Scams Then and Now: Unsettling Tales of Deception, Lies, and Tricks

From ancient maritime fraud and famous confidence schemes to Ponzi operations and digital traps, this article examines how scammers exploit trust and how recognizing their methods can help you stay safer. Discover how deception has evolved and why the same psychological tactics still work.

A Long History of Deception

Scams may feel like a modern problem, but the trickster’s playbook is ancient. Long before fake emails and suspicious text messages, people were already finding ways to bend trust, disguise motives, and profit from deception.

An Early Scam

One of the earliest recorded scams reads almost like a crime story at sea. According to Fraud.com, around 300 BC, two Greek merchants, Hegestratos and Zenosthemis, allegedly tried to sink their own ship so they could keep a loan tied to its cargo. Their scheme unraveled: they were caught, one died while trying to escape, and the other faced legal consequences, leaving behind a strong historical lesson.

Old Tricks: New Day 

The basic idea has not changed much: create urgency, exploit trust, and disappear before the victim realizes what happened. What has changed is the speed and reach of the scam. Today, a single fraudster can cast a net across thousands of people almost instantly through:

• Email
• Text messages
• Phone calls
• Online platforms and social media

That is what makes modern scams so unsettling: the old tricks are still here, but now they can arrive in your inbox, on your phone, or across your social media feed before you even know there is a trap.

Crime, Consequences, and the Motives Behind the Act

Crime has always had a place in world history, and some stories reveal just how far people will go when desire outweighs conscience. One of the most famous examples is the theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, whose mysterious smile draws visitors from around the world to the famed Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Crime

In late August 1911, a Louvre glazier named Vincenzo Peruggia stole the painting and hid it for more than two years. The disappearance shocked the public. Painter Pablo Picasso and poet Guillaume Apollinaire were even arrested on suspicion of being associated with the missing painting. Absence of the art piece was disturbing. Museum guests reportedly lined up to stare at the empty space where the masterpiece had once hung, leaving behind flowers and notes as if mourning the physical loss of a person.

Personal Motives Igniting the Fire

Peruggia hid the painting in a false-bottom trunk. He was eventually caught in Italy after attempting to sell the painting to a Florence art dealer. Per accounts, he patriotically claimed that the artwork belonged in Italy, but whatever his justification, the act showed how personal motives can lead someone to excuse their crime. It is also believed that he sought to make a fortune all at once for himself and his family. Making money, absent of ethics, is often another driver of crime.

From Petty Theft to Notorious Outlaw

Like many scammers, some criminal careers begin with seemingly minor acts. Butch Cassidy, born Robert LeRoy Parker, became a notorious bank and train robber rather than a small-scale scammer, yet his shadowy path reportedly began with the accusation of  stealing of a $5 horse, an incident he believed was a setup and for which he ultimately served jail time.

The Rise of the Wild Bunch

After serving a prison sentence, Cassidy formed the gang known as the Wild Bunch. He reportedly cultivated support among ranchers by helping to pay their mortgages. Alongside the Sundance Kid, he carried out major bank and train robberies, including attacks on Union Pacific trains near Wilcox and Tipton, Wyoming. Like modern scammers, Cassidy used a carefully cultivated image of trustworthiness to gain support while concealing the harm caused by his crimes. He was widely known for his “reputation as a champion of the common man” and for his charisma, a trait similarly attributed to con artists.

Motives and Modern Consequences

Experts continue to debate what drove Cassidy: the harsh frontier environment, economic pressures, or resistance to authority. Similar questions surround modern scammers and the harm they cause. Motives aside, criminals destroy individuals and businesses and cause steep consequences. According to the Consumer Federation of America, Americans lose approximately $16 billion annually in reported scam losses, while estimates that account for underreporting reach as high as $148 billion.

Lacking a Moral Compass   

Another common denominator: whether a robber or scammer, these criminals operate with similar moral blindness. They may know their behavior is offensive, yet they place their own wants above the damage they cause. That disregard can have devastating consequences, from stealing from people facing illness to draining someone’s life savings. Their crimes are not harmless tricks; they are deliberate choices that can leave victims emotionally and financially shattered.

Famed Con Artists and the Power of Confidence

Per Factinate.com, the word con comes from confidence, and that connection matters. A con artist is not simply someone who lies; it is someone who earns enough trust to make the lie feel believable. But people despise being tricked, especially repeatedly, as in the proverbial saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!”

So Utterly Convincing

One early example, shared by Factinate.com, is of William Thompson, a 19th-century swindler often linked to the phrase “confidence man.” Thompson reportedly approached strangers, gained their trust, and persuaded them to hand over valuables. His method was simple but revealing as he did not force people to give him anything. He convinced them.

The Power of Persuasion & False Documents

In the early 1900s, Cassie Chadwick, born Elizabeth Bigley in 1857, claimed to be Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter and used her supposed inheritance to secure large bank loans. She did not stroll into banks and request money; she built an elaborate false identity, married several times, and used multiple names. She asserted that Carnegie had signed promissory notes acknowledging debts to her and that she would inherit millions, even presenting forged documents as proof. These claims enabled her to borrow vast sums of money against her alleged future wealth, reinforcing both her social status and the illusion of legitimacy. Per Ohio History.org, “According to the Clinton Republican, her amazing financial transactions culminated in the wrecking of an Oberlin bank.”

Master Manipulator  

That same talent for persuasion appeared again in 1925, when Victor Lustig carried out one of history’s boldest scams. Posing as a government official, he convinced a scrap metal dealer that the French government planned to secretly sell the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal because it was too expensive to maintain. Lustig collected money for the metal plus a bribe and disappeared before the victim realized the impossible deal had been a trap. Stories like this show why con artists can be so dangerous. Their greatest tool is not the lie itself, but the confidence they create around it and their push to be trusted.

The Man Behind the “Too Good to Be True” Promise

In the 1920s, Charles Ponzi became one of the most infamous names in financial fraud by selling a dream that sounded irresistible: quick, easy profits with little risk. He claimed investors could make extraordinary returns through international postal reply coupons, a system most people did not fully understand but found convincing enough to trust.

Revealing the Trick

Ponzi’s secret was not genius investing. It was illusion, for he used money from new investors to pay earlier investors, making the scheme appear successful just long enough to attract even more people.

His fraud followed a familiar pattern:

• Make a promise that feels urgent and almost too profitable to miss.
• Pay early participants quickly to create credibility.
• Use that credibility to pull in more money from more people.
• Live lavishly while the scheme continues to grow.

Eventually, the money coming in could not keep up with the promises going out. Ponzi was exposed, arrested, and forever linked to the type of fraud now known as a Ponzi scheme.

Smart People Can Fall for Sophisticated Scams

A common myth about scams is that only careless or foolish people become victims. The truth is more unsettling: many scams succeed because they are carefully designed to exploit trust, reputation, and confidence - not intelligence. In many cases, the real vulnerability is not how smart someone is, but whom they believe.

Appearing Trustworthy

Bernie Madoff’s investment fraud, discovered in late 2008, is a powerful example. The American financier presented himself as experienced, respected, and reliable, which helped him win the confidence of wealthy individuals, charities, and financial organizations. His scheme promised steady returns, but behind the scenes he was not truly investing client money as claimed.

It Was a Scam

Instead, Madoff used funds from newer investors to pay earlier ones, creating the appearance of success while hiding massive losses. Among those affected were well-known and highly capable people, including filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s charitable foundation, which reportedly lost money through investments connected to Madoff’s fraud.

A Disturbing Lesson 

The lesson is unsettling but important to learn: intelligence alone does not make someone immune. Scammers often succeed by looking credible, sounding confident, and making people feel they are being offered a rare opportunity. They may hide behind false identities, reshape the truth to fit the narratives they want victims to believe, and make promises they never intend or are able to keep.

Individual Losses & Investment Scams  

Investment scams cause some of the largest reported financial losses among individuals in the United States. These schemes often involve cryptocurrency or fraudulent investment opportunities. Other common threats include imposter scams, online shopping scams, romance scams, and deceptive emails designed to trick people into revealing financial information by posing as trusted sources.

Even a Government Can Be Scammed 

Mainly, we tend to think of scams as crimes committed against private individuals. Yet businesses, charitable organizations, and even governments can be targets, too. A striking example is the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which the U.S. Department of Justice has described as one of the largest systemic frauds in recent generations.

How the PPP Was Exploited

The PPP was created under the 2020 CARES Act to provide forgivable emergency loans to small businesses so they could keep workers on payroll during the pandemic. Because the need was urgent, the government prioritized speed over strict vetting. That urgency helped legitimate businesses access relief quickly, but it also created openings for fraud.

Common Fraud Tactics

Scammers abused the program in several ways, including:

• Creating fake or shell companies.
• Inflating employee counts or payroll expenses.
• Using stolen identities to submit fraudulent applications.
• Spending taxpayer-funded loans on personal luxuries, such as vacations, instead of employee wages.

Secondary Scams

The fraud did not end with false loan applications. Secondary scams also emerged, and legitimate loan recipients became targets. Criminals impersonated banks or government agencies, used spoofed phone numbers, and shared false information to pressure victims into sending money or revealing sensitive details.

The PPP case shows that scams are not limited to individuals. When systems move quickly and trust is stretched thin, even large institutions can become vulnerable to deception.

Recognizing the Warning Signs

Today, a scam can reach someone through a cellphone, email inbox, social media account, online marketplace, or spoofed phone call within seconds. That access gives modern scammers a much wider audience than their historical counterparts, but the warning signs remain familiar.

• Be cautious when a message or offer pressures you to act immediately.
• Question promises of easy money, guaranteed returns, or special access.
• Verify identities, links, and requests for payment or personal information before responding.
• Avoid giving blind trust to people, messages, or offers that demand quick action.
• Be alert to persuasion tactics that rely on urgency, fear, secrecy, or promises that seem too good to be true.
• Trust your instincts. If something feels off, pause and investigate before responding.

Scams Then and Now: An Enduring Threat

Scams are not a new idea. Throughout history, con artists have relied on the same core tactics: exploiting trust, creating urgency, disguising motives, and promising something that seems too good to ignore. What has changed is not the psychology of deception, but the speed and reach of the tools that scammers now use. Remember that anyone can be targeted for scams and trickery, regardless of intelligence, experience, or status. Keeping your guard up is your best defense.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. It is independently written as a conversational overview and should not be interpreted as legal, financial, or professional advice. Readers should consult qualified professionals when seeking guidance related to fraud prevention, financial decisions, or legal matters.