Con Man's Blog, by Legal Thriller Author Jack Payne, Tracks and Exposes New Scams

No one wants to be the victim of a con man. And no one knows the con man's methods better than Jack Payne, author of the legal thriller Six Hours Past Thursday (ISBN 1-59113-502-8, Impact Books, http://www.sixhrs.com/). Now through his Con Man's Blog (http://legalthriller.blogspot.com/), Payne is helping readers protect their money - and ultimately their sense of security - from scam artists.

"It's all about educating yourself," Payne explained. "A con man can't pull a scam on a person who checks him out. The Internet and e-mail have given rise to a new breed of con man, but they're also the two most effective weapons in the war against those same scam artists. If you think something doesn't seem quite right, it usually takes just a few minutes of research online to confirm your suspicions."

The Con Man's Blog can be a good starting point for that research. Payne, who has spent 45 years studying scam artists, keeps readers abreast of the latest cons, scams and dirty deals and frequently answers questions through his blog's comments feature.

With Six Hours Past Thursday, Payne wrote the book on the art of the barely legal con game. In that legal thriller, he drew on his extensive knowledge of the con man as well as on his decades of business experience. The same is true at Con Man's Blog, where at http://legalthriller.blogspot.com/, Payne outs all the shady business opportunities, ultra-low-cost vacation deals and other too-good-to-be-true come-ons he finds.

"The public needs to know about the classic scams that are still being used, as well as the brand-new cons that put personal information - and bank accounts - in jeopardy," said Payne. "At The Con Man's Blog, I frequently write about the con man's favored techniques from the perspective of the scammer. I think it's important for my readers to know how con men think, because that provides the insight they need to steer clear of people who would otherwise view them as nothing more than a mark."

Payne maintains that until countries worldwide take the necessary steps to prosecute con men, scams will continue to proliferate on the Internet. But thanks to The Con Man's Blog, their pool of potential victims is shrinking.