Anatomy of a con artist The 14 red flags to spot scammers, grifters, and thieves

Several years ago, television producer Johnathan Walton was defrauded out of nearly $100,000 by a professional con artist. Walton brought his own con artist to justice (she went to prison), and made a podcast about it: "Queen of the Con: The Irish Heiress." Now, in this instructive book, he takes the reader through what he has identified, after years of digging into similar cases, as the "red flags" that identify someone as a con artist. For example: Be suspicious of a new acquaintance who offers to help you with a financial or personal problem. And if your new friend asks you to send them money via bank wire, don't (only con artists like to use wire transfers). The author also offers plenty of tips to avoid getting scammed: there are, for example, several inexpensive and effective ways to run background checks on your new friend. This is no generic guide written by someone who did a little research; this is a comprehensive, passionate, incredibly detailed book written by someone who has been through it himself. For fans of crime nonfiction--indeed for anyone who wants to be prepared for any eventuality--it's a must-read.

Reality TV producer Walton recounts his experience of being scammed and offers advice on avoiding the same fate in this curious blend of memoir and self-help. In 2013, while campaigning to save his apartment building's pool, Walton received an email from a stranger offering to help. Calling herself Mair Smyth, she proceeded to become Walton's best friend over the next four years, feeding him a bogus story about her Irish ancestry, lavish inheritance, and married lover (whom it turned out she was also scamming). Meanwhile, she borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from Walton, convincing him that her family had frozen her inheritance and she would pay him back--though she never did. Acknowledging how improbable the situation seems, Walton candidly illustrates how he fell for every ruse and serves up useful advice for spotting the grandiosity of scammers. Some of the prose has the ring of a TED talk ("Remember, at that point in my life, I thought professional con artists were only something you'd see in movies"), but Walton's story is undeniably fascinating. There's enough here to entice true crime fans. Agent: Jenna Land Free, Folio Literary. (Aug.)