7 Telltale Signs Pytellek's A Con Artist

"People who con others are generally psychopaths"
Brent Turvey, forensic scientist and criminal profiler,
Academy of Behavioral Profiling in Sitka, Alaska,

It doesn’t matter if someone’s brilliant and worldly, or stupid and naïve... Everyone is susceptible to con artists.

"People who con others are generally psychopaths," says Brent Turvey, forensic scientist and criminal profiler at the Academy of Behavioral Profiling in Sitka, Alaska,

"Con artists and other psychopaths spend a lot of time talking about themselves in a self-aggrandizing fashion — bragging about their larger-than-life accomplishments and grand schemes, which are often completely fabricated," Turvey notes.

They often try to isolate you from family and friends ...[or other "victims"/clients].. in order to limit your ability to speak with people who might help you get a reality check on his stories.

[NOTE: Pytellek broadcasts "Successes" but gives no details to support his claims. After 15 plus years, he's only got three testimonials on his website...Really? After 15 plus years?]

Here are seven telltale signs that Mark Andrew Borleis/Pytellek is a con artist:

1. We can all be victims

In her book “The Confidence Game,” writer and psychologist Maria Konnikova says that anyone can be a victim of a con artist, and the main factor of being a victim is not based on your personality or demographic, but on your present situation, where you are in your life.

Pytellek knows, perhaps by accident, that anyone he meets or is introduced to, is seeking help. They've gotten into a mess, or a vulnerable situation, such as parking or speeding fines, or trouble with credit card debts or mortgage payments.

2. Pytellek offers “Quick fix” solutions

Pytellek offers a “Quick fix”, and you're hooked. It’s like you’re on the rebound after ending a relationship. Things were going great, they turned sour, and then someone comes along with a magic pill.

“People going through life transitions become more emotionally vulnerable and con artists can spot that,” Maria Konnikova says.

And Pytellek, like a predator, loves to pounce on these opportunities of emotional vulnerability.

3. Everyone really wants black and white answers.

During these periods, “we become a little bit uncomfortable because humans don’t really like uncertainty and ambiguity,” Konnikova said. “We like things to kind of be meaningful. It’s really hard to deal with when everything is kind of shifting around you.”

4. Pytellek's stories makes sense

“Con artists spot our emotional vulnerability, and take advantage of it because what they sell is "Meaning" and "Certainty". Pytellek tells you the story that makes sense, that actually makes you say, ‘OK, now I have something that makes sense in this particular moment in my life.'”

Konnikova explained that unfortunately it’s incredibly difficult to tell when you’re getting scammed.

5. A great con artist is a great persuader

Pytellek has had over two decades honing his skills of persuasion. Like all con artists, he tells you what you want to hear. He comes across as a friendly helpful guy, sharing the victim mentality. A few minutes of internet research will show a story about how he was abused and beaten up by police, and thrown in the Beenleigh Watch-house.

You start to feel sorry for him, and are quickly drawn into his stories of hardship, his “Hero’s Journey” from being at the bottom of a pit to the top of a mountain.

6. Pytellek establishes rapport

Pytellek is likeable. And he wants something from you, because that's his livelihood. He needs to find more victims to fleece. To do that, he must first give you something... It’s called “Reciprocation”.

"It really is amazing, you just tell a sob story," says magician and former card shark Simon Lovell. "Many men kissed the Blarney Stone," Mr Lovell says, "but a con man has swallowed it."

A con man like Pytellek puts a victim at ease by telling a story that reveals his own rather similar anxieties thereby forging a "mutual understanding" of sorts.

He breaks your defences by entering your physical space. People - that's you - like people like you. If someone has your body language, you like them more. Because they are like you.

If they are like you, they must be good!

That's the liking principle.

7. Establishing Authority

After establishing rapport using the liking and reciprocity principles, the con man has to establish himself as an authority.

Pytellek will brag about his successes, and tell you wonderful stories, yet he can show no real proof of any successful outcomes.

Talking about con men, Mr Lovell says:
"…you have to figure out someone’s wants and needs and convince them what you have, WILL fill THEIR emotional void." A con man is essentially a salesman – a remarkably good one – who excels at making people feel special and understood. A con man validates the victim’s desire to believe he has an edge on other people.

In her book The Confidence Game (Viking, © 2016), psychologist Maria Konnikova describes the tactics successful con artists use to get people to fall for their schemes. Even the most skeptical people can easily be persuaded into believing outlandish lies using human psychology:

We are, after all, the best deceivers of our own minds.

At each step of the game, con artists draw from a seemingly endless toolbox of ways to manipulate our belief.