How A Scammer Sold Eiffiel Tower Twice

Victor Lustig may have conducted a slew of high-profile scams over his illustrious criminal career, but let's be honest, everyone wants to know how he pulled off the Eiffel Tower job. Where do you even come up with a plan like that? It turns out it wasn't nearly as absurd as you may imagine. He didn't just look at the Eiffel Tower one day and think,“I wonder what if I sold that thing?” No, he got the idea from a newspaper article about the Eiffel Tower, specifically how expensive it was to keep up with the Eiffel Tower each year, which led to an ingenious idea. What if the French government opted to sell it to a private business executive instead of bearing the bill? The tower still costs the French government a fortune, costing them about 1.1 million dollars per year, sure it likely brings in a lot of money for tourists who want to snap a picture of the famous tower so our star of the show Victor got to work, scheming and preparing for his biggest job ever. He started by going to one of his best foragers to get him a ton of fake government stationary documentation to make him appear legitimate. He also conducted extensive research into the price of the Eiffel Tower and other issues made by Parisians throughout the years, after which he arranged for a costly meeting at one of the city's best hotels.

It was most likely a substantial investment. He only needed some points now. Victor called many of the city's wealthiest scrap metal traders to his private meeting, after which he put on his soft-spoken charm and presented himself as the deputy director general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Lustig said to them that the cost of the Eiffel Tower was too high for the government, that they were tired of covering the bill and that the aesthetic value of the Eiffel Tower was not worth the expense. Cathedrals in the Gothic style. Eventually, he picked out. André Poisson, an insecure business executive, was his major target; all the other dealers made bids, but Poisson could outbid them all; once the sale was completed, he gave Victor with a staggering seventy thousand francs to purchase the Eiffel Tower.

Lustig took his money and then fled to Austria, certain that the police would be on his tail. No one knows for sure, but it appears that Mr Andre Poisson did not report the crime; it's likely that he was too embarrassed to admit it. Regardless, Victor Lustig was all too happy to realize no one was after him, so within the same year, he returned to Paris and began the same scam. This time, however, one of his victims was alert enough to alert the police, and Lustig actually had to flee the country. This was just one of Lustig's schemes; others included defrauding people of their money and tricking Al Capone. Throughout his career, Lustig engaged in a variety of small con games, most of which involved quick schemes like tricking tourists into parting with their money.

Lustig was constantly dressed in the trappings of a true gentleman. He was disarmingly charming, soft-spoken and kind. Basically, he presented himself as the exact opposite of the image most people had of what a criminal looked like.

The book "Ten Commandments for Conmen" is credited to Victor Lustig.

Being a patient listener (rather than fast-talking) is what gets a conman his coups.

Never appear bored.

Wait for the other person to express any political views before agreeing with them.

Allow the other individual to express their religious beliefs, then express your own.

Make a sexy suggestion, but don't follow it up unless the other person has a significant interest.

Unless there is a unique issue, never disclose a disease.

Never inquire about a person's personal circumstances (they'll tell you everything eventually).

Never brag; instead, let your significance be quietly clear.

Never be disorganized.

Never drink alcohol.