1 Origin of the Term “Con Man”
The term “con man” (or “con artist”) stands for “confidence man” and inspired the use of “con” as a verb. These terms gained popularity during the mid-1800s.
2. Hoaxers, showmen, and con artists invented most so-called “medieval torture devices” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many of these devices, which are displayed in museums around the world, are actually fake.
3. An American con artist named Anthony Gignac posed as a member of Saudi royalty and defrauded investors of $8.1 million over several years. Authorities caught him in 2017 when the supposed Muslim prince ordered pork at a restaurant. In 2019, a court sentenced him to 18 years in prison.
4. A Brazilian con artist named Carlos Kaiser built a decade-long career as a football player from 1979 to 1992 by signing with multiple teams without ever playing a single game. On the one occasion he nearly had to play, he started a fight to get a red card and avoid taking the field.
5. In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay went missing in San Antonio, Texas. Three years later, a 23-year-old French con artist named Frédéric Bourdin impersonated Nicholas and lived with his family for months. Despite his French accent and different-colored eyes, he managed to fool them. Authorities eventually arrested him, and he served six years in prison. He claims to have assumed at least 500 false identities.
6 Van Brink’s Ruby Scam and Offshore Bank
In 1997, a bankrupt con artist from Oregon named Van Brink opened an offshore bank in Grenada by fraudulently claiming ownership of a $20 million 4-pound ruby. The actual owner of the ruby, a man in California, was unaware of the scam.
7. Victor Lustig, a notorious con artist, famously “sold” the Eiffel Tower twice in 1925 to scrap metal dealers in one of history’s most daring scams.
8. The phrase “let the cat out of the bag” originated in the late Middle Ages. Con artists would place a cat in a bag and claim it was a piglet. Buyers often agreed on a price without inspecting the contents, leading to later laws granting the right to inspect products before purchase.
9. In 1806, a con artist named Mary Bateman inscribed “Christ is coming” on chicken eggs and then reinserted them into the chickens. She charged a penny for people to witness the “miraculous” eggs being laid. Authorities later executed her for murder, and strips of her skin were sold as charms to ward off evil spirits.
10. A scam artist named Dennis Lee Montgomery deceived multiple U.S. government agencies into spending over $20 million on fake intelligence software. In 2003, the CIA grounded a U.S.-bound flight after the software flagged a credible threat. An investigation later revealed the con.
11 Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy’s Necklace Scam
In 1784, Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, a French noblewoman and a con artist, tricked a cardinal into buying a $15.1 million diamond necklace by pretending to be a confidante of Marie Antoinette. This scam caused irreparable damage to the Crown’s reputation and fueled support for the French Revolution.
12. Sonya Golden Hand was a Russian con artist who carried out several meticulously planned robberies and stole tens of thousands of rubles in the 1880s. Authorities eventually captured her and exiled her to a penal colony. After she attempted to escape while disguised as a guard, they placed her in solitary confinement.
13. German con artist Victor Lustig created and sold a “money box” he claimed could print $100 bills. Victims, eager for profit, paid a high price for the machine, which contained six to nine genuine $100 bills for demonstration. However, it produced only blank paper afterward.
14. Con artist Frank Abagnale, famously portrayed in Catch Me If You Can, fabricated most of his story. His autobiography, which recounted his supposed crimes, turned out to be the most successful con he ever pulled.
15. The German con artist Victor Lustig once even tricked Al Capone out of $5,000 by convincing him to invest $50,000 in a scam. After two months, he returned the full amount, claiming the scam had failed and he had no money left to support himself. Touched by his “honesty,” Capone gave him $5,000 to “tide him over.”
16 Lou Pearlman’s Ponzi Scheme and Music Scams
Music producer Lou Pearlman, who managed both the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, was also a con artist who defrauded them out of millions. He later orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, leaving investors with over $300 million in losses.
17. In 1849 New York, a man approached strangers, gained their trust, and asked, “Do you have the confidence to trust me with your watch until tomorrow?” He never returned the watches. When authorities caught him, they labeled him a “confidence man,” a term later shortened to “con man.”
18. A con artist named L.W. Wright tricked officials into letting him compete in a NASCAR race in the spring of 1982. Despite making it to the race, he was black-flagged after just 13 laps because he lacked the skills of a real race car driver. Afterward, he disappeared and has remained in hiding, with warrants issued for his arrest.
19. From 1821 to 1837, a Scottish con artist named General Gregor MacGregor orchestrated the “Poyais Scheme,” convincing the public in the UK that he ruled a paradise-like, nonexistent Kingdom of Poyais. He even wrote a constitution and established Poyais embassies in the UK to bolster his deception.
20. George C. Parker was a notorious con man who repeatedly “sold” the Brooklyn Bridge to unsuspecting tourists. Some buyers even attempted to erect toll barriers on the bridge.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Nik Russian’s Reality TV Con
In 2002, a British man named Nik Russian conned 30 people into believing they were part of a reality TV series. Many “contestants” gave up their homes and jobs, only to end up sleeping on the floor of the cameraman’s flat. Authorities never pursued a criminal case against the perpetrator.
22. The “melon drop” scam, which is common among con men in Europe, targets Japanese tourists by exploiting their familiarity with high fruit prices in Japan. Scammers would purchase a watermelon cheaply, then bump into a tourist and demand around $100 for the supposedly broken melon. Today, the scam often involves other broken items.
23. During the response to a major bridge collapse in Oklahoma in 2002, an ex-con impersonated a U.S. Army captain and took control of the disaster site. He directed FBI agents, commandeered vehicles and equipment, and led rescue efforts for two days before fleeing the scene.
24. In 2015, two con men in Spain sold a fake Goya painting for €1.5 million, only to discover that the buyer had paid them with counterfeit money.
25. A scambaiter named Mike tricked a “Nigerian Prince” scammer into sending $80 by pretending to be Father Hector Barnett of “The Church of the Painted Breast.” Mike then convinced the scammer to participate in the church’s fictitious initiation process.
RE: Fact #17 (The First “Confidence Man” in New York) – Tobias: Nah, can’t do it. Got an audition tomorrow. It’s a small but important part in a movie called Confidence Man 2.
Gob: Oh really? I missed the first one.
Tobias: Nope… ‘Confidence Man 2’ is my character’s name.
I’m not really getting this.
Gob thinks his movie’s called “Confidence Man 2,” but he’s clueless because he’s never actually seen it. Turns out, Tobias just means he plays a character named “Confidence Man 2.”
RE: Fact #31 (Emmanuel Nwude’s $242 Million Scam) – Seriously, some of these scammers are incredibly brazen.
And if you’re buying an airport, checking if it actually exists seems pretty basic. If you can’t be bothered to do that, you only have yourself to blame.
RE: Fact #23 (Ex-Con Impersonates U.S. Army Captain) – So, why would an army captain think they could boss around FBI agents or cops?
I had the same thought! Maybe the Army Corps of Engineers handles the bridge/river stuff? They do tons of dam, canal, and river work in the Midwest, right?
My best guess is they showed up, he was the first official there, so they relied on him to handle things since he supposedly knew what to do, instead of him taking charge.
RE: Fact #16 (Lou Pearlman’s Ponzi Scheme and Music Scams) – Is that song about him?
RE: Fact #22 (The Melon Drop Scam) – That still goes on in some pricey parts of NYC, like with expensive stuff, say Hennessy. They’ll bump into you, “accidentally” break a bottle of water, and try to make you feel bad about it. You know the drill—if you’re not at fault, just walk away.
RE: Fact #4 (Carlos Kaiser’s Football Scam) – Those teams—Flamengo, Boyafogo, Vasco da Gama, Independiente, and Fluminense—are seriously good in South America, so I’m impressed by his skills.
RE: Fact #21 (Nik Russian’s Reality TV Con) – I loved the guy who tricked a bunch of people into believing he was a spy, recruiting them for MI5.
RE: Fact #7 (Victor Lustig’s Eiffel Tower Scams) – The Eiffel Tower? It was only meant to be temporary! They built it that way to show off new building methods at a fair in Paris. It didn’t become a huge symbol of France until after the World Wars.
RE: Fact #7 (Victor Lustig’s Eiffel Tower Scams) – Pretty funny how his name means “funny” in German.
RE: Fact #18 (L.W. Wright’s Fake NASCAR Race) – This could totally be a great movie, even though I’m not into racing.
RE: Fact #5 (Frédéric Bourdin’s Impersonation of Nicholas Barclay) – The family likely figured he wasn’t really related. They had good reason to act like he was their missing kid—his uncle might have been involved in his vanishing, and the family probably helped keep it quiet.
RE: Fact #28 (Nigerian House-Selling Scam) – Is Nigeria even real, or are we just getting ripped off sending aid to a fake place?
RE: Fact #48 (Silicone Mask Impersonation Scam) – That’s totally impossible!
RE: Fact #27 (Chris Marquis’ Online Scam Tragedy) – Just drop your Rune plate here, hit Alt+F4, then grab it – it’ll be trimmed!
Hey, your password gets hidden as you type it! See? ********
hunter2
RE: Fact #3 (Anthony Gignac: Saudi Prince Impersonator) – He ripped people off for eight million bucks, but didn’t know Muslims don’t eat pork? Seriously?
What’s the difference between being savvy and being smart?
RE: Fact #14 (Frank Abagnale’s Autobiographical Con) – If we get a 1950s Tom Hanks, I don’t really care where the story came from.
RE: Fact #27 (Chris Marquis’ Online Scam Tragedy) – Don’t give out your address if you’re planning to rip someone off.
RE: Fact #28 (Nigerian House-Selling Scam) – My neighbor’s house was targeted by a Nigerian scammer. A guy showed up asking about the owners, saying they were in Nigeria on some mission and needed to rent the place out. He couldn’t even show me the keys until I gave him a deposit. I’d just moved in and had no idea who owned the place, but I told him it sounded fishy—”Nigeria?!” Seriously.
RE: Fact #13 (Victor Lustig’s Money-Printing Scam) – They never even considered why someone with a money printer would sell it, I guess.
RE: Fact #2 (Fake Medieval Torture Devices) – As a kid at Medieval Times (a US restaurant with a torture device room for the family to enjoy), I always wondered how those weapons, so obviously deadly, could ever be used for torture. Then, in high school, I wrote a report and realized they were fake. It all made sense after that.
After checking out that crazy torture stuff – seriously, it was awful – I asked the guy at the gate if it was all real. He said, “Yep, as real as this castle we’re in.”
Wow, great answer! That guy deserves a raise.
Medieval Times is seriously weird, business-wise.
Haven’t done it yet? Grab some friends and go! You’ll have a blast.
Seriously? An entertainment place next to Knott’s Berry Farm? They said the knights drank Diet Pepsi!
RE: Fact #47 (The One Ring Telephone Scam) – When’s the last time you picked up from a number you didn’t recognize?
Job hunting.
RE: Fact #26 (A Taste of Your Own Medicine) – He’s trying something he knows is gonna fail. Brutal.
RE: Fact #26 (A Taste of Your Own Medicine) – He got a taste of his own medicine, it seems.
RE: Fact #2 (Fake Medieval Torture Devices) – Seriously, the worst torture tools are probably already in your garage. Think old knives, pliers, rope… maybe even a coal stove if you’re feeling extra creative. It’s basically all blacksmithing stuff, which I bet was their day job anyway.
Hammer, pliers, and a screwdriver.
Afternoon TV
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast has a great episode, “Painfotainment,” about executioners and torturers—apparently, it was a full-time gig back then! Things probably varied from place to place, though.
I was obsessed with Hardcore History. Gotta get back into that; he’s amazing.
I got totally sucked into reading about executions in WW2, and I found out some wild stuff. Being a hangman was apparently a respected job, needing a certain personality and demeanor. It was a profession, you know, requiring training and perfecting old techniques to carry out justice precisely. They were executioners, not torturers. Like you said, the skills and knowledge often ran in families. Albert Pierrepoint is a good example—he took over from his dad and uncle, and he took his job seriously, seeing it as a sacred duty to treat prisoners with dignity after sentencing, before they met their maker. He even criticized the botched hangings at Nuremberg—the US military guy, John Woods, was a real amateur. Poor rope work meant strangulation instead of a quick break of the neck, and bad positioning meant prisoners hitting the sides and getting their noses ripped off! I wonder if the Allies did that on purpose, to make sure the Axis prisoners didn’t get an easy death, but who knows? One more thing: Pierrepoint, who hung over 600 people, didn’t think capital punishment was a deterrent. He even had to hang a regular from his own pub—a guy who knew exactly what Pierrepoint did for a living.
Turns out, whacking someone with a giant wagon wheel until they’re practically broken is a pretty brutal way to go.
RE: Fact #35 (Babani Sissoko’s Magical Money Scam) – 21.5 days in jail for almost $240 million?
*taps calculator*
Whoa. That’s like $11 million a day, profit.
Um… anyone know how to summon a genie?
RE: Fact #25 (Mike’s Scambaiter Con) – He totally turned the tables on that scammer!
RE: Fact #4 (Carlos Kaiser’s Football Scam) – That movie’s awesome! It’s incredible how he kept landing gigs.
RE: Fact #23 (Ex-Con Impersonates U.S. Army Captain) – Was he any good?
Seems like he didn’t do anything helpful, just used it to steal.
He just paid himself for a couple of days’ work, that’s all.
Pretty much the same as what the feds are doing these days.
I spent twenty years in corrections, including three years running a halfway house in Indy. The state and county guys were mostly your typical low-level offenders—poor, struggling with drugs and alcohol. But the feds? Man, some of those guys were straight-up crazy. They’d pull off these bizarre, egotistical stunts, throwing away years just to see if they could get away with it. I felt bad for them all, but I’m glad I finally got out.
So, turns out things got even more messed up when this guy, William James Clark, pretended to be a U.S. Army captain and took over the whole rescue operation for 48 hours. He bossed around FBI agents, grabbed whatever vehicles and equipment he wanted, and then just disappeared. And get this – he’d already been in trouble with the law twice before! They finally caught him in Canada.
Seriously, he came back a second day? That’s impressive.
So, the big question is: lots of super smart ex-cons could really help here, but that impersonation thing is a bit of a problem.
He totally ripped off a pickup truck, scored a free hotel stay, and even grabbed some of the guy’s stuff. Seems like a lot of work for so little gain.
RE: Fact #24 (Spanish Goya Painting Scam) – So, the brothers used a machine to check the cash was real, but the go-between swapped it out before they jetted off to Switzerland. And to make things worse, they’d already paid the guy who set them up with the sheikh a €300,000 bonus! They even borrowed €300,000 from a friend, promising to pay them back the next day with an extra €80,000.
The bottom line is, be the go-between.
I bet the middleman and the “sheikh” were in cahoots. This whole thing reeks of an advance-fee scam, just a weird twist on it.
Eventually, people will stop using you, or you’ll make an enemy powerful enough to cause serious trouble.
This is some seriously slick stuff.
RE: Fact #3 (Anthony Gignac: Saudi Prince Impersonator) – He was in and out of jail all the time! What I loved was how he used being Colombian—people couldn’t tell him apart from a Saudi, haha. There’s this awesome article about his crazy antics.
Seriously, that article goes on forever! I can’t believe all those people, businesses, and banks just handed him money and stuff – just because he looked the part and showed some papers.
RE: Fact #25 (Mike’s Scambaiter Con) – Wow, I thought a virus-ridden honeypot router was exciting, but this makes me want to check my junk mail.
Ignore what the news says—you don’t need anyone’s permission to paint your breast.
RE: Fact #4 (Carlos Kaiser’s Football Scam) – This is insane! He got away with it for over two decades without anyone—teammates, trainers, coaches, or the owner—ever saying a word. Completely unbelievable!
That guy was clever. He faked injuries, made excuses, and then jumped ship to another team before anyone caught on. He also played the media, getting journalists and other players to write him up, even though half of what they said wasn’t true. And during the fan training session? He just tossed all the balls to the crowd – they loved it!
So, he told the club owner he had to fight back because they were dissing him, saying the owner was like a father figure. Got his contract renewed because of it.
RE: Fact #5 (Frédéric Bourdin’s Impersonation of Nicholas Barclay) – I’m, like, your long-lost son…
It was a doc, right? He didn’t look anything like the kid, but the family took him in anyway. The scam theory is they offed the kid, which is why they were so insistent on keeping him and dodging DNA tests.
This whole thing is messed up! What was his deal?
Hey, it’s me, your long-lost son.
He dressed like a teen, walked all proper, hid his balding head under a baseball cap, and used that face cream to get rid of hair.
Hey there, guys!
RE: Fact #6 (Van Brink’s Ruby Scam and Offshore Bank) – Brink and his buddies blew investors’ money on stuff like a huge yacht called “Offshore Funs”.
If you’re gonna do something illegal, at least do it properly.
Yeah, they can throw you in jail and seize your assets, but that crazy yacht party? Pictures and videos of that will live on forever.
RE: Fact #49 (The Great Oil Sniffer Hoax) – Even though Bonassoli’s “sniffer” was fake, geologists really do use gravity to find oil—they use super-sensitive equipment. It works because gravity depends on how heavy something is, and oil deposits have a different density than the rock around them.
RE: Fact #22 (The Melon Drop Scam) – I almost got scammed in India, but I figured out a quick way to get rid of them. Just threaten them, and they’ll run. Seriously, these scammers are persistent until you make them really scared for their lives.
I figured out a quick way to get rid of them: pull a knife. Factrepublic, dude.
RE: Fact #28 (Nigerian House-Selling Scam) – This wasn’t just a Nigerian thing. It was a common Craigslist scam – fake real estate photos, asking for deposits upfront to “secure” the rental.
I moved to a new state two years ago. My house sat empty for half a year while I fixed it up and got it ready to sell. Three different times, I found it listed for rent on Zillow—some people were trying to scam renters out of their deposits by pretending it was available! I had to remove those listings each time. I’m not sure how they planned to get away with it, since my realtor checked on the house often, and a close friend lived nearby and kept an eye on things too.
If the inside photos don’t look right for that house, it’s probably a scam.
RE: Fact #24 (Spanish Goya Painting Scam) – That’s a pretty solid overview of the art scene.
RE: Fact #14 (Frank Abagnale’s Autobiographical Con) – So, Abagnale pretended to be a TWA pilot for a short time and became buddies with a flight attendant, Paula Parks. He tracked her all over the East Coast, figured out her work schedule sneakily, and basically followed her around.
His story about being on the run from the FBI across the US and even other countries from ages 16 to 20? Total fabrication. I checked the records, and he was mostly in jail.
Turns out, his young life wasn’t so exciting after all.
He’d stalked this girl, and after she finally gave him a shot, he stole $1200 from her family. She’d even introduced him to her parents in Baton Rouge – they all loved him! Then he ripped them off.
Back then, people seemed to think stalking and harassment meant “Wow, he’s really into you! He’d be a great husband!”
Lots of folks buy into that falsehood.
People craved a super badass who could outsmart the banks, the government, and the airlines.
Seriously? I’ve seen this all over factrepublic since that guy’s book came out. Seems like everyone just wanted to believe the Spielberg movie with Hanks and DiCaprio.
Now that it’s looking pretty obvious it was all a lie, people are wondering why Spielberg didn’t get it right before making the movie.
RE: Fact #5 (Frédéric Bourdin’s Impersonation of Nicholas Barclay) – Check out the documentary “The Imposter”—it’s really good if you’re into that sort of thing.
Seriously, that movie was amazing—the best documentary I’ve ever seen! I’m not sure if it’s still on Netflix, but you should totally check it out.
I noticed something weird: only the Impostor looked right at the camera. Everyone else was filmed from the side.
RE: Fact #3 (Anthony Gignac: Saudi Prince Impersonator) – So, if that’s all it takes, why aren’t all those Saudi princes partying overseas with booze and women getting investigated?
RE: Fact #26 (A Taste of Your Own Medicine) – This story’s about a shoemaker who, broke and desperate, started pretending to be a doctor. He sold a fake cure-all and got famous just by bragging. Then, the governor tricked him into drinking his own “medicine,” and the shoemaker confessed he knew nothing about healing. The governor then called everyone out for trusting a guy who couldn’t even make decent shoes, let alone cure them! It’s possible that [the phrase] came from this story, even if it’s not directly mentioned in any versions I’ve seen.
RE: Fact #19 (General MacGregor’s Poyais Scheme) – So, this Scottish guy, Gregor MacGregor, was basically a soldier, adventurer, and a *really* good con artist. From 1821 to 1837, he tricked British and French people into investing in and moving to “Poyais,” a country he totally made up. Hundreds lost their life savings buying fake bonds and land, and about 250 actually went there – only to find a jungle. Over half of them died. It’s considered one of history’s biggest scams.
Yeah, a national-level troll. A clever Scotsman caused the deaths of dozens.
RE: Fact #15 (Victor Lustig’s Scam of Al Capone) – Victor Lustig, a pro con man, famously sold the Eiffel Tower—twice!—for scrap. He also tricked people into buying a fake money machine. His Eiffel Tower caper is well-known, but his Al Capone scam is way funnier.
He also ran a huge fake money operation with two guys from Nebraska. They made the fake bills, and Lustig handled distribution. For five years, they pumped thousands of fake dollars into the economy, even getting it nicknamed “Lustig money”! But it got too big, and the feds noticed.
His girlfriend, Billy May, found out he was cheating on her and ratted him out. He got busted in 1935. Even though he spilled the beans on his partners, he played dumb. But they found a key on him that opened a locker full of fake cash and printing plates—busted!
He escaped prison once, but they caught him. He pleaded guilty, got fifteen years in Alcatraz plus five more for escaping. He died of pneumonia in 1947. His death certificate said he was an “apprentice salesman.”
RE: Fact #2 (Fake Medieval Torture Devices) – Wait, so my torture dungeon isn’t historically accurate?
RE: Fact #9 (Mary Bateman’s Miraculous Egg Scam) – Wow, that got out of hand fast.
RE: Fact #8 (The Origin of “Let the Cat Out of the Bag”) – Spilling the beans stops people from getting ripped off, right?