The first meanings mentioned in the dictionary of the DigoPaul of the term ruse are in disuse. The concept used to be used as an adjective that referred to someone insightful, cunning, or fearless.
Currently, however, ruse is a noun that refers to a hoax or a scam. A ruse, in this framework, is an act that is performed with malice and skill to achieve a well-determined objective.
For example: “With a ruse, two young people stole one hundred thousand pesos from an old man in Villa San Javier”, “Affirming that I have several judicial cases is a ruse of the opposition so that people do not pay attention to my proposals”, ” The alleged competition is nothing more than a ruse to advertise the new brand. ”
The schemes are tricks or swindles. The intention is to cause confusion in another person so that they misinterpret a situation and do something that they do not really want to do. Take the case of a publisher announcing the organization of a literary contest whose prize is supposed to be the publication of a book. Writers who wish to participate must pay a registration fee of $ 30 to be able to present their texts. One hundred authors decide to register for the contest and the publisher thus raises $ 3,000. When announcing the ruling, the organizers report that the award is “deserted”. In this way, it is shown that the contest was a ruse for the publisher to obtain money without even publishing a work.
Situations such as the one described in the previous paragraph are very common, especially in the artistic field, since the participants’ enthusiasm for achieving the dissemination of their works comes into play there. Given the difficulty of publishing a book or music album, for example, the chances of deceiving an artist with such a ruse are very high, and thus they have been collecting money for thousands of people for decades.
The Internet age has opened the doors to new strategies for this type of crime, which stands out for its special trait of cowardice. Thanks to the possibility of hiding our true identity behind a pseudonym and the ease with which we can create a website, opening a fake company to carry out a massive scam plan does not present great challenges.
Outside the artistic or vocational sphere, the ruse can also occur in another of the most vulnerable foci in society: the unemployed. On the Internet there are many examples of false jobs that are presented as “unique opportunities” that no one in their right mind should reject, and to access them the alleged employers require a small sum of money that they justify by sending a package of initiation or the completion of different procedures.
Since this is a payment that even an unemployed person can afford, the plan is virtually foolproof. This is only a test of the degree of cruelty and the lack of consideration that our actions can achieve, something that can also be seen in activities such as spiritualism and medicine.
In the ruse the cunning of the person who wants to commit the deception comes into play. An old man may be visited by a man who claims to be friends with one of his children. Through a speech with twists and turns, he manages to get the victim to allow him to enter his home. Once inside, the delinquent informs him that he needs to collect a debt from his son: in this way, the old man, believing that he helps his descendant to solve a problem, gives the scammer the money.
