Netflix recently released Tinder Swindler.
The concept is essentially a guy that’s been a conman since 17 formed a pyramid scheme swindling people he found off of Tinder.
He would convince them he was the heir to a diamond company and was being hunted, nearly killed.
Therefore, needed to borrow their cash or cards as he was being tracked by his enemies.
How did he do this?
It’s pretty simple, rather formulaic.
1) The Eiffle Tower lie.
2) The law of reciprocity.
3) Social proof.
4) Urgency.
I learned of the concept of an Eiffle Tower lie from Alex Becker.
Essentially, what it is is creating such a big lie that it becomes believable.
You can either create a small lie, and it’s believable.
But if you stretch that lie, it becomes unbelievable.
Unless, of course, you stretch it far enough it becomes:
“Why would he lie about something like that?”
There was a well-known guru that claimed he had founded a social media company in Dubai and sold it for like 100 million dollars.
He was surrounded by wealthy people and seemed to talk to the talk.
So everyone believed him.
Turned out, his only business, ever, was selling a mastermind for $50k a pop.
(He’s in jail in Dubai now for running a crypto scam.)
Now for the law of reciprocity.
It’s one of the most fundamental aspects of running a business.
If you give someone something, they feel inclined to return the favor, generally.
Hince, a lead magnet.
In this case, he would do things like fly them out on private jets, buy fancy dinner, and so on.
All paid for by other victims, since it was a pyramid scheme.
Which, also goes on to prove social proof.
He would surround himself with his “team”, such as a bodyguard that was likely in on it too.
If you’re going to fancy places, seeing members of this billionaires team, flying on private jets, you’re going to feel inclined to believe the story as you’ve seen proof.
Finally, urgency.
The way he presented it was that he needed cash now in order to escape otherwise he was going to die.
He had already established social proof, a strong lie, and reciprocity.
Now he needed cash now before his enemies killed him by tracking his card.
They thought:
“He’s already spent so much money on me, I’ve already seen his life.”
“Why couldn’t he pay it back?”
“Plus, he needs it now!”
So they simply gave him money.
Right then, because they had to, now.
The entire scam is really as simple as that.
3/4 of the techniques he used are frequently used in about every business, ever.
Persuasion fundamentally transfers over to all aspects of life.
He just crafted a compelling story and sold it in an unethical way.
Oh, and by the way, he’s a guru now selling info products.
The root of all the money he made comes from that compelling story, though.
Now, I’m not gonna help you make a pyramid scheme by swindling girls off of Tinder.
But, if you have an offer you’re looking to scale…
My forte is creating compelling conversational, story-driven copy that sells.
Talk soon,
Colton
This blog post was originally part of an email newsletter I used to send out.
That list has since then been inactive due to me being busy with client work, but I plan on starting back up a newsletter here soon.