[Background Music Starts]
From scottish soldiers to slimy stock brokers we countdown the 10 Biggest Con Artists of
all Time
10. Lou Pearlman: Thanks to this man, the Backstreet boys and boy band NSync were able
to rise to prominence. However this wasn’t
enough for Pearlman, so he became one of the biggest
con artists of the modern age. Pearlman promised to invest people’s money in return for high
profits, but he spent the money all on himself. This resulted in Pearlman getting a total
25 years in jail. It was also agreed that for every
million dollars paid back, his sentence would be
reduced by one month. All together he had $300 million to payback, so much of his sentence
stayed intact.
9. Victor Lustig: Known for stealing from the rich, Victor Lustig was one of the smartest
con men of the 1900s. He started his con artist
career off by selling a magical printing box to the
rich. The box would print an endless supply of $100 bills, but obviously it was fake.
The machine actually did work at first. However, it took
6 hours to print one bill, and after two bills were
printed, only blank dollars were made. The rich love money, so this scheme quickly took
off for him.
8. Charles Ponzi: This con artist was so famous, the Ponzi scheme was later named after him
and his systems. This scheme was created by promising investors 50% profit in 45 days,
or 100% profit in 90 days. The previous investors
were paid off with the future investors’ money to
keep the project going. The Italian con man, may have thought it was a good idea back in
the early 1900s, but after defrauding so many
people and even causing damage to six banks, he
was arrested.
7. Gregor MacGregor: This con man was so good at selling things that weren’t his that
he made up a fictitious island, and sold sections
off to people in the 1800s. Over 200 settlers went
out to colonize the landmass, only to find nothing but open waters. After these settlers
died off, he resold the lands to others. Eventually
he was caught, however the scheme was clever nonetheless. Without satellite, people just
had to take each other’s word that a land mass
actually existed back then.
6. Benny Hinn: Performing so called “miracles” in front of thousands is another way to get
rich. Benny Hinn made profits through church donations
when he went on tours performing miracles in front of large crowds. Hinn wrote several
books and even had his miracles shown on television. All was going well until people
started to catch onto his hoax, and he was exposed.
$100 million dollars was brought in annually because of his campaign, yet he didn’t serve
any jail time.
5. George Parker: Nothing says “con artist” more than selling something that isn’t yours.
That’s exactly what George Parker had in mind when
he sold multiple landmarks away for profit. They
included the Golden Gate Bridge and even the Statue of Liberty. It may be even more surprising
that someone is willing to pay upwards of $50,000 for a bridge. In 1928, Parker was
served justice for stealing many people’s money,
and was given life in prison.
4. James Hogue: Princeton University was the prime target for James Hogue’s scheme. At
only 16 years old, James enrolled into Princeton
after changing his name and stating that he was a
self-taught author. His application stated that he read from philosophers while living
by the Grand Canyon as a sheep herder. Students soon
caught on and found Hogue to be guilty. After three whole years in jail, Hogue took his
actions to Harvard University and became a security
guard. At his new position, Hogue took the opportunity to steal gemstones from exhibits
at a museum which he was working at as a security
guard. The museum later found out and he was charged with theft.
3. Bernard Madoff: As the chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, Madoff conducted the
largest financial fraud scheme in American history. Like Charles Ponzi himself, Madoff
used the Ponzi scheme to make his profit. It was
the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
that was guilty of these schemes, and was it even one of the upper firms on Wall Street.
It wasn’t until 2008, 48 years after the founding
of the investment company, when Madoff was arrested. The con artist is quoted as saying
the firm was simply “one big lie.” Madoff’s planned
release date from Prison: November 14, 2139.
2. Jordan Belfort: Also known as the ‘Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort was one
of the top con men of the 1980s. As a Wall Street broker,
Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont. The company sold small penny stocks to brokers, while
using a “pump and dump” scheme. The penny stocks
were small in cost, however, Belfort resold them for double the cost and made a profit.
This resulted in billions of dollars in gains and
Belfort later pleaded guilty for fraud and stock market
manipulation. Surprisingly, instead of living the rest of his live in jail, or fleeing,
Belfort is now a motivation speaker. Nevertheless, he can still
relive his glory days by watching Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie that depicts Belfort in
Hollywood fashion.
1. Frank Abagnail: After portraying himself as a PAN AM pilot to get free flights, Frank
Abagnail also posed as a doctor and a lawyer, and he was only a teenager. Over a million
miles flown, on 250 aircrafts, to 26 countries,
was what Abagnail accomplished just as a high schooler. In addition, he mastered the art
of creating false checks that he cashed in on a regular
basis. It wasn’t until 1970 when he was arrested and put in jail for 5 years. Amazingly,
after he was released he was able get a job as an FBI
security consultant, but says he doesn’t ever want
to relive his life as a con man. It seems as though Leonardo DiCaprio has a liking for
con artists, because he once again played as Frank Abagnail
in Steven Spielberg’s movie Catch Me if You
Can.
Hey guys fresh here and thanks for watching my video on 10 Biggest Con Artists of all
Time If you have your own idea for a top 10 video, leave it in the comment section below
and it could be featured in a future video! . As always, don’t forget to like or subscribe
if you already haven’t!