Are Scammers Sociopathic Narcissists, and victims Neurotic Narcissists?

It seems that narcissism is at the heart of network marketing... esp. the "successful" ones.

the scammers are sociopathic narcissists

Narcissists are supremely confident, and have a sense of entitlement. Everything is about him/her. Any conversation will be steered toward him or her, even when it's about you. S/he needs social proof, and social adoration (from sheeple, generally). This is the kind of people that post-hoc justifies his/her scamming "They knew what they're doing, I never told them to invest more than they can afford to lose".


the victims are neurotic narcissist-wannabes

They mistake a 'deaf ear' and 'blind eye' for confidence. They train themselves to be narcissists (just like their sponsor/upline) but instead is adoring / edifying their upline... and paying into the system.

Comments?

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Originally Posted by kschang

Comments?

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One thing I have always wondered, especially with the Ponzi scheme is how they expected to pull it off, or are they unable to perceive consequences? Sure there may be some that are bad at math, and others that are arrogant enough to believe they can constantly find new money or cut and run. But a guy like Scott Rothstein, what the hell was he thinking?

I was chatting with a friend who I grew up with today, and we were laughing about some of our antics. Looking back as an adult it seems the thought process of getting away was not fully developed. If you are the only kid on the block and prank a neighbor, who else could it be? But as a kid, you either don't think that, or never think you will be found out. I wonder if at some similar level this thought process never properly develops?

kschang, several years ago I had a discussion with one big scammer, who was at the time operating pretty much in the open.
I asked him if he is aware where he will end up ?
He said - "sure, I would do 10–20 years if needed, it is worth it, there is a nest of savings i hid around the world. Most people struggling their entire life at shitty jobs and will never even earn 10% of what i got"

Here is one more perspective for you which outcome some scammers are ready for.

I think the relevant word here is "SOME"

IM(very)HO, given the scope and numbers of victims and varieties of fraud, it is impossible to apply a constant description to include all the possible reasons people become involved with fraud and fraudsters.

I read this quite awhile ago, but it has helped open my eyes re. some folks I know who are into mlm's and just won't go away or respect my refusal to participate. Thanks for your efforts

Too bad none of these scammers are heroic psycopaths.