Badger game
The badger game is an extortion scheme or confidence trick in which the victims are tricked into compromising positions in order to make them vulnerable to blackmail. Its name is derived from the practice of badger-baiting.
The trick was particularly effective in the 19th and earlier 20th century when social attitudes toward adultery were much harsher. A famous person known to have fallen victim of the scheme was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, whose adulterous affair with Maria Reynolds was used by her husband to extort money and information from him.
The badger game has been featured as a plot device in numerous books, movies and television shows.
Description
In its simplest form, the badger game proceeds thus: a married man begins an extramarital affair. Another man, posing as the other woman's husband or brother, then "discovers" the affair; he then demands money from the man to keep the affair secret. Unknown to the man having the affair, both the woman and the man who demands the money had prearranged the situation and were conspiring against him.
The woman may also claim that the sexual encounter was non-consensual and threaten the victim with a rape or sexual harassment charge.
Variants of the trick involve luring the victim with the promise of a homosexual act, underage children, child pornography, a bizarre sexual fetish, or some other activity carrying a legal penalty and/or social stigma. In the most typical form of the trick, an attractive woman approaches a man, preferably a lonely married man of considerable financial means from out of town, and entices him to a private place with the intent of maneuvering him into a compromising position, usually sexual. Afterwards, an accomplice blackmails the victim with photographs or similar evidence.
Another form involves accusations of professional misconduct. In an example of this form of the trick, a "sick" woman visits a physician, describing symptoms that require her to disrobe for the examination, require the doctor to examine the genitals, or ensure similar scrutiny from the doctor. During the examination an "outraged husband" or "outraged father" enters the room and accuses the doctor of misconduct. The "sick" woman, who is of course part of the deception, takes the side of her accomplice and threatens the doctor with criminal charges or a lawsuit. This form of the badger game was first widely publicized in an article in the August 25, 1930 edition of Time magazine.[1]
Non-sexual versions of this trick also exist, particularly among ethnic and religious groups with strong social taboos, for example inducing a Mormon to gamble or drink alcohol in violation of his religious vows, and then demanding money to keep the indulgence secret and thus preserve his reputation.[2][3]
See also
- Clip joint
- Entrapment
- Hamilton–Reynolds affair
- "The Medicine Man"
- Romance scam
References
- v
- t
- e
confidence tricks
- 1992 Indian stock market scam
- 2G spectrum case
- Advance-fee scam
- Art student scam
- Badger game
- Bait-and-switch
- Black money scam
- Blessing scam
- Bogus escrow
- Boiler room
- Bride scam
- Charity fraud
- Clip joint
- Coin-matching game
- Coin rolling scams
- Drop swindle
- Embarrassing cheque
- Exit scam
- Extraterrestrial real estate
- Fiddle game
- Fine print
- Foreclosure rescue scheme
- Foreign exchange fraud
- Fortune telling fraud
- Gem scam
- Get-rich-quick scheme
- Green goods scam
- Hustling
- Indian coal allocation scam
- IRS impersonation scam
- Intellectual property scams
- Kansas City Shuffle
- Locksmith scam
- Long firm
- Miracle cars scam
- Mismarking
- Mock auction
- Moving scam
- Overpayment scam
- Patent safe
- Pig in a poke
- Pigeon drop
- Pork barrel
- Pump and dump
- Redemption/A4V schemes
- Reloading scam
- Return fraud
- Salting
- Shell game
- Sick baby hoax
- SIM swap scam
- Slavery reparations scam
- Spanish Prisoner
- SSA impersonation scam
- SSC Scam
- Strip search phone call scam
- Swampland in Florida
- Technical support scam
- Telemarketing fraud
- Thai tailor scam
- Thai zig zag scam
- Three-card monte
- Trojan horse
- White van speaker scam
- Work-at-home scheme
countermeasures
- Avalanche
- Carding
- Catfishing
- Click fraud
- Clickjacking
- Cramming
- Cryptocurrency scams
- Cybercrime
- CyberThrill
- DarkMarket
- Domain name scams
- Email authentication
- Email fraud
- Internet vigilantism
- Lenny anti-scam bot
- Lottery scam
- PayPai
- Phishing
- Referer spoofing
- Ripoff Report
- Rock Phish
- Romance scam
- Russian Business Network
- SaferNet
- Scam baiting
- 419eater.com
- Jim Browning
- Kitboga
- Scammer Payback
- ShadowCrew
- Spoofed URL
- Spoofing attack
- Stock Generation
- Voice phishing
- Website reputation ratings
Ponzi schemes
- Aman Futures Group
- Bernard Cornfeld
- Caritas
- Dona Branca
- Earl Jones
- Ezubao
- Foundation for New Era Philanthropy
- Franchise fraud
- High-yield investment program (HYIP)
- Investors Overseas Service
- Kapa investment scam
- Kubus scheme
- Madoff investment scandal
- Make Money Fast
- Matrix scheme
- MMM
- Petters Group Worldwide
- Pyramid schemes in Albania
- Reed Slatkin
- Saradha Group financial scandal
- Secret Sister
- Scott W. Rothstein
- Stanford Financial Group
- Welsh Thrasher faith scam