Some people take the phrase “fake it ’til you make it” to its extreme. And, well, it definitely got them somewhere. Straight to jail in most cases.
Gregor MacGregor
Greg was a man of many talents, one of them being selling property that didn’t actually exist. He made up the island of Poyois which was allegedly off the coast of Honduras when in reality, it was just a random part of the sea. Settlers to the area found out the hard way by arriving at the designated spot and seeing nothing but rolling waves. MacGregor made the same offer to other investors in France. Before he could get into any true trouble, he high-tailed it to Venezuela and then died in Caracas.
Frank Abagnale
You may know Abagnale’s story from the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio Catch Me If You Can. Abagnale impersonated a Pan Am pilot, a teaching assistant at Brigham Young University, a doctor, and an attorney. His first con was defrauding his own father at age 15. He also defrauded several banks using made-up identities to cash checks he had forged. These days, Abagnale works with the FBI and lectures about fraud protection systems.
Christopher Rocancourt
Rococancourt cavorted with celebrities and made his way into American using at least 12 aliases. He spent his life lying about his connections to the Rockafeller family and used his made-up life to rub elbows with the rich and famous. He eventually pleaded to charges of theft, grand larceny, smuggling, bribery, perjury and fraud when he was extradited.
Ferdinand Demara
Demara is infamous con man who faked his way into a surgeon position during the Korean War on a navy ship. He actually managed to sneak his way through several surgeries but was eventually caught and exposed.
Milli Vanilli
The pair shot to stardom during the late 1980’s but the twosome’s singing career ended in disappointment. In 1990, a track they were lip synching started to skip. Neither could really sing.
Charles Ponzi
I mean, if you have an entire con game named after you – a Ponzi scheme – you are probably pretty infamous. Ponzi came to America in 1903 with $2.51 in his pocket. However, he quickly became a millionaire when he promised investors incredible returns on their investments – 50-100%. While there were some weak investigations, Ponzi was able to continue the game for years – pocketing people’s money without the intent to do anything with it other than keep it for himself.
