Applied Knowledge

Applied Knowledge

Share this post

Applied Knowledge
Applied Knowledge
How To See Through Fraudsters
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

How To See Through Fraudsters

Not everyone can run a controlled experiment to bust a fraudster. Instead, there are a few ways that anyone can see through a con out in the wild.

Christopher Gerlacher's avatar
Christopher Gerlacher
May 02, 2024
∙ Paid
1

Share this post

Applied Knowledge
Applied Knowledge
How To See Through Fraudsters
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
1
Share
blue spiral staircase
Fraudsters have many tricks to confuse followers, but investigators have a few tricks of their own. Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

James Randi has performed as a magician and debunked fraudsters all over the world. Not everyone can travel to Peru to debunk an author’s alien invasion claims. However, everyone can draw from Randi’s experience to see through fraudsters they may encounter in the wild.

Flim-Flam! is a collection of Randi’s experiences throughout his debunking career. The subjects may change. He’s debunked claims of levitation and exposed people who fake ghost appearances by cleverly shaking tables in the dark.

Observing fraudsters and their fans can weed out most of the obvious and some of the subtle cons. A glance at numbers, conditions, and predictive ability are often all it takes to write a fraud off, even if they’re popular.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Applied Knowledge to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Christopher Gerlacher
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More