What phrase?

"You can't con an honest man"

Drives me batshit, that expression does. The only way to make it true is to define "con" as what you do to dishonest people which is, well, cheating. Or to make it a rule, as in "Don't con honest men".

Hustle says it, but Hustle has also had episodes where they've mistakenly cheated an honest person out of money by lying about the profit said person will realise (the fact that the person is actually honest drives some of the episode's plot--they have to give the money back) as a result of their investment.

Oh, my, Breaking Bad. I don't even know what to say.

"You can't con an honest man"

I think it means - supposedly - that only a dishonest person would be trying to get rich quick, and thus be vulnerable to the con.

I disagree, though. I think an honest person tends to believe other people are also honest (until he's been burned enough times, anyway), and is vulnerable to a con because he's too trusting.

that only a dishonest person would be trying to get rich quick

And since everyone knows that's complete bullshit, why does it keep being said? No, sir, I feel I should work harder for this money--I don't deserve it...

Now, many cons involve doing something shady, and that I get--but the Nigerian email scam doesn't require you to be dishonest, just stupid. Which is still legal in most states.

You can scam people by actually appealing to their softer side.

And since everyone knows that's complete bullshit, why does it keep being said?

I dunno. I guess people want to believe that because they are virtuous, nothing bad will happen to them.

I think it means that a con only works if people want the shortcut that it promises...if you don't want something for nothing at some level, you won't buy in.

Well, and in the context of a show like Hustle, they want us to believe that so we can root for the protagonists. But it's patently untrue, and we have to be content rooting for bad guys or acknowledge the basic complexity of humankind, which is probably too much for an elevator pitch.

Oh, my, Breaking Bad. I don't even know what to say

Ditto. This show leaves me speechless every week.

eta: I like how Jesse has become the conscience of the trio. Walter didn't even appear to react.

Yeah, but even the "short cut" justification is not true. For example, one con is to sell what is supposedly an operating business for $25,000 to someone who is unemployed and trying to "buy" a job. Trying to start a business to get work is something legitimate to do, if the odds are against you. And normally if you are experienced enough you might know that $25,000 is too little for most ongoing profitable businesses. But if you don't know that you are not "taking a short cut". You just have not done due diligence, maybe because your background is such that you think you are doing due diligence but really don't know how to. So that is not "dishonest". That is just naive and lacking knowledge. And that applies to a whole range of scams that look like legit investments. Which I could argue applies to most of our financial system. If you have a 401 K generally your choice of investments is limited by your employer. If all of them are really scams, does that make you someone who is "taking a short cut"?

Anther example: people who donated to help "bat boy". That was extremely naive, but based on kindness, not any kind of dishonesty or seeking short cuts. Actually that applies to all scam charities of which there are plenty.

I'm with ita ! on hating that phrase. It is just a rationalization con artists use to justify what they do, victim-blaming. At one point it was pretty standard for con artists to refer to their victims as "mooches". Projection much?

Oh and that truffle link upthread. I think this is the best indignant comment on the subject ever:

You can’t even “trip” off these things. I am not spending $300K to not even crack through the universe and float around like there’s no…ground…