How the daft were easily duped by professional swindlers

 The playbook of professional swindlers to cheat the daft but greedy victim is very simple. One of the swindlers will eye a potential victim and create opportunity to get close to him. Once he has gained the trust of the victim, he would suggest to the potential target 'A' on a scheme to cheat another 'victim' if the two would cooperate and work together. The daft victim 'A' would think it is a good idea, two working together to swindle another victim without knowing that he is the real target of the scam. Usually it would end up in a card game or an investment scheme. 

The real victim 'A' would be asked to put in a sum of money as a bait. The swindler, now his friend and partner, would also put in the same amount, to give confidence to the victim 'A', that all would be recoup once the fake victim took the bait. It will be a sure win proposition. Victim 'A' will easily part with his cash with the thought of making a pile. Once the money is paid, the swindler, ie his partner and the fake victim will all disappeared. Only then would daft victim 'A' realised he has been the main target from the start of the scam. But it is too late. Money already gone.

Let me elaborate with an illustration. Say Mr Yin and Mr Thia were the swindlers and they identified Mr Sia as the potential target to be swindled. So they will cook up an investment scheme to lure Mr Sia into the trap. But Mr Sia is a very careful man and will not easily part with his money. They studied Mr Sia and know Mr Sia's modus operandi. Mr Sia, being a very careful man, though not very smart, will not invest directly in any project. He would always look for a big and reliable investor to be a partner, thinking and assuming that the big investor will do his homework and will not be cheated. This is the catch. Mr Sia will never believe that a big investor will be a partner in a scam to cheat him.

Mr Yin picked Mr Thia exactly for this purpose. Mr Thia meets the requirements of Mr Sia, a big investor, presumably reliable, smart and can be trusted and will only make good investment. Mr Sia only needs to hang on to the tail coat of Mr Thia, without having to do the homework himself. 

So Mr Yin created an opportunity for Mr Thia to get to know Mr Sia and once the contact is made it would just go on as planned. Mr Thia would propose to Mr Sia to invest in Mr Yin's company, looking good from outside but rotten inside, but playing on its huge potential in the future. When Mr Thia said he is going to put in a big sum of money to invest in Mr Yin's company, and showing his research material, Mr Yin would be easily convinced. Wow, Mr Thia has been working hard on it, must be safe if Mr Thia said it is safe.

And the rest is history. Mr Sia's money would be in Mr Yin and Mr Thia's pocket in no time without Mr Sia knowing what is happening and still placing all hope that Mr Thia would not be wrong, would not cheat him. The Yin Thia swindling scam is a formidable partnership and daft Mr Sia, no matter how careful he is, would easily fall into the trap.  What Mr Sia lost will be divided between Mr Yin and Mr Thia behind closed door and Mr Sia is no wiser.

This is only a hypothetical situation to illustrate how a daft can be easily swindled while thinking he is going to make a pile in the process. The future is so good, if not 10 years, maybe 20 years, maybe 50 year, maybe 100 years. As long as Mr Thia is still in, presumably his money is in, it will be ok.