which of the following are things a skilled cons...

A skilled con artist relies on a consistent set of psychological and social manipulation skills, rather than anything mystical or mysterious.

Core abilities of a skilled con artist

• Persuasive communication: Fluent, confident talk, quick improvisation, and the ability to spin believable stories that adapt to the target’s reactions.

• Reading people: Noticing emotions, insecurities, and desires, then tailoring the pitch to what the victim wants to hear (money, status, romance, “inside” access, etc.).

• Building rapid trust: Using charm, flattery, mirroring body language, and shared “similarities” to create a fast sense of connection and safety.

• Emotional manipulation: Triggering strong feelings like greed, fear, urgency, guilt, or loneliness to override the victim’s critical thinking.

• Storytelling and consistency: Constructing a narrative with enough detail to feel real, and keeping that story mostly consistent across interactions so it seems authentic.

• Exploiting social norms: Taking advantage of politeness, respect for authority, fear of conflict, and the reluctance to call someone a liar.

• Risk calibration: Knowing how far to push without scaring the target away, and when to walk away to avoid exposure.

An example: a romance scammer may quickly mirror a target’s interests, share a “tragic backstory,” and then introduce a sudden emergency that requires money, all while showering the victim with attention so they feel special and pressured to help.

Things not required

• High intelligence or formal education: Many cons rely more on nerve, practice, and opportunity than on genius-level IQ. Victims are often scammed because of context and emotion, not lack of intelligence.

• Deep technical skills: Outside of online fraud, a lot of cons are low-tech and depend on face-to-face persuasion rather than hacking or sophisticated tools.

So if you’re looking at a list of options, the “skilled con artist” items are the ones about manipulating emotions, gaining trust quickly, telling convincing stories, and exploiting people’s needs or weaknesses, not things like formal qualifications or brute force.