The 15 Most Brazen Con Artists of All Time

If the podcast industrial complex is anything to go by, you’d think most of the people you see on the street every day were trying to swindle you out of your money somehow rather than, like, walking their dogs or buying a sandwich. From Elizabeth Holmes to Anna Delvey to that WeWork guy whose name everyone has already forgotten because the 24-hour scam cycle never sleeps, it seems like it’s another day, another white collar criminal.

Believe it or not, though, history is brimming with hustlers way worse than the SoHo Grifter. In fact, those guys are small potatoes compared to the con artists who tricked entire governments, scammed their way into royal titles, and literally sold the Brooklyn Bridge. You won’t see any Netflix series about them because nobody was hot enough for the Primetime Emmys back then, but if anything, it only helped their cause. Continue reading below for more scum bags through history.