Two encounters with the grift

I have an unwholesome interest in scams. Not because I romanticize them; because I cannot imagine devoting that level of effort when one could do something useful instead. A call from a boiler room One day back in the 20 th century I got a cold call from a young lady working in a boiler room somewhere. She had an Exciting Offer for me. She talked through her script with earnest, clumsy enthusiasm.…