A more thorough explanation:

A confidence game is a type of fraud where the perpetrator tricks the victim into giving them money, property, or information by gaining their trust. The perpetrator uses various tricks to deceive the victim and make them believe that they are trustworthy.

One common example of a confidence game is an email phishing scam. In this scam, the perpetrator sends an email to the victim pretending to be someone they trust, such as their bank or their employer. The email may ask the victim to provide personal information, such as their login credentials or social security number, or to send money or gift cards to the perpetrator.

Another example of a confidence game is the "pigeon drop" scam. In this scam, the perpetrator approaches the victim and tells them that they have found a large sum of money. The perpetrator then asks the victim to help them retrieve the money, but requires the victim to put up some of their own money as collateral. The perpetrator then disappears with both the victim's money and the supposed "found" money.

Both of these examples illustrate how a confidence game works. In both cases, the perpetrator gains the victim's trust by pretending to be someone they are not, such as a bank or a trustworthy stranger. The perpetrator then uses this trust to convince the victim to give them money or information. The victim is left with nothing, while the perpetrator walks away with their ill-gotten gains.