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Perhaps one of the most audacious scams ever pulled was the so-called “sale” of the Eiffel Tower. In 1925, Austro-Hungarian con artist Victor Lustig capitalized on debates about the landmark’s maintenance costs and potential removal. Forging government documents and posing as an official, he invited a carefully selected group of scrap metal dealers to place bids on the supposed demolition project.
A man named André Poisson, the most eager in the group, paid a hefty sum to secure the monumentally bogus contract. After getting paid, Lustig hightailed it to Austria to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. Proving that truth is stranger than fiction, though, he later returned to Paris to attempt the con again, but when his next target grew suspicious and tipped off the authorities, Lustig escaped once more, this time to the US.
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Fast forward to 2015 and we have “Dieselgate”, a scam of epic proportions. In an effort to cheat emissions regulations, German car giant Volkswagen (VW) fitted a “defeat device” to their diesel engines. The software detected when they were being tested, changing the performance to con the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
After being busted for violations of the Clean Air Act, though, VW recalled millions of cars worldwide and was forced into a multi-billion-dollar settlement. That resulted in the company posting its first quarterly loss for 15 years of €2.5bn, but perhaps the true cost was that of a severely tarnished reputation for the previously beloved auto brand.
Some scams go on for a while before they’re found out. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes made the covers of both Forbes and Inc. and was once even touted as the next Steve Jobs. Holmes managed to persuade investors that her breakthrough medical tech would allow scientists to conduct a wide variety of tests using just a single drop of blood.
Holmes, however, misled investors and the media about the capabilities of the technology - the company used conventional machines from other manufacturers to perform tests while claiming the results came from their Edison device. Ultimately, Holmes and former COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani both received prison sentences.
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Of course, we couldn’t publish this article without mentioning the notorious 419 scam, AKA the Nigerian Prince scam. This type of fraud involves convincing victims to provide money upfront with the promise of a large financial reward later. The term "419" comes from the section of the Nigerian Penal Code that addresses fraud. Lonely, older, and cash-strapped folks who aren’t webwise fall prey to this scam often.
In his 2015 TED talk, writer and comedian James Veitch recounts his tale of an attempted 419 scam and finds the funny side of choosing to reply to, rather than just delete, one of these hoax emails. The backwards and forwards between Veitch and his supposed scammer is truly hilarious and well worth the watch.
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So, it seems that scams and scammers will always be a part of society, and the scammer’s ambition is all that stands between an underhanded hustle and gargantuan fraud. We suggest keeping your wits about you and always remembering that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
What’s your opinion on the scams in this list? Have you ever fallen victim to one of them? Upvote your favorites, and don’t forget to comment if the urge takes you!
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