As you get older, it becomes easier to spot a flim-flam man, a snake oil salesman, a grifter.

They carry a distinct smell—a scent of deceit that sharpens with age and experience.

You learn to recognize it almost immediately, as if the years have fine-tuned your senses to detect the aroma of dishonesty.

One telltale sign of a scammer is their inability to adapt their opinions in the face of new information. They cling stubbornly to their narrative, no matter how much evidence contradicts it.

Coupled with this is an unbridled aggressiveness—a relentless need to always be right. This rigid certainty, combined with their refusal to evolve their views exposes their intention.