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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spanish_prisoner.jpg]]
A ConMan identifies a potential mark--someone with wealth and naivete. The con man convinces the mark that he serves a dethroned princess who is being held prisoner in, say, Spain. If the mark can come up with just a few hundred dollars, then a guard can be bribed and the princess can flee to the US (where the mark lives) in eternal gratitude.
The mark can easily part with a few hundred, and so, though he is wary, he falls far enough for the con man's smooth line. A week goes by. Two. The mark has come to understand that he's been tricked, but before that last spark of hope can die, the con man reappears with a letter from Her Highness. She is free and in France. Now she needs a few thousand dollars for her final passage by sea, and the mark gladly shells it out.
Next, the princess might need money to bail out her mother and father, the ex-monarchs; then, she'll need to buy off a Spanish spy who has discovered her escape. The mark keeps paying for as long as the con artists can keep him fooled. The con man shows the mark photographs of the beautiful princess (who is really Dotty from the Nighthawk Diner in a ten-cent tiara). More players are brought in to act out additional roles, each earning part of the take.
Finally, the mark can be brushed off. One way to do this is for the princess to arrive, at last, on the mark's doorstep. The con man is there, too, but then the Spanish spy shows up and murders the con man. (It's an act, of course; the con man usually has a "cackle bladder" full of fake blood in his mouth, and he usually makes sure to get some of it on the mark's clothes as he falls.) The mark is terrified, and the princess runs to his side, kisses him tenderly, and tells him that she must go into exile or she will endanger his life as well as her own. And so, the mark never sees the princess again, and the con man, princess, and Spanish spy agent all split the take. In this way the Mark never realizes he was conned and doesn't go to the police. There are real-life examples of marks who discovered the con only when they were approached by the police and asked to testify.
That's the classic Spanish Prisoner. Today's updates are called Russian Bride and Save This Hooker.
It's one of TheOldestTricksInTheBook.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased developing countries dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''. Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
* Creator/DavidMamet's ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' includes a detailed explanation of this con, the purpose of which exposition is to [[KansasCityShuffle disguise the fact that it is not the con being performed]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail. Shadow remarks that his former cellmate claimed to have performed it himself. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence.]]
* An ''Series/InspectorMorse'' mystery centered around the Russian Bride version of this scam.
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', "The Stork Job" - the mark of the week is in with the Russian Mafia, and runs a version using Serbian war orphans where the prospective parents have to keep paying "overhead" costs. Sophie explicitly compares the scheme to the Spanish Prisoner.
* A ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' episode featured three millionaires (all suffering from a speech impediment that made them sound exactly like automated call generators) who actually ''were'' handing out ''massive'' yachts for just a small fee to people whose phone number had been selected at random. They just did ''not'' understand why everyone kept hanging up on them.
* ''Series/SneakyPete'': Lance pulls this con on the Murphys in the form of an investment opportunity. Marius identifies the con by name and predicts each subsequent step in Lance's plan based on the common structure of the con.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* ''Message No. 419'' by [=MC=] Frontalot is about the rapper receiving such an email scam, and then turning it around on the scammer.
[[/folder]]
----
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%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
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%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spanish_prisoner.jpg]]
A ConMan identifies a potential mark--someone with wealth and naivete. The con man convinces the mark that he serves a dethroned princess who is being held prisoner in, say, Spain. If the mark can come up with just a few hundred dollars, then a guard can be bribed and the princess can flee to the US (where the mark lives) in eternal gratitude.
The mark can easily part with a few hundred, and so, though he is wary, he falls far enough for the con man's smooth line. A week goes by. Two. The mark has come to understand that he's been tricked, but before that last spark of hope can die, the con man reappears with a letter from Her Highness. She is free and in France. Now she needs a few thousand dollars for her final passage by sea, and the mark gladly shells it out.
Next, the princess might need money to bail out her mother and father, the ex-monarchs; then, she'll need to buy off a Spanish spy who has discovered her escape. The mark keeps paying for as long as the con artists can keep him fooled. The con man shows the mark photographs of the beautiful princess (who is really Dotty from the Nighthawk Diner in a ten-cent tiara). More players are brought in to act out additional roles, each earning part of the take.
Finally, the mark can be brushed off. One way to do this is for the princess to arrive, at last, on the mark's doorstep. The con man is there, too, but then the Spanish spy shows up and murders the con man. (It's an act, of course; the con man usually has a "cackle bladder" full of fake blood in his mouth, and he usually makes sure to get some of it on the mark's clothes as he falls.) The mark is terrified, and the princess runs to his side, kisses him tenderly, and tells him that she must go into exile or she will endanger his life as well as her own. And so, the mark never sees the princess again, and the con man, princess, and Spanish spy agent all split the take. In this way the Mark never realizes he was conned and doesn't go to the police. There are real-life examples of marks who discovered the con only when they were approached by the police and asked to testify.
That's the classic Spanish Prisoner. Today's updates are called Russian Bride and Save This Hooker.
It's one of TheOldestTricksInTheBook.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased developing countries dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''. Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
* Creator/DavidMamet's ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' includes a detailed explanation of this con, the purpose of which exposition is to [[KansasCityShuffle disguise the fact that it is not the con being performed]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail. Shadow remarks that his former cellmate claimed to have performed it himself. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence.]]
* An ''Series/InspectorMorse'' mystery centered around the Russian Bride version of this scam.
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', "The Stork Job" - the mark of the week is in with the Russian Mafia, and runs a version using Serbian war orphans where the prospective parents have to keep paying "overhead" costs. Sophie explicitly compares the scheme to the Spanish Prisoner.
* A ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' episode featured three millionaires (all suffering from a speech impediment that made them sound exactly like automated call generators) who actually ''were'' handing out ''massive'' yachts for just a small fee to people whose phone number had been selected at random. They just did ''not'' understand why everyone kept hanging up on them.
* ''Series/SneakyPete'': Lance pulls this con on the Murphys in the form of an investment opportunity. Marius identifies the con by name and predicts each subsequent step in Lance's plan based on the common structure of the con.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* ''Message No. 419'' by [=MC=] Frontalot is about the rapper receiving such an email scam, and then turning it around on the scammer.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
%%
%%
%%
%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spanish_prisoner.jpg]]
A ConMan identifies a potential mark--someone with wealth and naivete. The con man convinces the mark that he serves a dethroned princess who is being held prisoner in, say, Spain. If the mark can come up with just a few hundred dollars, then a guard can be bribed and the princess can flee to the US (where the mark lives) in eternal gratitude.
The mark can easily part with a few hundred, and so, though he is wary, he falls far enough for the con man's smooth line. A week goes by. Two. The mark has come to understand that he's been tricked, but before that last spark of hope can die, the con man reappears with a letter from Her Highness. She is free and in France. Now she needs a few thousand dollars for her final passage by sea, and the mark gladly shells it out.
Next, the princess might need money to bail out her mother and father, the ex-monarchs; then, she'll need to buy off a Spanish spy who has discovered her escape. The mark keeps paying for as long as the con artists can keep him fooled. The con man shows the mark photographs of the beautiful princess (who is really Dotty from the Nighthawk Diner in a ten-cent tiara). More players are brought in to act out additional roles, each earning part of the take.
Finally, the mark can be brushed off. One way to do this is for the princess to arrive, at last, on the mark's doorstep. The con man is there, too, but then the Spanish spy shows up and murders the con man. (It's an act, of course; the con man usually has a "cackle bladder" full of fake blood in his mouth, and he usually makes sure to get some of it on the mark's clothes as he falls.) The mark is terrified, and the princess runs to his side, kisses him tenderly, and tells him that she must go into exile or she will endanger his life as well as her own. And so, the mark never sees the princess again, and the con man, princess, and Spanish spy agent all split the take. In this way the Mark never realizes he was conned and doesn't go to the police. There are real-life examples of marks who discovered the con only when they were approached by the police and asked to testify.
That's the classic Spanish Prisoner. Today's updates are called Russian Bride and Save This Hooker.
It's one of TheOldestTricksInTheBook.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased developing countries dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''. Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
* Creator/DavidMamet's ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' includes a detailed explanation of this con, the purpose of which exposition is to [[KansasCityShuffle disguise the fact that it is not the con being performed]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail. Shadow remarks that his former cellmate claimed to have performed it himself. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence.]]
* An ''Series/InspectorMorse'' mystery centered around the Russian Bride version of this scam.
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', "The Stork Job" - the mark of the week is in with the Russian Mafia, and runs a version using Serbian war orphans where the prospective parents have to keep paying "overhead" costs. Sophie explicitly compares the scheme to the Spanish Prisoner.
* A ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' episode featured three millionaires (all suffering from a speech impediment that made them sound exactly like automated call generators) who actually ''were'' handing out ''massive'' yachts for just a small fee to people whose phone number had been selected at random. They just did ''not'' understand why everyone kept hanging up on them.
* ''Series/SneakyPete'': Lance pulls this con on the Murphys in the form of an investment opportunity. Marius identifies the con by name and predicts each subsequent step in Lance's plan based on the common structure of the con.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* ''Message No. 419'' by [=MC=] Frontalot is about the rapper receiving such an email scam, and then turning it around on the scammer.
[[/folder]]
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spanish_prisoner.jpg]]
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%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
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%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
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* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
Deleted line(s) 23 (click to see context) :
* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
Deleted line(s) 27 (click to see context) :
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
Deleted line(s) 35,37 (click to see context) :
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out]].
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* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]].
to:
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]]. In this case, the prison was in Thailand rather than Spain, with [[spoiler:the marks being convinced that they needed to pay the gang £100 000 to bribe the Thai judiciary to release a certain prisoner; in the case of the main mark, she was told that the prison was the younger brother of a rich investor who controlled the family fortune. All four marks gave the money to an American ambassador, but were subsequently told that the ambassador had been arrested themselves for attempting to bribe a Thai official]].
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replacing that racist leftover word from old time when europe think they are the center of earth
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A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
to:
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World developing countries dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
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A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while {{Four One Nine Scam}}s are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
to:
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while {{Four One Nine Scam}}s 419 scams are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
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* ''Series/SneakyPete'': Lance pulls this con on the Murphys in the form of an investment opportunity. Marius identifies the con by name and predicts each subsequent step in Lance's plan based on the common structure of the con.
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* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansisCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
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* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy into the city in return for a healthy cut of the profits. However, the Bastards pull a KansisCityShuffle KansasCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the scheme in place.
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* ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
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* ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'' ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
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* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a large shipment of soon-to-be rare brandy standing in for the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
to:
* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a large shipment Lamora]]'', the Gentleman Bastards team of soon-to-be rare con artists pull this scam on a pair of nobles, claiming to need funds to import soon-to-be-priceless brandy standing into the city in return for a healthy cut of the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through profits. However, the con Bastards pull a KansisCityShuffle on their marks soon after putting the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move scheme in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.place.
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* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail.
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* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail. Shadow remarks that his former cellmate claimed to have performed it himself. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence.]]
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* An ''InspectorMorse'' mystery centered around the Russian Bride version of this scam.
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* An ''InspectorMorse'' ''Series/InspectorMorse'' mystery centered around the Russian Bride version of this scam.
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* In ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'', Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces our heroes to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
to:
* In ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'', Zanzibar]]'' has a simplified version of this con. Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces our heroes the VagabondBuddies to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
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* Cleverly, Creator/DavidMamet's ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' includes a detailed explanation of this con, the purpose of which exposition is to disguise the fact that it is not the con being performed.
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* Cleverly, Creator/DavidMamet's ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' includes a detailed explanation of this con, the purpose of which exposition is to [[KansasCityShuffle disguise the fact that it is not the con being performed.performed]].
* In ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'', Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces our heroes to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
* In ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Zanzibar]]'', Julia Quimby (Una Merkel) convinces our heroes to buy the lovely Donna Latour (Dorothy Lamour) from a local slave trader. The two girls split the proceeds afterwards.
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* In NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail.
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* In NeilGaiman's Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', Mr. Wednesday names this con as an old favorite of his, though he never describes it in detail.
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* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a large shipment of soon-to-be rare brandy standing in for the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
to:
* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a large shipment of soon-to-be rare brandy standing in for the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
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* ''{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]].
* ''BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
* ''BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
to:
* ''{{Hustle}}'' ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' - a few times over the course of the series, but most notably in season 7, they pulled this off comfortably against a new mark they'd not been expecting [[spoiler: AND against the other three marks they'd had on the hook at the beginning of the episode, but who had not since been mentioned, earning them a triumphant record of pulling off the Spanish Prisoner against more marks in one day than any other crew]].
*''BurnNotice'' ''Series/BurnNotice'' has one guy taken in by an interesting version of this particular con: he's convinced to invest in a new club in Cuba (highly illegal for US residents), necessitating a cash-only transaction. He's convinced by profits shown from an earlier investment (actually a Ponzi Scheme) and just when he's called to meet with the investor to discuss profits, the FBI conducts a sting operation, hustling him out the back door while they arrest the investor. Of course, the "FBI" was in on the plot, so he asks Michael to step in and get his money back (lest he incur the wrath of the loan sharks he got the money from in the first place), so Michael pulls a more complicated version of the same scheme on the con man.
*
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* A ''ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' episode featured three millionaires (all suffering from a speech impediment that made them sound exactly like automated call generators) who actually ''were'' handing out ''massive'' yachts for just a small fee to people whose phone number had been selected at random. They just did ''not'' understand why everyone kept hanging up on them.
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* A ''ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' episode featured three millionaires (all suffering from a speech impediment that made them sound exactly like automated call generators) who actually ''were'' handing out ''massive'' yachts for just a small fee to people whose phone number had been selected at random. They just did ''not'' understand why everyone kept hanging up on them.
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It's one of {{the oldest tricks in the book}}.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "[[FourOneNineScam 419 scam]]" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while [[FourOneNineScam Four One Nine Scams]] are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the "[[FourOneNineScam 419 scam]]" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while [[FourOneNineScam Four One Nine Scams]] are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
to:
It's one of {{the oldest tricks in the book}}.
TheOldestTricksInTheBook.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the"[[FourOneNineScam 419 scam]]" "FourOneNineScam" (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian banking code, where some of these scams originate), in which the "prisoner" is replaced by a relative of some recently deceased Third World dictator, who asks the potential mark to help him smuggle and/or launder stolen UN aid money. Or get bank boxes out of a third country. Or steal the ill-gotten windfall profit of an over-invoiced oil contract. If you're reading this, you've probably received spam about it yourself. The total amount of over-invoiced oil on all of these supposed "lucrative" contracts probably exceeds the output of Saudi Arabia for ten years. While the two tropes are similar, in works the Spanish Prisoner scam is much more likely to drive the whole plot, while [[FourOneNineScam Four {{Four One Nine Scams]] Scam}}s are often used as a bit of characterization or as a joke.
A variant frequently encountered on the Internet these days is the
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[[folder: Film ]]
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[[folder: Literature ]]
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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
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* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out.]]
to:
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out.]]
out]].
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[[folder: Music]]
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* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a minor noble House infamous for its brandy standing in for the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
to:
* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a minor noble House infamous for its large shipment of soon-to-be rare brandy standing in for the prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
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The mark can easily part with a few hundred, and so, though he is wary, he falls far enough for the con man's smooth line. A week goes by. Two. The mark has come to understand that he's been tricked, but before that last spark of hope can die, the con man reappears with a letter from Her Majesty. She is free and in France. Now she needs a few thousand dollars for her final passage by sea, and the mark gladly shells it out.
to:
The mark can easily part with a few hundred, and so, though he is wary, he falls far enough for the con man's smooth line. A week goes by. Two. The mark has come to understand that he's been tricked, but before that last spark of hope can die, the con man reappears with a letter from Her Majesty.Highness. She is free and in France. Now she needs a few thousand dollars for her final passage by sea, and the mark gladly shells it out.
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* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has Abed's internet friend Toby, a banker in Nigeria experiencing financial difficulties and requiring Abed to send him $700 to enable him to fly out of the country to meet him. After Abed explains this, Britta is just about to explain that Abed has fallen for one of these... when [[SubvertedTrope Toby shows up, thanks Abed, pays him back the $700 and complains how Abed was the only one to actually help him out.]]
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* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''.
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
to:
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''.
**''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''. Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
**
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* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a minor noble House infamous for its brandy standing in for the prisoner.
** The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]]
** That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
** The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]]
** That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
to:
* A particularly stellar Renaissance-esque example appears in ''[[GentlemanBastard The Lies Of Locke Lamora]]'' by Scott Lynch, with a minor noble House infamous for its brandy standing in for the prisoner.
**prisoner. The big, wonderful twist? [[spoiler:Halfway through the con the con men dress up as secret agents for the government, explain that the brandy merchant is a notorious con man and ''advise the mark to continue to give them money while the authorities move in to catch them''. Naturally they advise the mark to tell no one about this, lest the "con men" suspect something and run.]]
**]] That twist is a variation on a common scam. Once you have figured out that you can take the mark once, send in accomplices who let the mark think they are getting the con men arrested.
**
**
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Changed line(s) 22,23 (click to see context) from:
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Michael Caine's character in ''DirtyRottenScoundrels''.
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Steve Martin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Steve Martin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
to:
* A variation of this scam is the main modus operandi of Michael Caine's Creator/MichaelCaine's character in ''DirtyRottenScoundrels''.
''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels''.
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). WhenSteve Martin Creator/SteveMartin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When
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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Steve Martin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely.
to:
** Michael Caine generally plays the Prince himself, and is in exile already (though in desperate needs of funds to finance LaResistance back home) when he meets the mark (usually an unsophisticated, rich, FEMALE, American tourist). When Steve Martin comes on as Caine's apprentice of sorts, Martin takes on the role of the Prince's "special" brother to drive the mark away of her own volition once the money has been obtained. Thus, any unseemly violence (fake though it would be) is avoided entirely. (Caine is almost caught in one scene in the movie where he is recognized by a former mark while working on another one, using another identity, and has to use some fast thinking to prevent ''both'' from getting suspicious.)
