Confidence artistry requires both a tricky scheme and a victim to come down for it . In observance of the grand history of clever lies and guile , here are eight crafty con men who pulled off some bizarre yet impressive deceits .
1. The Original Confidence Man
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In 1849 , William Thompson pulled the ruse that gave birth to the term " Confidence Man . " It was so simple and laughable , only a man with Thompson ’s personal appeal would have been able to take out it off .
After some friendly conversation with a alien , Thompson take them if they had enough trust in him to “ lend ” him their sentinel for the solar day . He was a smooth talker indeed , because many handed over their cute timepieces only after a short chit - chat .
The sentry were plainly never returned , and the press in New York caught wind of Thompson ’s audacious crimes . Due to his calm demeanor that hid even thesubtlest signs of lie , Thompson became notorious as the “ confidence man ” in newspapers around town . It was the exploit of Thompson and other famous con creative person of his meter that became the inspiration for Herman Melville ’s last novel , The Confidence Man — His Masquerade .
2. The Man Who Sold The Brooklyn Bridge…Twice A Week
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George C. Parker ’s predatory tricks helped mint the phrase , " If you think that , I have a bridge to sell you . " Parkerdrafted expertly forge documentsin order to persuade tourists to buy city landmark , including the Statue of Liberty , Grant ’s Tomb , and the Brooklyn Bridge .
At the height of his exploits he " sold " the bridge doubly a week , convincing buyers that ownership would allow them to control the roadway leading into and out of Manhattan .
He was eventually caught and was sentenced to life story in prison house . Parker died in Sing Sing , only eight years after that 1928 conviction .
3. The Frenchman Who Pawned The Eiffel Tower For Scrap
Famous monuments in the 20th century were clearly valuable investment funds ventures — if only they ’d actually been for sales agreement . In 1925 , Victor Lustig decide he could make a lucre bypawning off the Eiffel Tower . He appointed himself Deputy Director of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs and occupy bids from French bit metal dealers after telling them the pillar was to be tear down . Andre Poisson won the bid , but when the column was never dismantled , he was too mortify to report the scam to authorities .
Later in his life , Lustig traveled to the U.S. where he tried his hand at fake by sell a currency - duplicating " money box seat " to greedy but unsuspecting dupes . He was finally arrested , but soon escaped from his jail cell . When he was see again , he was sentence to serve time in Alcatraz . He never made it there as he contracted pneumonia and pass away shortly after his conviction . On hisdeath security , Lustig ’s moving in was listed as " Salesman . "
4. The Scot Who Shipped Boatloads Of Investors to a Country That Didn’t Exist
What grander way to practice fraud than to cook up an integral nation ? Designating himself the prince of “ Poyais , ” a large island nation near Honduras , Gregor MacGregor convinced English and Scottish investor to develop on this legendary nation . He secernate them grand tales of full-bodied harvest , friendly aboriginal , and even gold floating down lechatelierite clear current . MacGregor might have been a little off himself — some maintain that he believed in the mythical Poyais as much as anyone .
By the end of his first detailed publicity campaign , MacGregor negociate to meet seven ship of Scots for the voyage . The first two ships made it to Honduras , where the investors had to root the unforgiving land themselves , and many wound up die there . The British Navy finally caught twist of MacGregor ’s scheme and he was finally uncover , yet many of the investors refused to implicate him ( perhaps they still held out hope for Poyais ) .
MacGregor moved to France and tried the Poyais design again , but he was found out and imprisoned for 13 month . After his freeing , he flee to Venezuela to avoid paying back his old debts .
5. The “Princess of Javasu”
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In 1817 , a hungry and fatigued young woman wandered the street of Almondsbury , near Bristol , England . She wore a pitch-black turban and plain mordant apparel and spoke in an incomprehensible linguistic communication . A well - heeled woman and her husband , Elizabeth and Samuel Worrall , have her in , and after fetch in various foreigners to taste to decipher the cryptical unknown ’s language , a Portuguese sailor claim to realise her . He claim she was royal line from the island of Javasu and that her name was “ Princess Caraboo . ”
The Princess received huge notoriety as a gem from nameless land who had been abduct by plagiariser , abandoned ship , and miraculously made her mode to Bristol . After being discovered on the street , Caraboo lived with the Worralls and was do by like a treasured celebrity . Word spread quickly , and " Caraboo " was set up out when a nearby lodging house owner recognized the girl ’s picture in a newspaper . She had stayed in her house recently and entertained the woman ’s daughter with her made - up terminology .
The " princess " was really Mary Willcocks , a deep-dish pie ’s daughter from the not - so - exotic land of Devon , England . She had been prove to kowtow money together to travel to Philadelphia when her con fill a turn for the fabulously strange .
6 . The Undistinguished Poet Who Invented A Gaelic Homer
Ossian und Malvina by Johann Peter Krafft
James Macpherson ’s first book of poems , The Highlander , was a fizzle . He made up for his red ink by claim to have discovered Gaelic manuscripts by Ossian , a " long - lose " heroic poet from the third century . The world was stupefy by this re - discovery of a long - bury bard , and Ossian ’s full treatment were translated into multiple languages .
Despite skepticism among some bookman of the manuscripts ’ authenticity , none of Macpherson ’s critic were able to definitively confute him . He went on to produce successful industrial plant and other translations under his own name , and his career was owe to that original " find " of Ossian .
It was n’t until after Macpherson ’s death that the work of Ossian wereconfirmed as forgery and of his own world . Still , some regard the serial as significant in its own rightfulness .
7. The World-Famous Pianist’s Dubious Records
Joyce Hatto , the “ piano genius who never was , ” was a professional pianist whose moderately successful career was trim back short by illness . She apparently devoted the last years of her sprightliness to immortalise an impressive collection of very intriguing classical pieces , despite the agonizing pain in the ass of recent - level ovarian Crab . When her hubby and agent William Barrington - Coupe released those performance , she earned posthumous plaudits as being “ among the greatest piano player Britain has ever produced . ”
It turn out that this was too well to be true . In 2007 , it was revealed that Barrington - Coupe had spliced together over 100 recordings of both Hatto and unacknowledged other pianist and released them exclusively under Hatto ’s name . The widowman had made an invented record album that his belated wife had never actually produced .
The record companies and artists who could have action Barrington - Coupe throw away the issue , however , due to his age and the difficultness of proving whose body of work was inserted where , and the elderly man never faced charges .
8. India’s Ultimate Con Man
Plenty of fleeceable tourists have been goaded into buying phoney wares from venal merchandiser , but how many would fall for purchasing India ’s most noted monument ?
Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava — also known as Natwarlal—“sold " foreign tourer the Taj Majal three time , as well as the Red Fort and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan , which is the presidential palace .
India ’s most famous con manwas also wanted in more than 100 criminal case cross five decades , and he had a cumulative sentence of 113 years by various Amerindic courts . He never served much fourth dimension , however , as he repeatedly escape . One clip , while fake illness , he even convinced the officer taking him to the infirmary to terminate at a five - star hotel on the agency to pick up some Johnny Cash he had squirrel away there , which he ’d promised to share with the cop . ( Naturally , Natwaral get away . )
He was known to show up at miserable villages and pass on out solid food and money , earning him the reputation as a modern - day Robin Hood . He has a more lasting bequest , however : Any con mankind who tries to pull off an impressive fraud in India is now called " Natwarlal . "
