By Moises Naim

By Quico Toro

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From snake-oil salesmen to Donald Trump, the gripping story of charlatans—and why we fall for them

For centuries charlatans have been bamboozling victims. But today, charlatanry is more lucrative and global than ever. Using the power of digital technology, our age’s charlatans have spun a worldwide web of exploitation on an unprecedented scale.

In Charlatans, global affairs experts Moisés Naím and Quico Toro investigate how charlatans fool us and why they’ve become so influential today. They argue that modern charlatans exploit the same weak points in human cognition as the snake-oil salesmen of the old West. They earn our trust, trick us into believing they have some special skill or knowledge, then exploit us. In some ways, nothing has changed. But, today, charlatans are digital, viral, and global. Whether they’re health gurus pushing pseudoscience or crypto bros orchestrating Ponzi schemes, modern charlatans rapidly amass worldwide audiences on the internet and social media using a common set of strategies. These hucksters swiftly swindle unsuspecting victims, as our slow-moving institutions struggle to respond.

Packed with insights on how to avoid being duped by charlatans, this is an eye-opening journey through the brazen deception and brutal victimization at the heart of this new global scourge.

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On Sale: Oct 7, 2025
Page Count: 336 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN-13: 9781541606517

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Moises Naim

About the Author

Moisés Naím is distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was the editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine for over a decade, and his column on global affairs is syndicated to dozens of publications worldwide. Naím is the author of Illicit, What Is Happening to Us?, and the New York Times bestseller The End of Power. He is based in Washington, DC.

Quico Toro is a writer and editor who serves as the global opinion columnist for the Washington Post. He is based in Tokyo, Japan.

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