Maths and swindles
Since the time of Archimedes already, science has been used to detect fraud. Today, the administration uses mathematics, via sophisticated algorithms, to unmask those who hide profits or income. As for the « fallacious proofs », are they swindles? They are closer to magic tricks where the unnoticed error constitutes the « trick » that the game consists of spotting, and are an excellent pedagogical tool to highlight the implicit properties used in certain reasonings.
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Scams, fraud, hoaxes, deception… and mathematics
Archimedes’ example shows that mathematics was once used to expose fraudsters’ tricks. Is that still often the case today? More often than not, no.
Maths for the taxman | Tangente
Algorithms are used to cross-reference data from several sources and assess the plausibility of a tax return.
Ponzi schemes
Pyramid investment schemes, which pay early investors with funds contributed by later ones, have shown their limitations. They can be modeled. Curiously, however, some government practices are not so very different from these models…
Con your friends with maths and logic | Tangente
discover how mathematics can help you outwit con artists
Maths exposes a Lotto advertising scam | Tangente
The Belgian National Lottery has just changed its prize rules. New winning combinations have been introduced for Lotto (with two "t"s), offering new (small) prizes.
False "proofs"
Although fallacious proofs are not scams, they remain a teaching tool that often amuses math buffs… and everyone else!