How are bank examiner and pigeon-drop cons run?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The pigeon drop is run in many variations; commonly, two cons operate it. The first one strikes up a conversation with the mark on a street filled with shops or at a mall. The job of the first con is to make a "quick connection" with the mark and gain his/her confidence; they talk about the mark's family or whatever is comfortable. The second con approaches with a story of having just found an envelope filled with a lot of money and asks them if it belongs to them. When the envelope is opened, there will be some paperwork suggesting that it came from drug sales or other illegal activity. After asking the first con and the mark what should be done with the money, the mark is lead to the conclusion that all three should share it. Because there is no identification in the envelope, the money cannot be returned, and there is no real harm because the person who lost the money is dishonest. The two cons, quickly joined by the mark, talk about all the things they could do with the money. One of the cons calls his/her employer, who is an "attorney." The attorney advises that the money be put in "his firm's" trust account while a due diligence search is made to find the owner of the lost money. Additionally, the mark and the two cons are to provide a sum of money, as a show of good faith until the found money can be distributed, which will also be placed in the mythical trust account. After the mark withdraws his good faith money, the lawyer may take the group to lunch and take control of all of the money. The victim-the pigeon-has thus lost all the money he withdrew from the bank.
The bank examiner con often begins with a call to the mark's home in which the caller identifies himself as a bank examiner who relates there is some apparent wrongdoing at the bank, and the assistance of the mark is solicited in finding out who it is. The mark is asked to withdraw some money from his/her account and then to meet the examiner at a nearby location. The bank examiner may be accompanied by "Sgt. Jones," who flashes a badge and praises the mark for his help. The bank examiner gives the mark a counterfeit cashier's check to replace the funds withdrawn but asks him/her not to deposit it for the week it takes to complete the investigation. By then, the scam has been run several times in that community, and the con men are long gone before the mark finds out that the check is bogus.
Pigeon-drop and bank examiner frauds are often started via the Internet. Unsolicited emails and other communications are transacted between the victim and the con through email as well as the telephone. Clearly, the ubiquitous nature of the Internet has aided in new and various forms of scams that will undoubtedly continue to evolve over the years.