The Sale of the Eiffel Tower

Victor Lustig was born in 1890. He became fluent in several different languages and moved to France. He started off as a swindler preying on wealthy travellers on transatlantic liners.

 One of these scams was a money printing machine which he tricked buyers into believing was bonafide.

 In 1925 he read an article about the Eiffel Tower being rusty and in need of repair, as it was really supposed to have been dismantled in 1909. He wrote out letters in fake government stationary to five business men and inviting them to a meeting at a very prestigious hotel. He hired a limo and took them on a tour. Out of the five men Poisson was picked.

Poisson's wife raised her concerns that this deal happened too quickly. After some scrutiny Poisson asked him outright if the deal was legitimate. Lustig confessed it was not but demanded a bribe or he would go to the press. Poisson paid up as Lustig presumed he would be too embarrassed to admit his mistake.

 Lustig tried the scam again six months later, but failed and narrowly avoided arrest. He fled France and lived out the rest of his life in the U.S.