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When writing her fantastic exploration into the psychology of con artistry, "The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It ... Every Time," Maria Konnikova stopped meeting with the thieves, imposters, and in some cases, psychopaths she was writing about.
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"They are really good; they are really charismatic. Even if you know they’re bad people, you walk away thinking they’re good people," she tells Tech Insider. "And it’s really scary to see that happening — it’s not pleasant, because it really makes you realize that it’s just so easy for people to fall for their lines."
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But there are some con artists that Konnikova just couldn't turn down an opportunity to meet, were it still possible.
"I totally want to meet Demara," she says, referring to Ferdinand Waldo Demara, a character she follows throughout the book. "That guy was so good."
Keep scrolling to learn about the man who may have been the most successful con artist in history.
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The poster for a 1961 film based on Demara's exploits says it all.
“His face was on the cover of magazines and he was on TV; he still got away with it,” Konnikova says. Here he is, featured in Life Magazine.
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He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on December 12, 1921.
"His first con was tiny," says Konnikova. "He conned a chocolate shop in his hometown into giving chocolates to his entire class when he had no money to pay for them."
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"That’s no big deal, but after that there was no turning back," she says.
Demara got what he wanted — and it was a thrill.
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Next up he joined a monastary — pretending to be a monk was something he returned to time and again throughout life. At one point he even helped found a religious college.
He taught psychology at Gannon College in Pennsylvania (under a false name, without a degree).
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And studied law under a fake name at Northeastern University.
Perhaps most notorious was his stint aboard a Canadian naval vessel during the Korean War.
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He’d stolen the identity of Dr. Joseph Cyr, who knew him as “Brother John Payne of the Brothers of Christian Instruction.”
And became the shipboard surgeon aboard the HMS Cayuga.
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His only knowledge came from a text he’d convinced another doctor to write — for the troops, in case there was no doctor around.
At one point, he conducted surgeries on 19 rescued Korean soldiers, who were full of bullets and shrapnel.
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The brave and generous surgeon’s fame spread — all the way back to the real Dr. Joseph Cyr.
But even after Demara was found out, the Canadian Navy didn’t press charges.
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And Demara continued his run, eventually becoming a warden in a Texas prison.
He was ousted after showing a magazine story about himself to a prisoner.
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According to Konnikova's book, he convinced his biographer — who named him "The Great Imposter" — to give him money to support him in his efforts to "go straight" time and time again.
Eventually he returned to his religious-impersonation roots, operating as a chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital of Orange County in Anaheim, California, but he was too famous to keep the deception going for long.
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They let him stay on though, and he died there in 1982.
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