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Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of Our World Paperback – July 4, 2019

by Dan Davies (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 325 ratings
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Financial crime seems horribly complicated but there are only so many ways you can con someone out of what's theirs. In fact, there are four. A veteran regulatory economist and market analyst, Dan Davies has years of experience picking the bones out of some of the most famous frauds of the modern age. Now he reveals the big picture that emerges from their labyrinths of deceit.

Along the way you'll find out how to fake a gold mine with a wedding ring, a file and a shotgun. You'll see how close Charles Ponzi, the king of pyramid schemes, came to acquiring his own private navy. You'll learn how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy. And you'll discover whether you have what it takes to be a white-collar criminal mastermind, if that's what you want. (Which you don't. You really, really don't.)

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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Profile Books
  4. Publication date
    July 4, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1781259666
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1781259665
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Profile Books (July 4, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1781259666
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1781259665
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 325 ratings

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Dan Davies

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
325 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best business book I have ever read
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021
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I have read hundreds of books on business and finance, often the most interesting lessons are in failures. This might be on of the best I have ever read. The author is quite correct that fraud can teach a lot about business - some amazing stories that convey real insights into how businesses operate, beyond just the mechanics of fraud. The author is both highly knowledgable and extremely entertaining. I have recommended this book to almost everyone I know who has an interest in how business works.
5 people found this helpful
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Jonathan Soyt
4.0 out of 5 stars amusing, insightful, but a bit long
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2022
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I was looking forward to reading this book after it had been cited by Matt Levine. It has three or four core themes, and many anecdotes. I enjoyed both the themes and the anecdotes and felt that it was an enjoyable and insightful read, but could have been edited down to a few long essays.

The author also has a great facility with language, and I smiled at several of his turns of phrase.
One person found this helpful
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Michael T. Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most entertaining finance books ever
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2023
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Davies provides a front-row seat to some of the most audacious (and ill-fated) schemes in history, all the while refining a theory of fraud and chicanery that informs and illuminates. Plus, he’s a cracking good writer and incredibly funny, which is a rare treat for a business book.
One person found this helpful
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Jon Lee
3.0 out of 5 stars started off great but got super repetitive and boring
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2023
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This book had me itching to buy it from the free sample.

The first few hours were great, long firms and counterfeiting.

Then he just kept going…

As with most business books which have a page count this book is like 100 pages too long and has wayyyyy to much boring history and not enough detail on the psychology and mechanisms of fraud.

Really wanted to love it but I had to force myself to hole up in a a coffee shop and get through the last 130 pages.

Wad not a fun read, nor was there much I’ll take away.

3 stars might be too high
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, albeit at times disjointed
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2023
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I was debating if to give four stars, the book definitely has flaws. Just look at some of the negative reviews and it matches up. I will say this, before giving up on the book before you reach the end, at the very least read the last chapter. It's really good.

Overall, tons of great info and food for thought on frauds and how they happen. It's part of our life and it will be, you like it or not. It's just good to know how the big ones occur and be less susceptible to them when your turn to be defrauded comes around.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging survey of fraud and its different types. Very informative and original.
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2022
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Part of what kept my interest in this book, is that Dan Davies has clearly thought a lot about this subject. So, no better way to learn about something than to be led through it by someone who is truly fascinated by it themselves!
By the end of the book, I felt I had learned enough about fraudsters that I would be able to smell them a mile away.

At the very least, I am better prepared to detect the rotters than before I ever read the book.

If you have an interest in the nexus of greed, opportunity and humanities willingness to take risks in spite of all common sense, then you will enjoy this book and you will come away smarter for having read it.
4 people found this helpful
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Philo
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem (standing out among the dozen or more titles I've read)
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2018
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"It is highly unlikely that the optimal level of fraud is zero." (Pg. 227.)
How have I managed to read so many books on fraud without finding this level of economic sophistication and overview? A great many fraud books are like laundry lists, being aside from their catchy anecdotes, pretty arid of any deeper insights.
A few quick quotes show a theme, if seemingly dry: " ...when something keeps happening in different times and places, it's likely to be an equilibrium phenomenon linked to the deep underlying economic structure." (Pg. 157.) The event described "happens so often and reproduces itself so exactly that it's got to reflect a fairly deep and ubiquitous incentive problem which will be very difficult to remove." The standout feature of this book is wrapping this into many colorful and plainly-spoken story examples, which never bog down. The author shows a gift for compactly describing in plain terms what really is going on in each story. There is a free-ranging tour from the East End London of the Kray brothers to the Fortune 100 miscreants of recent decades, and I always enjoy each well-paced story alongside the deeper patterns and principles being shown. It is not the most technically dense or rigorous work I've seen, but I can't think of a better overview, or o;ne which dives more directly to clear points and insights. Now I have confidence and, from this breezy book, a bit of brio to tackle the perhaps more ponderous and quantitative writings out there.
17 people found this helpful
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Maya777
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! I highly recommend reading it.
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2018
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I am reading the book now (maybe half way through) and I am really impressed with the knowledge of the author and his witty and clever writing. It is a pleasure to read the book. Hopefully this book will make people more aware of fraudsters' tricks. I would highly recommend it for classroom use in forensic accounting classes.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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S. Berger
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read!
Reviewed in Germany on September 14, 2023
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Very insightful and entertaining. Just fantastic! (I'm not lying, and I wrote this for free)
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Saurabh Tiwari
5.0 out of 5 stars Forearmed is Forewarned
Reviewed in India on August 18, 2022
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A great, well-researched and highly engaging book that covers different types of financial frauds with deep analysis of famous long frauds and control frauds including Enron. It'll help you spot frauds in real life and protect your money.
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don novak
2.0 out of 5 stars A Tough Dry Read IMHO
Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2020
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I personally found the author's writing style hard to wrap my head around for some unfathomable reason. It may have been that he made some things more difficult to understand than was necessary. I have not finished reading the book yet, and am finding myself skimming just to be done with it.
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Ayrton
5.0 out of 5 stars A Regra de Ouro para combate às fraudes
Reviewed in Brazil on November 3, 2019
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A Regra de Ouro para combate às fraudes: todo negócio ou empreendimento que cresce rápido demais, de maneira não usual, deve ser investigado, porém de uma maneira que já não tenha sido feita antes. Este livro é um estudo de modelos antigos e modernos de fraudes, passando por clássicos modelos de empresas ou negócios de fachada ("araras"), pirâmides financeiras e suas intermináveis manifestações (histórias de cobertura), fraudes empresariais, fraudes bancárias e fraudes corporativas. Trata-se de uma abordagem didática de casos famosos, de modo a transparecer os pontos comuns entre fraudes do passado e crimes do presente: o chamado "triângulo da fraude". Todo golpe, estratagema criminoso mediante fraude precisa de três elementos: 1) necessidade: busca por dinheiro ou ganhos rápidos, ou cupidez das vítimas; 2) oportunidade: uma falha sistemática no controle e prevenção de fraudes e estelionatos, seja por motivo da estrutura do sistema jurídico, seja pelo abuso de uma posição de liderança do golpista; 3) racionalização: todo fraudador, estelionatário ou golpista tem uma estratégia para receber a confiança de outras pessoas e, abusando dessa, explorar vítimas com necessidades ou cupidez monetárias. Nesta racionalização consiste o grande alerta feito pelo autor da obra: os golpistas tendem a reincidir sempre, pois quando são efetivamente pegos pelas autoridades, já realizaram seus crimes diversas vezes. Por fim, o autor compara uma fraude a um câncer - se você começa a prestar atenção na divisão celular, logo percebe que há um crescimento anormal e fora do controle existente.
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John Brewer
5.0 out of 5 stars Incisive, Entertaining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2018
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The criminal and civil wrong of gaining money or financial benefit through lying or trickery has a long history as Dan Davies recounts. An early example from the Book of Genesis reminds us how Jacob, Isaac’s second son and his mother’s favourite, deceived his blind father to cheat first son Esau out of his inheritance through wearing Esau’s garments, the outdoor smells of which convinced Isaac he was dealing with his hunter son Esau rather than the more domesticated Jacob.

Davies’ anecdotes are insightful (even if there has been outright fraud, if a bankrupt company can persuade 75% of its creditors to agree a workout it is unlikely that opposing creditors will be able to persuade regulators to investigate), amusing (Jordan Belfort presumably titled his autobiography “Wolf of Wall Street” because “Tales of a Parasite” would not have sold as well) and memorable (for me, the 1980s Prime Bank Notes and S&L scams).

We do business with people we are increasingly less likely to know and fraud has not just grown up with the modern economy, it has helped shape it: having learned that we can misunderstand or be deceived by mere appearance (and smell) we apply our common sense to a range of indicia - actions and oral representations, but mostly written statements and documents (many of which are of course carefully crafted to appeal to and manipulate our emotions so it’s hardly a level playing field to begin with) - before parting with our money, goods or services.

Giving full consideration to what we see, hear and read, Davies repeatedly reminds us, is hard work. “System 2 thinking” as Kahneman would put it, is cognitively demanding so in larger organisations the task resisting fraud is broken down and distributed among a hierarchy of individuals. This in turn creates additional, unintended risk: the clever fraudster like Miguel de Guzman who designs his crimes specifically to exploit particular weaknesses in that hierarchy; organisations such as Medicare where the bystander effect is deeply ingrained and the fraudster well knows that the psychological barriers against querying senior levels of the hierarchy can be impossible to overcome; and the charismatic fraudster like Charles Keating who can divert critical scrutiny through crusading the moral high ground at the same time as charming the pants off the well-connected.

Lying For Money is an excellent book and a highly entertaining read, stripping down the four main types of fraud to their bare essentials while cautioning how traditional efforts to combat them typically come with the need to trust even more people, each of whom may then pervert those additional controls for their own personal benefit. Davies closes with a pragmatic caveat, that since fraud cannot be eradicated we should bring up our children to be honest, but aware, by maintaining a skeptical attitude to those things which appear too good to be true.
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