The desire to be rich and famous are strong enough reasons for people to commit frauds.
But, it's not that easy to get away with a big con.
There will always be someone who reports you.
Most criminals who commit crimes get captured, prepare to be BRAIN CRIAN by these stories
of 10 of the smartest cons you won't believe succeeded!
Number 10 - Victor Lustig, Sale of the Eiffel tower for scrap metal.
If you're going to dream up a con dream big!
In 1925, a man named Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel tower for scrap metal to at least one
gullible guy.
After reading an article about how some people thought the tower was too expensive to maintain.
He sent letters to all the local scrap metal dealers, claiming to be a French public official
with a lengthy title.
In the letters, he explained the tower was being taken down and sold for scrap metal.
At least one guy believed him and showed up with a suitcase full of cash.
Andre Poisson, who had enough sense to ask some questions about the project.
Lustig had an answer for that.
He was an underpaid public official and finding a buyer for such an impressive tower was quite
the big decision.
Poisson decided that he must be the real deal.
If he was hinting for a bribe, like only a bureaucrat can do.
So, he forked over a total of $70,000, to secure the winning bid.
Lustig, took the money and ran back to Austria, expecting to see his face on wanted posters.
But Poisson was so embarrassed to have been taken by the scam, that he didn't report it.
Lustig later dealt in both counterfeit money and counterfeit money boxes that were supposed
to make counterfeit money.
And once ripped off Al Capone, who didn't even realize he had been had!
Number 9 - The Carnegie Con You may have watched Paris Hilton and thought
how nice it would be to live the life of an heiress.
Tragically, there was no Instagram or reality TV in the early 1900, but that didn't stop
Elizabeth Bigley from playing the part of a wealthy heiress.
Casey Chadwick, the illegitimate daughter of steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie.
She claimed, he often sent her huge payments to keep her quiet about her paternity, which
conveniently worked because they didn't have DNA tests back then either.
But the best part of the con was when she convinced bankers that due to these hush money
payments, she was good for a loan, a big loan or four.
One bank, loaned her a quarter of a million dollars, which was worth a lot more back then,
than it is now due to inflation.
They later went out of business when she turned out to be more suited for the Jerry Springer
shows episode on paternity tests than the simple life.
Number 8 - Super Valu Scam Letter.
At some point, you've probably received one of those scam letters from a Nigerian prince,
who just needs your bank account info so he can smuggle some millions into the country
and give you a nice cut for your assistance.
In 2007, some enterprising thieves got the idea to do this in reverse.
They wrote to supermarket chain super valu, but instead of asking for their bank account
info, they made fake emails for two companies the store did business with.
Then they wrote an email claiming those companies had a new bank account number, the accounting
department at super valu didn't think twice about sending future companies payments at
the new account number.
Without stopping to verify anything, they wired 6.5 million to one fake account and
3.5 million to the other.
At some point they figured out they'd been scammed!
Probably when the real representatives of those companies called to ask where their
money was?
The FBI recovered some of the funds, but never caught the scammers.
Number 7 - Britain's Got Guts and Scams In 2013, some con artists got to thinking
about how easy it is to hit the wrong button when dialling to vote in one of those reality
shows, so they promptly brought up a bunch of numbers that were a digit off from the
numbers to vote on the British reality shows, ‘Britain's got talent’ and ‘I'm a celebrity.
Get me out of here!’
If someone dialled wrong and reached one of these numbers, they heard a happy, thanks
for voting message and thought they'd succeeded.
They were charged one pound in two pens plus standard carrier rates.
Fortunately, a savvy voter called to complain after receiving the thanks for voting message.
Apparently that person was concerned by the lack of confirmation that they voted for the
right contestant.
If that lucky person hadn't been so concerned with their contestant winning the scam could
have gone on for much longer.
The company running the scam was later fined.
Although it claimed to be using the numbers for people voting on other polls.
Number 6 - Frank Abagnale - The con artist prodigy.
If you've ever felt like an underachiever, rest assured that even successful con artists
probably feel inferior to Frank Abagnale.
Who began his career as a scam artist at the age of 15.
He started out using his father's gasoline credit card, intended for gas money so, he
could get to his part-time job, to buy batteries and other items at the gas station, which
he later returned for cash.
Leaving his father with a $3,400 bill, which was a lot of money in the 1960s.
He moved on to writing hot checks on his overdrawn bank account, cashing fake payroll checks,
and even printing his account number on deposit slips that he put back in the bank stacks,
so unsuspecting customers would accidentally deposit their money in his account.
By the age of 21, he had successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a lawyer and a doctor, despite
not having training in any of those fields.
By now, you may have figured out that these exploits were seen in the Leonardo DEO movie,
‘Catch me if you can,’ which was based on Abagnale's life.
Eventually he was arrested, but served only five years in jail, before the FBI let him
out in exchange for his insight into criminal behaviour.
He later started a fraud consultation firm to help banks and other businesses avoid fraudsters,
just like him.
Number 5 - Gregor MacGregor - The man with the fake island.
They say, no, man is an island, but in the 1800, a man named Gregor MacGregor tested
that theory, by convincing 200 people he was actually the prince of a fictional island
country called Poyois.
He even made a guidebook, detailing the island’s geography and history then sold them on its
abundant natural resources.
While the first 200 victims sailed to the imaginary island to find only water, he was
already rounding up more investors and creating a constitution for the imaginary country of
Poyois.
Even after being convicted of fraud, he carried on with the sale of fake land, and many of
his investors were so taken in by him or unwilling to admit they'd been had, that they defended
him in the press and essentially blamed the island for not being where it was supposed
to be.
Number 4 - Charles Ponzi and the Ponzi scheme.
We've all heard of the Ponzi scheme, where a con artist convinces investors, they're
putting their money into a sure thing and they are.
The con artist's pocket is definitely a sure thing.
This was originated by Charles Ponzi, who started out buying coupons in Italy, that
could be redeemed for stamps in America.
With an exchange rate that let him make about a 400% profit.
But he wasn't satisfied with that sweet deal, and went on to start his first Ponzi scheme.
He started a business, the securities exchange company, and took investors’ money to do
exactly what he was doing.
Buying and exchanging coupons for stamps, except that he didn't do any of that.
He just invested the money in himself.
He did pay out to a few early investors to make it look like the scam was working.
That's how a Ponzi scheme reels in more investors, who have heard from the early investors that
they already got a return.
But only a few early investors actually get a payout and there are much larger numbers
of investors who never get a pay-out.
And the vast majority of money goes to the person running the scam.
Number 3 - George Parker and the Brooklyn bridge.
You may have heard the phrase, “If you believe that, “I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to
sell you.”
It turns out that's not really an exaggeration.
Multiple people sold the Brooklyn bridge multiple times.
In the 1920s, George Parker produced false documents that convinced his victims he was
the rightful owner.
Then they bought the bridge, which Parker told them was valuable as it provided access
to the roadway.
Several times the cops had to stop Parker's buyers from erecting a toll booth, explaining
to them that they'd been had.
Other hustlers also sold the bridge, as well as the statue of Liberty.
Immigrants were often targeted due to their naivety.
At one point, processors at Ellis Island had to start handing out pamphlets that essentially
said, “Public buildings, streets and monuments are not for sale.
Like ever!”
Number 2 - Don Lapre the multi-level marketer.
They say there's a sucker born every minute, and that's never more apparent than when you're
watching late night TV sales pitches for all kinds of dumb products.
Don Lapre called himself the king of infomercials, and he sold a variety of worthless products.
Including advice on how to make money from a tiny one-bedroom apartment.
In this one, he claimed he made $50,000 a month.
Placing tiny ads in newspapers.
When in reality, he made millions selling people on pyramid schemes in which he was
at the top.
This is a pyramid scheme, one where people will supposedly make money by recruiting other
people.
No real services or products are produced.
The whole business is signing people up to sign other people up, but as more people are
signed up, recruiting becomes harder.
And the only person who really makes any money is the scammer at the top, hence the name
pyramid scheme.
Unfortunately, those tiny little ads Lapre wanted his viewers to use to recruit people.
Eventually led to some big legal trouble for him, and he ended up committing suicide in
a jail cell while awaiting trial on 41 counts of conspiracy and fraud.
Number 1- Bernie Madoff.
This list wouldn't be complete without one of America's most recent con men, Bernie Madoff.
As you probably know, if you haven't been living under a rock, Bernie Madoff operated
a successful Ponzi scheme for years, in what some have called the biggest fraudulent scheme
in America's history.
Over decades, he swindled investors out of billions, promising high returns.
Keeping in line with the rules for a Ponzi scheme, a few early investors were paid off
in money, he made from new investors, but the funds were never invested.
And Bernie himself made off with about 20 million.
Like the originator of the scam, Charles Ponzi, he was able to use payoffs to just a select
few investors to keep the scam going for decades.
The fact that he was also well respected and sat on the board of many organizations, also
gave his business a reputation of seems legit.
Unfortunately, not everything that seems legit is, as many of his investors eventually found
out!
What's the craziest corner lie.
Someone, you know, has gotten away with?
let us know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe, to BRAIN CRAIN.