Anatomy of a Con Artist

The Art of the Con

Johnathan Walton is the co-creator, host, writer, and executive producer of the Queen of the Con podcast, and an Emmy-winning TV reporter and producer. His book stems from a terrible experience: he lost his life’s savings to a con artist who called herself Mair Smyth. She claimed she was on the verge of inheriting millions, and Walton lent her money to tide her over until her inheritance – which was imaginary, unbeknownst to him – came through. He lost $100,000.

We are all operating on this false belief that con artists aren’t people in our lives right now — people that we know. Johnathan Walton

Having since become an expert on con artists, Walton explains that they spin stories and create personas to engage a victim’s heart. They want their victim to make irrational decisions. A con artist’s backstory is crafted to captivate you while earning your empathy and engineering your emotions until you consider him or her a close friend.