I learnt a lot about conmen when I researched a particular person who had fooled many and affected their livelihoods. Then the penny dropped. They rely on people not checking things out, not knowing or using a half truth to sound convincing. They state things with such conviction that if you are subject to any doubt you can be sucked in. if someone challenged them they become a bully. If they don’t get what they want they have a tantrum or become abusive
they are shameless, but it’s always someone else’s fault. I think at some level they are aware of what they are doing but at another level they will not look. Scheming is so second nature to them - associated with a sense of entitlement - that they don’t actually recognise what they are doing.
and when the look like getting caught out, fail or get it wrong they run. What they don’t realise is they cannot run from themselves and eventually that base nature gets the better of them and they ruin things all over again And they don’t really care if they hurt people on the way
at some level there is self loathing but they must project it on to others
it’s a tough way of living. I can’t tell for sure whether the man in France is exactly like that but my guess is - yes
