Friday, February 9, 2024

Meet the con artist who sold... the Eiffel Tower

A con artist "sold" the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal — twice.

World History

V ictor Lustig is among the most skilled con artists in history. The notorious scammer even went so far as to convince someone to buy the Eiffel Tower for scrap — not once, but on two separate occasions. Lustig was born in Austria-Hungary in 1890, and spent the first several decades of his life swindling people for modest sums of money. In 1925, he took his conning to a whole new level, as he arrived in Paris with eyes set on the Eiffel Tower. Lustig assumed the identity of a French government official and even created fake stationery with a government emblem. He then invited several scrap metal dealers to the Hôtel de Crillon, where he announced that the Eiffel Tower was too expensive to repair and would instead be sold for scrap to the highest bidder.

Lustig's story convinced a man named André Poisson to pay 70,000 francs for the scrap. The con artist then fled to Austria with the money, and Poisson was so embarrassed that he never contacted the police. In the ensuing weeks, Lustig kept a close eye on Parisian newspapers and realized that his scheme was never reported, so he decided to attempt the scam once more. While he successfully convinced another buyer to close the deal, suspicions grew and police were finally alerted. By the time law enforcement attempted to capture Lustig, however, he had fled to America, where he continued conning people. He was ultimately captured by U.S. federal officials in 1935, and sentenced to 20 years in Alcatraz prison.

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By the Numbers

Total weight (in tons) of the Eiffel Tower

10,100

Total steps in the Eiffel Tower

1,665

Did you know?

A con artist made his living by repeatedly selling the Brooklyn Bridge.

Con artist George C. Parker famously claimed to have "sold" the Brooklyn Bridge twice a week for years. Parker began his scheme in the 1880s, preying on naive immigrants seeking investment opportunities. His well-rehearsed spiel claimed the bridge was for sale and that buyers could make a fortune by charging tolls. Parker then negotiated whatever price the mark was willing to pay, with average sales reportedly totaling around $5,000 (roughly $150,000 today). Many victims later attempted to erect a tollbooth, but were always stopped by police and informed they'd been scammed. Parker continued selling off the bridge as well as other notable New York City landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and even Ulysses S. Grant's tomb. In 1928, he was finally busted once and for all after trying to cash a bad check.

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