"You cannot scam an honest man!" How many times have we all heard that? Aside from being one of the most asinine statements I ever heard in my life, it is irresponsible. If taken to be true, it serves to assure the honest man that he can not be defrauded.

The word "affinity" connotes attraction, similarity, connection and relationship. Affinity Fraud is an insidious crime that honest people are particularly susceptible to.

Personally, lecturers and experts who seek to define and model their subject by declaring that, "There are three rules . . ," "The five governing principles are . . .," yadda, yadda, yadda, make me tired. Nevertheless, I find myself saying that all "crimes of persuasion" are based upon three fundamental elements.

First, the victim must have something the fraudman wants; there can be no swindle in the absence of value. Second, the fraudman induces the victim to trust; the mechanism of the fraud is a voluntary relinquishment - the word "voluntary" being used as a layman would use it. Third, the fraudman betrays the victim's trust, deliberately and by design.

The word "con" is derived of "confidence," con artists are confidence men why ply their trade by inducing trust. Simply stated, affinity fraud is a confidence game where the "trust" is pre-existing.

For example, Lazaro Rodriguez, the Principal of Texas Club Investment Associates, was a con artist in Miami, a city with no shortage of scams. Being Hispanic, he preyed upon other Hispanics, "trust me hermano, have I got a deal for you." The Hispanic community believed they could trust him and they invested in non-existent "Texas oil wells." It was a Ponzi scam that netted about $2M, Rodriguez was convicted and sentenced to serve five years.

Religious organizations are also a common target. In the case of Greater Ministries International Church (GMI), they bilked fundamentalist Christians out of half a billion dollars. The promoters piously quoted scripture in support of their schemes. The faithful were told, "Give, and it shall be given unto you." Luke 6:38

Ronald Randolph, an African-American Baptist minister from Texas targeted black Baptists and defrauded them of about $4M. He persuaded them to invest in International Polymers Works and promised them extraordinary returns.

Pentecostal church member Robert Fain targeted the congregation of the Assembly of God Church in Ogden, Utah and persuaded them to invest in his company, Making Good Choices, Inc. His "take" was relatively small at $200K; since it ultimately cost him 15 years in the Utah State Penitentiary, he may have questioned the wisdom of his "good choices."

Bill Bresnahan's sorry little scam probably profited the least of any of these people I could name, but he places especially low on my list. Bresnahan was a retired policeman who "testified" before his congregation about his mission in Manhattan - feeling the call of the Lord in the aftermath of 9/11, our hero valiantly fought death, pulled bodies from the rubble and prayed with survivors. His testimony netted him a $3200 collection - and cost him whatever reputation that his law enforcement career might have merited.

Whether it's a "single mom" pitching some advance fee scheme as a way for other single moms to work from home, a Christian preying upon the faithful, or a minority preying upon his minority group, it is referred to as an Affinity Fraud - the nature of the scam itself is irrelevant. The term, "Affinity Fraud," describes any fraudulent scheme where the perpetrator capitalizes upon a group to which he belongs, a common or cultural shared affinity, and preys upon that relationship.

To quote Claude Louis Hector, "Protect me from my friends, against my enemies I can defend myself."

I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.