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Frank Abagnale, masqueraded as a pilot, doctor and professor
Tino De Angelis, who sold rights to $175 million in soybean oil stored in tanks, which was actually a thin layer of oil floating on water. Arnold and Slack, Phillip Arnold and John Slack, perpetrators of the 1871 "Great Diamond Hoax" in San Francisco. William Ralston paid Slack and Arnold three hundred thousand dollars for worthless land but eventually repaid investors in his North American Diamond Mines. Howard Berg, with the same con as Kevin Trudeau (see below) Lou Blonger, organized massive bunco ring in Denver in early 1900's Tony & Sharon Bonicci, also known as Christie & McLean, Australian confidence artists, who rip off innocent elderly people for all their savings and possessions Gregory Caplinger, impersonated a doctor and scammed his patients into using his "miracle drug" ImmuStim which he claimed was a cure for cancer, AIDS, allergies, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and several other conditions. Bernie Cornfeld ran what is to date the greatest scam in history, taking in just under $2.5 billion in what was later realized to be a Ponzi scheme. Louis Enricht, U.S. chemist who claimed to have made a substitute for gasoline Billie Sol Estes, who was paid to produce millions in quotas of cotton, which never existed. LBJ was implicated by Estes in taking payoffs to ignore the scam, which took place in Texas. Arthur Ferguson Scottish con artist Robert Hendy-Freegard, British confidence artist who kidnapped people by telling them he was an MI5 agent and they were being hunted by terrorists, then took them on the run, conned them out of money and emotionally manipulated them; convicted in 2005[1] Uri Geller, a famous but controversial alleged psychic and television personality Nate Heller American con artist Susanna Mildred Hill, U.S. woman who fooled potential suitors Kaz DeMille Jacobsen, Australian fraudulent 9/11 "motivational speaker" Mikailo Jefferson, Singaporean con artist Henri Lemoine, French diamond faker Peter Llewellyn who almost tricked the Russians to get a lift on the space station Mir Victor Lustig, sold the Eiffel Tower Gregor MacGregor, Scottish conman who tried to attract investment and settlers for a non-existent country of Poyais George Parker, who sold New York monuments Charles Ponzi, who ran a pyramid scheme (though he did not invent them) and became so closely identified with them that they are also known as Ponzi schemes. Raymond Price, British confidence artist who cons people out of money by telling them his car has broken down and he needs a train fare home; mentioned in the book Join Me-the book Lobsang Rampa, who claimed to be occupied by the spirit of a Tibetan Lama. Christopher Skase Soapy Smith, infamous 19th century confidence gang boss. Denver, Colorado, Skagway, Alaska Lolit Solis, who was responsible for the 1994 Manila Filmfest scam. Later confessed and apologized. William Thompson, American criminal whose deceptions caused the term "confidence man" to be coined. Kevin Trudeau, who claimed to be able to cure brain damage, increase reading speed in customers up to and beyond the rate of 10000 words per minute, and develop photographic memory. Joseph Weil, also known as The Yellow Kid, one of the inspirations for the Academy-award winning film The Sting. |
