Surviving Top 5 Con Artists of All Time

6 min read

Con artists are hiding everywhere. They seduce in dating apps, disguise themselves as visionaries and pretend to be your friend. They lie, manipulate and before you know it, they take away all your money, your identity or your freedom. You need to be prepared to deal with these heartless scammers.

Today we’ll explore some of the most infamous swindlers in history, so you can avoid becoming the next victim. The terms “con artist” or “con man” originated with William Thompson, a New York City scammer operating in the 1840s. A personable chap, he’d approach his victims and ask, “Have you confidence in me to trust me with your watch until tomorrow?” Yup. Then he was one watch richer. He was called the “confidence man”, or “the con man”, for short.

But more recent con artists have smarter, more sophisticated and vicious strategies. You better keep watching if you want to avoid taking the bait. How did one con artist make $22 million off of forged paintings? Can you use science to avoid being fooled? How can a scammer make you disappear?

Number 5: Charles Ponzi

Born in Italy, Charles Ponzi came to the United States in 1903 and invented a now-infamous fraud scheme. He sold international postal coupons promising to double his investors’ money in a few weeks. By 1920, just six months after starting the hustle, he had 40,000 investors and pocketed more than $8 million. But the postal and judicial authorities became suspicious of Ponzi. Finally, his publicist reported the scam to the authorities, and Ponzi was arrested.

Even today, this type of fraud is known as a “”Ponzi scheme””, a cycle that pays off existing investors with money from new ones. To avoid being duped by these setups, don’t rush into investments that promise “miraculous” returns.

Number 4: Wolfgang Beltracchi

This skilled German painter rose to fame when he confessed to forging and selling artwork by renowned artists such as Max Ernst, Georges Braque and Kees van Dongen. His paintings were so convincing that they duped some of the most respected art experts in the world. One of his Ernst paintings was even on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for months. Finally, in 2010, he and his wife, Helen, were charged with selling 14 fake masterpieces worth $22 million. They may have made much more than that in their decades of operation.

The Beltracchis fooled the world’s top art experts with a made-up story that Helen’s grandmother inherited an art collection lost during World War II. Normally, the most important masterpieces have a traceable history, so if you are looking for an authentic painting, do your research and don’t be misled by convoluted stories.

Number 3: David Hampton

During the 1980s, a glittering figure hit Manhattan high society. David Hampton was a smart, handsome and charming young man. He fooled several wealthy families by claiming to be a classmate of their children at Harvard and the son of famous actor Sidney Poitier. He was accepted into New York’s most glamorous circles, where he was lavished with cash and clothing. In the end, he was caught at age 19 and charged with attempted burglary. His story was later told in the 1993 Will Smith film, Six Degrees of Separation.

If a stranger approaches you claiming to be a relative of one of your friends or family members, do not accept them into your home or give them what they ask for until you confirm their identity. If you can’t do so immediately, it is always best to walk away.

Number 2: Elizabeth Holmes

In 2000, 19-year-old Stanford student Elizabeth Holmes began pitching a new technology concept. When she talked to one of her professors about creating a small patch-like device that could detect diseases in a person and release the necessary antibiotics, he told her it was impossible. She went ahead anyway and founded Real-Time Cures, which later became the infamous Theranos. The idea quickly ran with investors and her startup would eventually be valued at $9 billion at its peak. But the technology fell short, so she decided to fake the results. In January of 2022 Holmes was found guilty of four counts of defrauding investors.

When investing in innovative ideas, it is always important to check the science behind them with help from a neutral party. Even if it were possible to fit an entire laboratory into a tiny device like Holmes claimed, it is not possible to detect a wide variety of diseases with a single drop of blood.”

Number 1: Robert Hendy-Freegard

While working at a bar in England in 1993, Robert Hendy-Freegard, aka ‘the puppet master’ of the Netflix docuseries, met student John Atkinson. Freegard convinced Atkinson that he was an undercover MI5 agent tracking IRA infiltration at his prestigious school. The paramilitary group was a major concern at the time, so Atkinson bought into the scam. Freegard later dragged two other girls into an ever-evolving elaborate scheme that would eventually see people handing nearly $1.3 million over to him so he could protect the group from the non-existent threat of IRA gunmen.

After 10 years on the run, Freegard was caught and convicted of kidnapping, theft and deception in 2004. But after his release in 2009 following the conviction being overturned, he met Sandra Clifton on a dating app. Using a fake name, he convinced her of escaping with him. They have since disappeared without a trace.

No matter how convincing a person may be, you should always put your loved ones first and be wary of someone who tells you to leave your family. Despite all this, you’d be surprised at how many people are drawn into cults that make millions off of separating unsuspecting people from their loved ones and their savings. Fortunately, some survivors have managed to escape and speak out about the most twisted and deadly cults. Want to know their stories?