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(By Dr. Joseph W. Koletar<\/a>) While there are hundreds of dishonest ways one person can take money from another person they fall into three basic categories. In reverse order of frequency they are:<\/p>\n \u2022 Force, or Threat of Force (We call these Armed Robbery, Extortion, and Kidnapping);<\/p>\n \u2022 Stealth (We call these Auto Theft, Burglary, and Shoplifting);<\/p>\n \u2022 Trust.<\/p>\n Although there are hundreds of variations, all frauds are a violation of trust. There is a term in our lexicon called \u201cCon Man.\u201d \u201cCon\u201d stands for \u201cConfidence.\u201d If I can gain your trust, you have confidence in me. That is when you become vulnerable.<\/p>\n How do we protect ourselves against such risks?<\/p>\n \u2022 With regard to Force<\/strong>, we avoid risky areas and dicey people.<\/p>\n \u2022 With regard to Stealth<\/strong>, we lock our doors, use alarms, and keep an eye on shady customers.<\/p>\n \u2022 With regard to Trust<\/strong>, we must learn to be discerning, because trust is ubiquitous. We can not function as individuals or societies without relying on a high degree of trust. We must assume teachers have the best interests of our children at heart; we must assume medical personnel are competent; we must assume engineers have designed our homes, cars, bridges, and airplanes correctly; and we must assume our police are honest and our elected officials are prudent.<\/p>\n This is fine, but common sense and experience tell us that such trust is often violated in ways great and small. Some teachers are pedophiles; some medical personnel are incompetent or dishonest; some contractors cut corners and some car maker\u2019s fake emission standards; some police are brutal or corrupt; and some elected officials leave a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n Do we hide under our beds, and trust no one? Impossible. Poor construction could still cause the house to fall in on you.<\/p>\n These are issues both complex and vexing.<\/p>\n Such issues are the reason the Behavioral Forensics Group<\/em> (BFG) was created. It is a group of five well-educated, experienced professionals who approach such issues from a variety of perspectives. Each perspective is valuable, but combined they bring a more comprehensive approach to complex issues, such as our need and tendency to \u201ctrust.\u201d Their expertise ranges from psychiatry to psychology, from law to executive management, to law enforcement, accounting, auditing, and corporate governance.<\/p>\n