- It's 1822.
(laughter)
- My name is Gregory McGregor.
Welcome to Poyais, a small country near Honduras.
This place has everything.
Fertile land, fish and game.
- Oh yeah.
(screaming)
- Democratic government.
A burgeoning business district,
even gold in the rivers.
The only thing we don't have is you.
We need investors and settlers.
Buy now and I guarantee you 'll make your money back,
or my name's not Gregor McGregor.
(laughter)
- I'll take four.
- Wait something's not right.
Is this someone else's land.
- Worse, it doesn't even exist.
There were no buildings or roads,
nowhere of a land.
The whole region was inhospitable untamed jungle.
- That makes sense.
Gregor McGregor is one fake-ass name.
- Actually that part is real.
- Really? Shit.
- McGregor just had to make the land look real to sell it.
He made fake illustrations of the scenery,
fake government documents, and printed fake currency.
He designed a flag and military uniforms.
He even composed fake Poyain ballads
and had them sung in the streets of London.
♪ Poyai Poyai Poyai Poyai ♪
♪ Poyai ♪
- That sounds like so much work.
- It paid off.
He sold land to hundreds.
Got a 2000 pound loan
and traded Poyain bonds worth billions in today's money.
He even convinced seven ships-worth of people
to settle the land, while he stayed safely back home.
- Thanks for visiting.
Eat shit!
- He seems nice.
- The settlers thought so too.
McGregor was so charismatic and his ways so enormous
that even after they arrived they refused to believe
that they been tricked!
- Cool, cool cool cool cool.
- I'm sure there's an explanation.
- Definitely.
Then the captain of the ship left without telling anyone.
- Cool, cool cool cool cool.
- Cool.
- Then came the rainy season.
People caught malaria and yellow fever.
- Cool.
- One person shot himself in despair.
- Cool.
- After six months, someone from British Honduras arrived
and told them that Poyai didn't exist.
- Cool.
- 250 people left for Poyai, at least 180 died.
To this day the region is uninhabited wilderness.
- Well what happened to McGregor.
- Nothing.
The survivors blamed the expedition leaders and publicists.
McGregor was tried for fraud but acquitted.
He lived comfortably in Venezuela for the rest of his life.
- Bummer.
- See.
Even if your lie harms people,
you don't need to be punished.
- He should have been punished, and you should be too.
Remember that hyena birth?
Your lie meant we had to see disgusting horrors.
- You thought that was disgusting?
(laughter)
Wait til you see what's next.
- If you liked that episode of WTF 101, I have good news.
There's way more of it on Dropout.
- Ooh, tell me more.
- Well Dropout is a new, premium, ad-free,
and uncensored comedy platform from College Humor.
- Where do we sign up?
- Just go to Dropout.tv and start your free trial today.
- Free trial?
- But we want to give you our money.
- Ho ho how's everyone enjoying the wondrous land
of California?