List of real-life con artists
Encyclopedia
Born in the 18th century or earlier
- William ChalonerWilliam ChalonerWilliam Chaloner was a serial offender counterfeit coiner and confidence trickster, who was imprisoned in Newgate Prison several times and eventually proven guilty of High Treason by Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the Royal Mint...
(1650s/1665 – 1699): Serial counterfeiter and confidence trickster proven guilty by Sir Isaac Newton - Gregor MacGregorGregor MacGregorGregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, land speculator, and colonizer who fought in the South American struggle for independence. Upon his return to England in 1820, he claimed to be cacique of Poyais...
(1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of "Poyais"
Born or active in the 19th century
- Lou BlongerLou BlongerLou Blonger , born Louis Herbert Belonger, was a Wild West saloonkeeper, gambling-house owner, and mine speculator, but is best known as the kingpin of an extensive ring of confidence tricksters that operated for more than 25 years in Denver, Colorado...
(1849–1924): organized massive ring of con men in Denver in early 1900s - Bertha HeymanBertha HeymanBertha Heyman was a 19th-century American criminal, also known as "Big Bertha" or the "Confidence Queen." She was described by famed New York City detective Thomas F...
(born c. 1851) was active in the United States in the late 19th century. - Canada Bill JonesCanada Bill JonesCanada Bill Jones was the working nickname of William Jones, a noted confidence artist, riverboat gambler and card sharp. He has been described as "without doubt the greatest three-card-monte sharp ever to work the boats, perhaps the greatest of them all."-Life:Born in a Romnichal tent in...
(?-1880): king of the three-card monteThree-card MonteThree-card Monte, also known as the Three-card marney, Three-card trick, Three-Way, Three-card shuffle, Menage-a-card, Triplets, Follow the lady, Les Trois Perdants , le Bonneteau, Find the lady, or Follow the Bee is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a...
men. - Victor LustigVictor LustigVictor Lustig was a con artist who undertook scams in various countries and became best known as "The man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice."-Early life:...
(1890–1947): born in BohemiaBohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
(today's Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) and known as "the man who sold the Eiffel TowerEiffel TowerThe Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
" - George C. ParkerGeorge C. ParkerGeorge Parker was one of the most audacious con men in American history. He made his living selling New York's public landmarks to unwary tourists. His favorite object for sale was the Brooklyn Bridge, which he sold twice a week for years. He convinced his marks that they could make a fortune by...
(1870–1936): U.S. con man who sold New York monuments to tourists, including most famously the Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
, which he sold twice a week for years. - Charles PonziCharles PonziCarlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi, , commonly known as Charles Ponzi, was a businessman and con artist in the U.S. and Canada. Born in Italy, he became known as a swindler in North America for his money making scheme. His aliases include Charles Ponei, Charles P. Bianchi, Carl and Carlo...
(1882–1949): "Ponzi schemePonzi schemeA Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
" is a "get rich fast" fraud named after him - Soapy SmithSoapy SmithJefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado; Creede, Colorado; and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898. He was killed in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf...
(1860-1898): Jefferson Randolph Smith II organized bunco and crime boss in Denver, Creede, ColoradoCreede, ColoradoThe historic town of Creede is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Mineral County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 377 at the U.S. Census 2000.-History:...
, and Skagway, AlaskaSkagway, AlaskaSkagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...
in the 1880s-1890s. - William ThompsonWilliam Thompson (confidence man)William Thompson was an American criminal whose deceptions caused the term "confidence man" to be coined.Operating in New York City in the late 1840s, a gently-dressed Thompson would approach an upper-class mark, pretending they knew each other, and begin a brief conversation...
(active in 1840–1849): U.S. criminal whose deceptions caused the term confidence man to be coined - Joseph WeilJoseph WeilJoseph "Yellow Kid" Weil was one of the best known American con men of his era. Weil's biographer, W. T. Brannon, wrote of Weil's "...uncanny knowledge of human nature." Over the course of his career, Weil is reputed to have stolen more than $8 million."Each of my victims had larceny in his...
(1875–1976): one of the most famous American con men of his era
Born or active in the 20th century
- Bernie CornfeldBernard CornfeldBernard "Bernie" Cornfeld was a prominent businessman and international financier who sold investments in US mutual funds, and was tried and acquitted for orchestrating one of the most lucrative confidence games of his era.-Early life:Bernard Cornfeld was born in Turkey...
(1927–1995): ran the Investors Overseas ServiceInvestors Overseas ServiceInvestors Overseas Services, Ltd. was founded in 1955 by financier Bernard Cornfeld. The company was incorporated outside the United States with funds in Canada and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. In the 1960s, the company employed 25,000 people who sold 18 different mutual funds...
, alleged to be a Ponzi scheme - Ferdinand Waldo DemaraFerdinand Waldo DemaraFerdinand Waldo Demara, Jr. , known as "the Great Impostor", masqueraded as many people from monks to surgeons to prison wardens...
(1921-1982): famed as "The Great Imposter." - Kenneth LayKenneth LayKenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
(1942-2006): The American businessman who built energy company EnronEnronEnron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
, but was convicted of fraud and conspiracy.
Living people
- Frank AbagnaleFrank AbagnaleFrank William Abagnale, Jr. is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, impostor, and escape artist...
(1948): U.S. check forger and impostor; his autobiography was made into the movie Catch Me If You CanCatch Me If You CanCatch Me If You Can is a 2002 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor...
. - Sergio CragnottiSergio CragnottiSergio Cragnotti is an Italian entrepreneur and author.One of the most high-profile and wealthy business figures in Italy in recent times, Cragnotti is best known for having been President of S.S. Lazio. However, his most influential position was as head of food conglomerate Cirio...
(1940): Former Italian industrialist and president of a football team, masterminded the CirioCirioCirio S.p.A. is a major Italian food company.It was founded in 1856 in Turin, Italy....
bankrupt. - Marc Dreier (1950): Founder of Attorney firm Dreir LLP. Prosecutors allege he sold approximately $700 million worth of fictitious promissory notes.
- Kevin FosterKevin Foster (fraudster)Kevin Foster is a British investment fraudster, convicted of 14 counts of deception and theft in relation to his operation of a £34m Ponzi scheme, which ran from 2002 to 2004....
(1958/59): British investment fraudster, convicted of running a Ponzi scheme. - Robert Hendy-FreegardRobert Hendy-FreegardRobert Hendy-Freegard is a British barman, car salesman, conman and impostor who masqueraded as an MI5 agent and fooled several people to go underground for fear of IRA assassination...
(1971): Briton who kidnapped people by impersonating an MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
agent and conned them out of money. - James Arthur Hogue (1959): U.S. impostor who most famously entered Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
by posing as a self-taught orphan - Sante KimesSante KimesSante Kimes is an American felon who has been convicted of two murders, along with robbery, violation of anti-slavery laws, forgery and numerous other crimes. Many of these crimes were committed with assistance from her children, especially her son Kenneth...
convicted of fraud, robbery, murder, and over 100 other crimes - Matt the KnifeMatt the Knife"Matt the Knife" was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Boston, but now resides in Rhode Island. He is a magician and mentalist as well as the breaker of a multitude of Guinness World Records...
(1981): American-born con artist, card cheat and pickpocket who, from the ages of approximately 14 through 21, bilked dozens of casinos, corporations and at least one Mafia crime family. - Steven KunesSteven KunesSteven Kunes is an American screenwriter, author, playwright, con man, forger and plagiarist. Kunes is a convicted felon.- Background and early career :Kunes was born in 1956 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and attended New York University....
(1956): A former television screenwriter who has convictions for forgery, grand theft, and false use of financial information. In 1982 he attempted to sell a faked interview with J. D. SalingerJ. D. SalingerJerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
to PeoplePeople (magazine)In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine. - Bernard MadoffBernard MadoffBernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S...
(1938): Former American stock broker and non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market who admitted to the operation of the largest Ponzi scheme in history. - Barry MinkowBarry MinkowBarry Jay Minkow is a former businessman, pastor and convicted felon. While still in high school, he founded ZZZZ Best , which appeared to be an immensely successful carpet-cleaning and restoration company. However, it was actually a front to attract investment for a massive Ponzi scheme...
(1967): Known for the ZZZZ Best scam. - Richard Allen Minsky (1944): Scammed female victims for sex by pretending to be jailed family members over the phone.
- Steven Jay RussellSteven Jay RussellSteven Jay Russell is a U.S. con artist and impostor, known for escaping from prison multiple times. He has received numerous nicknames, including "Houdini" and "King Con." A film about his life and crimes was produced in 2009, named I Love You Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey as Steven Jay...
(1957): Georgia deputy police officer who impersonated several identities to escape from a Texas prison, and embezzled over hundreds of thousands of dollars from the North American Medical ManagementNorth American Medical ManagementNorth American Medical Management develops and manages provider networks, offering a full range of services to assist physicians and other providers in their managed care and business operations...
corporation, and most known for pretending to be dying from AIDS in order to transfer out of Prison, but later caught after trying to appeal his life-partner Phillip Morris from jail. As well, a movie titled: "I Love You Phillip MorrisI Love You Phillip MorrisI Love You Phillip Morris is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1980s and '90s real-life story of con artist, impostor, and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, as played by Jim Carrey. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris...
" - Calisto TanziCalisto TanziCalisto Tanzi is an Italian businessman notorious for embezzling an estimated eight-hundred million euros from Italian company Parmalat, founded by him, resulting in a great loss for the company. Tanzi was the founder of Parmalat and its CEO, at the time. Tanzi founded Parmalat in 1961, after...
(1938): Former Italian industrialist and president of ParmalatParmalatParmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of ultra high temperature milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14 billion hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy...
, which he led to one of the costliest bankrupts of history. - Kevin TrudeauKevin TrudeauKevin Mark Trudeau is an American author, radio personality, and infomercial salesman best known for promoting alternative medicine. A number of his television infomercials and several of his books, including Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About, allege that both the U.S...
(1963): US writer and billiards promoter, convicted of fraud and larceny, known for late-night infomercials and books about "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About".