmother, he becomes the protagonists' latest mark. To add insult to injury, he leaves the widows a brick wrapped in paper rather than some cheap trinket that they could treat as a memento of their lost husband. The guy had no class whatsoever. Due to the style of storytelling, we never realize this until the end as we think that the mark is actually joining them. They themselves do a variation on this in which they read about a stolen painting and try and sell it to a third party. Unfortunately the third party is the original owner and they fail to realize that fact beforehand. He then takes Mickey hostage until they return the real painting. |
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| Hustle | hasFeature |
Scamming the Bereaved / int_2c96ae0e | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_420172c7 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_420172c7 | comment |
Reformed con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. has written several non-fiction books on scams. In The Art of the Steal, he demonstrates the dangers of trusting a man in a uniform by having a fictional widow, "Mrs. Clark," falls for this obituary con. | |
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| Catch Me If You Can | hasFeature |
Scamming the Bereaved / int_420172c7 | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_60381be1 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_60381be1 | comment |
It's possible this was the scam Big Dan Teague of O Brother, Where Art Thou? was pulling before he met up with the boys. It's unclear, though- he only describes himself as a bible salesman, "in the service of the Lord", and went on to tell about how there were vast amounts of money to be made. | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_671e11fa | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_671e11fa | comment |
In a storyline in Steve Canyon, a college student looking for a part-time job is recruited by a pair of con men running this scam, who plan to use him as a fall guy if they hit trouble. | |
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Scamming the Bereaved / int_671e11fa | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_731e8873 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_731e8873 | comment |
In Addie Pray (the novel from which Paper Moon was adapted), the main characters do this with bibles and pictures of the deceased. Addie mentions that even when they branched out into bigger and more lucrative cons, they kept a few bibles and picture frames in the trunk of the car because it was a fast and easy way to pick up a few dollars in an emergency. | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_731e8873 | featureApplicability |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_74ff22b1 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_74ff22b1 | comment |
In Matchstick Men: A Novel About Grifters with Issues, by Eric Garcia, Roy and Frankie pull many cons, including a version of this scam involving roofing. This short con is omitted from the film adaptation. | |
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| Scamming the Bereaved / int_b5b4b976 | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_b5b4b976 | comment |
A 1946 article in LIFE magazine claims that there was an increase in this type of con during World War II. Grifters would deliver packages to the families of servicemen and claim they had been ordered by the servicemen who were now in combat. Due to the lack of reliable communication between members of the armed forces and their families at the time, the servicemen didn't even have to be dead, only out of reach. The families would gladly pay any remaining amount necessary to get the packages they believed their relatives had ordered. Interestingly, the article states that another popular scam was the sale of "bullet-proof" Bibles which became popular after a story began circulating about a soldier who was saved when a Bible stopped a bullet from entering his body. | |
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| The Con | hasFeature |
Scamming the Bereaved / int_b5b4b976 | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_d4dcb50d | type |
Scamming the Bereaved | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_d4dcb50d | comment |
In Blonde Crazy (also known as Larceny Lane), a con artist makes good money with this scam and he encourages Bert to join him in his endeavors. Specifically, the con involves pretending husbands had ordered "good luck charms" before dying. When the C.O.D. packages arrive, the widows are more than willing to pay for these "valuable" mementos. | |
| Scamming the Bereaved / int_d4dcb50d | featureApplicability |
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