Scams and Fraud: The World’s Worst 5 Cases

No. 3: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

Photo Credit: Terrazzo

Victor Lustig conducted several scams and cons throughout his lifetime and at one point he even managed to fool Al Capone, but he will forever be remembered as The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower. In 1925, France, rumors were circulating that Parisian authorities were finding it increasingly difficult to keep up maintenance of their prized landmark, the Eiffel Tower. Lusting took advantage of this information and managed to convince a metal scrap dealer that the Tower would be sold. He ended up taking a hefty sum of money from the dealer who, after discovering he was scammed, was too embarrassed to report the incident to the police.