We asked attorneys and other legal professionals throughout the U.S. how criminals in real life differ from criminals in the movies. We received a variety of responses and wanted to share them with our readers. Many people had experience dealing with criminals, and here is what they had to say.

When I created Food Body ME, the success of the company attracted its fair share of criminals. It was also enticing that not only were the finances significant, it is also a holistic company, and criminals love to prey on the "spiritual." My perspective is that of a CEO and therapist. In graduate school I met a fellow "therapist" who wanted to work at my new company. He asked for a month of pay in advance and split. Yes, I made the mistake of giving it to him. He claimed to be in dire need, and there was some level of trust from graduate school and therapy credentials. Turned out he wasn't a therapist before attending the program, and I don't know if he finished or was just a visitor sitting in on my class. He also had a history of cons which I pieced together after. He was charming, attractive, and glib. I should have been tipped off as his stories were larger than life. The problem though, was that in therapy training, one listens to tragic emotional stories. Being exposed to that during the immersive program, it was Alfred and the White Rabbit, where I over-extended what I was learning in school.

In my Real Estate Company, I skipped some due process steps and ended up renting to another con-artist. Within a month he had turned my 20 happy tenants of two years into a confused and distrustful group of people. One more month went by and I asked him to leave. He split owing me 10K in rent, and 10 other tenants left as well. It almost destroyed my real estate business. I took the hit, and within 30 days of hard work was able to get things back on track.

I have met a few other criminals as well and have studied them extensively these last three years (and prior). There are different types of criminals. People who commit crimes because of their belief system (Robin Hood: it's okay to steal from the rich), people who commit crimes because of self-delusion; i.e., they don't realize or believe it's a crime, people who commit crimes out of desperation, and people who commit crimes because they like it. This last group has Narcissistic Personality, which is a spectrum disorder. Therefore they can have behavior ranging from mildly anti-social all the way to serial killing behavior. What Narcissists have in common is that they literally only care about themselves and lack empathy for others.

Narcissists are excellent actors and very smart. Their self-serving needs are so important to them that nothing else matters. Because their needs consume them, they will do whatever they have to in order to meet their needs. As humans are social, this commonly means that Narcissists must learn how to become "better" at being "human" than everybody else, and they are masters at feigning emotion.

Narcissistic criminals are smart, charming, and glib. Attractive in appearance. Likeable. Many crimes are committed by people that we actually know. When you combine the collective personality disorders on the spectrum that makes up narcissism, 24% of Americans have some form of this disorder. 1 in 4 people that you know is going to manipulate you and your emotions to get what they want. A smaller percentage of that group is going to get close enough to you to commit a crime.

Narcissistic criminals are calculating and self-serving. Driven and focused, the only strategy to get them to change their behavior regarding you is if they either feel fear, or if you cut off their narcissistic supply. Want to find out who is a narcissist? Call them out. If a normal person does something bad, like lie, when called out they will feel shame and will apologize. A narcissist, however, will add to the lie, back-track, deflect, blame, get angry, etc.

You can tell who is a narcissist by observable and measurable words and behavior. You can tell who in this population is a criminal by their proclaimed superiority and their lack of empathy (which is harder to ferret out). There are other indicators too, such as, can they keep their stories straight? Or do they add to them? Where have they lived and how long in each place? Stable job or constant change? And more.

Criminals in the movies are often charming, intelligent, and they often get away with their crimes. In real life, narcissists are so busy obsessing about themselves, that they frequently leave traces of their crimes behind. The only reason they wouldn't be caught, in my experience, is if law enforcement doesn't consider the crime worth their due diligence.

-Nicole Wright

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How Do Criminals in Real Life Differ from Criminals in the Movies?