How to spot those lying cheating narcissists who walk amongst us

Dishonesty means cheating, lying, being deliberately deceptive, lacking integrity, being corrupt and treacherous.

What is so sad is that most of us have had to deal with dishonest people throughout our lives. And some of us actually made them a big part of our lives.

I simply call them liars, cheats, thieves and bullies – but many of us prefer the almost Biblical term of narcissists … people who might have a strong personality but lack a core of decency.

Maddeningly their hand-mirror never reveals to themselves that they are fragmented and cracked.

Instead they see themselves as simply brilliant!

When people like us think of narcissists, we picture someone with an ego so inflated that they have to walk sideways to get their head through the door … we see someone bossy and arrogant, who needs to be right all the time, has a blubbery sense of self-importance and exaggerates their own talents and station in life.

He or she believes they can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people.

Narcissists and liars are the most pernicious and hostile of humans.

One I know claims to have had top celebs falling at his feet for many decades.

David Canter, a professor of psychology at the University of Liverpool, says: “If they are not stopped, it becomes part of their way of life…”

“They want people to believe they are police officers, government officials, journalists – but they are simply a public nuisance.”

And if you fall for their fatal false charms, they can become a toxic worm in your day to day life.

Sadly, research has shown that most people can’t spot liars. “Loads of research shows that even police officers can’t spot liars,” one researcher said.

Identifying a bullying cheating narcissistic liar isn’t always easy.

Here are some signs that may help you identify one wandering like an alien in your midst:

• they often talk about experiences and accomplishments in which they appear heroic
• they’re also the victim in many of their stories, often looking for sympathy
• their stories tend to be elaborate and very detailed
• they respond elaborately and quickly to questions, but the responses are usually vague and don’t provide an answer at all
• they may have different versions of the same story, which stems from forgetting previous details