Victor Lustig

Victor Lustig was a Czech-born confidence trickster who became notorious for selling the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal and running a counterfeit-money scheme in the United States.

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Eiffel Tower sale hoax: A 1925 confidence trick in which Victor Lustig persuaded scrap-metal dealers that the Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and sold. This elaborate impersonation made Lustig famous and demonstrated his use of official-looking pretexts.
Confidence trick: A fraud in which a perpetrator gains a victim’s trust and uses it to secure money or property. Lustig’s schemes are classic examples of fraud built around manufactured confidence.
Austria-Hungary: A Central European empire that existed from 1867 until its dissolution after World War I. Lustig was born in the empire’s territory, in what is now the Czech Republic.
Al Capone: An American gangster who led the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition. Lustig’s alleged investment con relied on Capone’s reputation and willingness to test a promised deal.
Counterfeit money scheme: A United States fraud in which Victor Lustig sold a device falsely claimed to produce counterfeit banknotes. The scheme targeted wealthy buyers with promises of secret, effortless profit.
Social engineering: The use of psychological manipulation to persuade people to disclose information or take actions that benefit an attacker. Lustig manipulated victims’ assumptions about status, secrecy, and opportunity.
Czech Republic: A landlocked country in Central Europe, established in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Lustig’s birthplace lies within the modern Czech Republic.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: The 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. Lustig’s conviction for counterfeiting occurred during Roosevelt’s presidency.
Al Capone investment scam: A story about Victor Lustig persuading gangster Al Capone to entrust him with $50,000, then returning the money and accepting a reward for apparent honesty. The episode illustrates Lustig’s tactic of winning trust by seeming to refuse easy money.
Impersonation: The act of presenting oneself as another person or as someone with a false identity. Posing as a government official gave the Eiffel Tower sale an air of legitimacy.