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- Bernie Madoff. For Americans, Bernie Madoff is probably one of the best-known con artists out there, which makes sense because he ran the single biggest ponzi scheme in the whole of history.
- Calisto Tanzi. Calisto Tanzi was an Italian businessman who had founded Parmalat, which was a huge food corporation with a multinational presence. However, it turned out that Tanzi had embezzled something along the lines of eight hundred million euros from his corporation, which resulted in the biggest bankruptcy in Europe.
- Ali Dia. Ali Dia was a professional footballer from Senagal who managed to convince Southhampton to hire him. This happened when Dia convinced one of his friends from university to pretend to be Ballon d'Or winner George Weah on the phone, with the result that said individual convinced the then manager of Southhampton that Dia was Weah's cousin as well as someone who played on the national level.
- Frank Abagnale. Frank Abagnale was the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can, which is perhaps unsurprising, considering that his life sounds more like the subject of fiction than anything that can be found in real life.
From the man who sold the Eiffel Tower to the ex-cop who enlisted Mormons and mobsters to steal millions from McDonald's, learn the unbelievable stories of history's biggest conmen.
Feb 18, 2024 · The Man Who Conned the World. Yepoka Yeebo examines how one of the greatest scam artists of all time used Ghana’s colonial past to get rich.
- 10 William Thompson
- 9 Oscar Hartzell
- 8 Hungry Joe
- 7 Lord Gordon Gordon
- 6 Henri Lemoine
- 5 Lou Blonger
- 4 William Elmer Mead
- 3 John St. John Long
- 2 Reed Waddell
- 1 Victor Lustig
The crimes of William Thompson weren’t particularly brazen. But seeing as how he was the first person described as a “confidence man,” they are historically significant. Thompson was active in mid-19th-century New York City. Sporting a genteel appearance and courteous demeanor, he would walk up to affluent strangers and strike up a conversation, ac...
In 1915, the mother of Oscar Hartzell invested $6,500 in a scam. Along with many other Americans from the Midwest, she believed that they stood to make a fortune by taking the British government to court over the improperly probated estate of famed 16th-century adventurer Sir Francis Drake. At first, the con targeted only people with the surname Dr...
Joseph Lewis (aka Hungry Joe) was a prolific swindler who was active in late 19th-century New York. His con of choice involved enticing rich marks into fixed matches of bunco, a popular parlor gameof the time. Lewis was so successful that he earned the moniker “king of the Bunco Men.” Hungry Joe’s notoriety came from some of his high-profile target...
His real name is lost to history, as are his origins. He was a 19th-century British swindler who posed as a nobleman and successfully convinced others to part with large sums of money. His first appearance in the record books happened in 1868 when he attempted to secure a Scottish estate by posing as Lord Glencairn. Eventually, he was found out and...
If you google “how to make diamonds,” you will find countless results of “surefire” methods detailing how you could manufacture your own diamondsin the comfort of your home. Turns out that this scam is over 100 years old and was first employed by French con man Henri Lemoine. In 1905, Lemoine claimed to have developed a technique of making diamonds...
Born in 1849 in Vermont, Lou Blonger joined the Union Army when he was just 14 years old. After the Civil War, he reunited with his elder brother, Sam. They made their way through the American frontier, engaging in the occasional prospecting, gambling, and grifting. By the late 1880s, the Blonger brothers had settled in Denver. They opened several ...
William Elmer Mead was an oddityamong the grifter community. Due to his strict fundamentalist upbringing, he never drank, smoked, or swore. He also attended church on Sundays. This earned him the nickname “The Christian Kid,” but it didn’t stop Mead from defrauding marks of over $2 million over a 40-year career. Mead was an innovator of the magic w...
History is full of quacks, and one of the most successful was John St. John Long. Born in Ireland in 1798, Long first studied art but soon discovered that medical fraud was more lucrative. In 1826, he announced that he had developed a cure for consumption (aka tuberculosis). His treatment involved two secret chemicals—one was inhaled as a vapor, an...
Born into a well-off family in Springfield, Illinois, Reed “Kid” Waddell didn’t seem like someone destined for a life of crime. However, a gamblinghabit forced his family to cut him off completely in his early twenties. Waddell arrived in New York City in 1880 and got involved with the green goods game. This con involved printing secretive leaflets...
Victor Lustig became infamous as “the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice.” He also conned Al Caponeand got away with it. He repeatedly sold a tiny, useless box for tens of thousands of dollars. During his trial, a Secret Service agent aptly called him “the smoothest con man that ever lived.” According to prison interviews, Lustig was born in a tow...
From alchemists to false princesses, sorcerers to political imposters, tricksters have played an eminent role in history. The outlandish schemes of these wily characters have never failed to attract public attention.
Apr 6, 2024 · Conason pinpoints Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential run as a key turning point. The campaign produced a massive mailing list that scammers could solicit for donations to alleged political...
Sep 9, 2022 · Excerpt. “America Is a Ghost Story”: How Donald Trump Follows in the Footsteps of a Notorious Con Artist. From Norman Baker to Jeffrey Epstein, Iran-Contra to January 6, Sarah Kendzior’s...
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