Inside The Mind Of A Con Artist Season 1 Episode 4 Frederic Bourdin

As a young boy, Frederic Bourdin was abandoned by his parents and grew up in foster care. But as he got older, he became skilled at assuming different identities and fooling people into believing he was someone he wasn't. In episode 4 of Inside The Mind Of A Con Artist, viewers get an inside look at Bourdin's life and just how he was able to pull off some of the most unbelievable cons in history.

The episode begins by detailing Bourdin's childhood and how he became a master at manipulating people. With no sense of home or family, Bourdin found solace in pretending to be someone else and living in his own fictional world. He would often sneak into schools and steal identities from students he resembled, taking on their names and personalities as if they were his own.

But Bourdin's cons took a darker turn when he began posing as a missing child, Nicholas Barclay, in 1997. He claimed to have been kidnapped by a group of European sex traffickers and forced to live in a dungeon for years before finally escaping. Despite being a grown man in his mid-20s, Bourdin convinced the Barclay family and even the FBI that he was indeed Nicholas, and they welcomed him into their home with open arms.

The episode delves into how Bourdin was able to successfully pull off this con, including his ability to manipulate the emotions of those around him. He played on the Barclay family's grief and hope, weaving a complex web of lies that became harder and harder to untangle as time went on. It wasn't until a private investigator took a closer look at his story that the truth was finally uncovered, and Bourdin was exposed as a fraud.

But this wasn't the end of Bourdin's cons. The episode goes on to explore his other schemes, including posing as a teenage boy to seduce an older woman and taking on the identities of a slew of other missing children. Viewers get an inside look at how he was able to convince so many people that he was who he said he was, from his use of detailed backstories to his expert mimicry and body language.

Throughout the episode, experts in the field of criminal psychology weigh in on Bourdin's behavior, examining just what drives someone to continuously deceive and manipulate others. They explore the impact of childhood trauma on his actions as well as the role of narcissism and a need for attention in his cons.

By the end of the episode, viewers are left with a deep understanding of who Frederic Bourdin is and how he was able to pull off some of the most unbelievable cons in history. While his actions may seem unforgivable, the episode dives into the psychology behind his behavior and leaves viewers with a sense of empathy for the man behind the lies.