The world has become wrought with individuals who seek to bamboozle you into forking over your hard-earned money.
There have been so many cons throughout history that have evolved as people have gotten wise to them, but the scam artists were always one step ahead and improved upon their malicious schemes to continue being on the prowl for more gullible victims.
Curious to hear examples of some of the most notorious cons, Redditor GransShortbread asked:
"What are some of the biggest scams to have happened in history?"
Caveat Emptor.
European Con Artist
"Fake selling of Eiffel tower. Twice."
– pavioko
"Victor Lustig, exactly who i thought of too."
"He had another scheme where he sold people with too much money and not enough sense a box that “duplicated currency”, and then when they realized they had been scammed they would either be too embarrassed to do anything or scared of being busted for attempting to counterfeit."
– SlainSigney
Moving To A Fictional Country
"Gregor MacGregor tricked a whole bunch of people into moving to a fake country in Central America."
– SnooChipmunks126
American Fraudster Financier
"Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme."
– neonblue3612
Italian Swindler
"Charles Ponzi’s scheme."
– Brainjacker
"Damn, he was named after the term for scamming somebody, bad luck."
– insertstalem3me
Beware of the companies you trust.
Misuses Of Funds
"US Telecom companies getting like 200 billion to expand infrastructure, which they didn't do - then using that money to f'k us over with the FCC's 'fast lanes.'"
– yalaket111
Where The Funds Were Allocated
"Most of the money went to rural ISPs who just used the money to buy off all other rural ISPs and nearly bankrupt themselves with operating costs. CenturyLink and Frontier were the worst actors. Bought up a bunch of small local ISPs and cities that Verizon and ATT wanted to give up on supporting."
"Didn't make any improvements to infrastructure. Really should have had more regulation around it because that money was essentially stolen."
– foxbones
Live Event Exploitation
"My hate for Ticketmaster is beyond anything in the world."
– aRealTattoo
"22k for Taylor swift. HAHAHAHA"
– Cornyboy100
A certain religious organization got a bad rap.
Sometimes, it's the little things.
Expensive Solution
"The price of printer ink."
– SolarGum
"This is really a thing the EU ought to regulate better. They have introduced USB-C for standardization, now please force printer companies to make new models that all adhere to one standard ink cartridge that must be able to accept any 3rd party made ones."
– Chillypill
This Cuts Deep
"Replacement razor cartridges have entered the chat."
– Hockeygoalie1114
Too Much 4 Tulips
"Tulips in the Netherlands in the 16th century. There was a point at which one tulip bud cost as much as a good house."
– Aerobiesizer
It's always good to be aware as a consumer that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Also, listen to your gut instincts when in a suspicious scenario.
My first time in New York during snowfall, a man "bumped" into me and "dropped" his glasses on the freshly accumulated snow and accused me of breaking them because I wasn't watching where I was going.
He insisted I repay him by going to the ATM and handing him $200. Being skeptical right away, I told him I didn't have my debit card on me and I offered to take his address so I can send him a check.
Considering he wasn't getting cash in that moment, he huffed and walked away. I guess he didn't really need the money.
Unfortunately, incidents like this has made me a cynic and it's made it very difficult for me to trust everyone I meet.
But is it better to always be on your guard or allow yourself to be vulnerable from time to time to avoid being judgmental?
Ultimately, that's up to you.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC