Part 2/14:
The classic con, as detailed in David W. Maua's The Big Con from 1940, involves persuading honest people that they’re partaking in a shortcut or are smarter than others—targets often being fellow amateurs who lack the imagination or resources to pull off their own swindle.
One legendary scam was the "fight store," an underground boxing racket where everything—from fighters to bookies, even the audience—was staged. The con involved convincing a mark that he was betting on a fixed fight, only for the staged match to take a dramatic turn, resulting in chaos and fake chaos, all carefully orchestrated to extract money while maintaining the illusion of a legitimate betting venue.