Quote:
A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, hustle, scam, scheme, swindle or bamboozle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. The victim is known as the mark, the trickster is called a confidence man, con man, confidence trickster, grifter, or con artist, and any accomplices are known as plants. Confidence men or women exploit characteristics of the human psyche such as greed, both dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naïveté, and the thought of trying to get something of value for nothing or for something far less valuable. Confidence men or women have victimized individuals from all walks of life.
The scammer in this case attempts to gain the confidence of his mark by lying and saying they will trade something of value for an item they have listed in the CS. This scammer preys on greed (and possibly naïveté) since the item listed (while dramatically overpriced) is still less than the cost of the item(s) they pretend to be offering as trade. The scam's overall goal is to acquire something of value (gold) for something of nearly no value (a crap item), by tricking the mark into buying something they would not normally buy for far over it's value.