Watch: The Con Man Who Sold The Eiffel Tower For Scrap
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 IST
He has been called the smoothest con man ever
He has been called the smoothest con man ever, and his reputation is well-deserved. Victor Lustig has gone down in history as the man who "sold" the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris - not once, but twice! A video by Cheddar explores how he pulled off this incredible feat, and how he was eventually captured.
Born Robert V Miller in Austria-Hungary in 1890, Victor Lustig took on poker, gambling and pickpocketing while studying in Paris. In 1925, he was already an accomplished con man who regularly scammed people when he came across an article advocating for the demolition of the Eiffel Tower. Inspired by the newspaper article, Victor Lustig thought of his most famous scam - selling the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal.
Victor devised a plan where he would pose as a government official and "sell" the Eiffel Tower to metal scrappers. To that end, he created counterfeit documents detailing the demolition plan and even took on a new title. Victor then contacted five of the city's metal scrappers - all enamored by the idea of selling the Eiffel Tower metal for a huge amount of money - and finally zeroed in on one, Andre Poisson.
Victor then made a deal with Andre Poisson and "sold" the iconic Parisian landmark to him for 70,000 dollars in cash. In today's money, that amounts to over a million dollars!
Soon as he had the cash, Victor Lustig fled France for Austria, thereby completing his infamous Eiffel Tower scam.
But how did he manage to repeat this scam? Watch the video above to find out.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
Cryptocurrency debit card company, Monaco has acquired the valuable domain-crypto.com from owner Matt Blaze for an undisclosed fee.
Recently posted . 786 views . 1 min read
The development came merely a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from the US, where he raised the Kashmir issue in his maiden address to the UN General As...
Recently posted . 649 views . 1 min read
The baby squirrel was taken into custody after it abruptly fell asleep mid-chase
Recently posted . 497 views . 0 min read
Delhi artists uncover ‘historic racism’ in provision of mental health care during first world war
Recently posted . 710 views . 1 min read
The metallic rarity is valued at $10,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Recently posted . 835 views . 0 min read
Trending News & Articles
ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...
Recently posted . 192K views . 1 min read
If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...
Recently posted . 8K views . 2 min read
In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...
Recently posted . 3K views . 4 min read
Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...
Recently posted . 3K views . 2 min read
More in Global
Men are easily attracted and affected by visual stimulations compared to women. Men generally love to stare at a beautiful woman or do a double take when a lady c...
Recently posted. 767 views . 2 min read
NEW DELHI: In an innovative initiative, multinational fast food chain McDonald's has decided to flip its 'hallmark golden arches' on ...
Recently posted. 653 views . 2 min read
During a vacation in Iceland, 77-year-old Judith Streng from Texas struck a regal pose on a hunk of ice that washed up on a beach.
Recently posted. 552 views . 0 min read
Recently posted . 865 views
Recently posted . 822 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views . 52 min read
Recently posted . 1K views . 99 min read
Scroll down to see two videos that show exactly how the elephant calf was rescued.
Recently posted. 658 views . 0 min read
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has approved the new and simplified returns filing format, in which SMS system has been enabled to ease the filing process....
Recently posted. 702 views . 1 min read