Is There a Difference Between a Con Artist and a Thief?

Con artists are just professional thieves. They earn your trust, and go in for the proverbial kill. Often we see them coming. But not always. Particularly not when the con artist is a friend — although, if they conned you they are not a friend, obviously. That doesn’t mean that they never were a friend or that the relationship was meaningless all along. But it definitely shows the true colors of the individual. When someone makes a conscious decision to screw over a friend or someone close to them, what does that say about their character?