SCAMS OVER THE YEARS

Scams are not a new thing and has surfaced every now and then from the different quarters of the world including India. Let’s dive into the world of scams and unravel a few of them.

1Victor Lustig was America’s most dangerous con man who used 47 aliases and dozens of fake passports. His sleight- of- hand tricks rocked America and the rest of the world. In 1925, he managed to “sell” this renowned monument two separate times without getting caught. Identify.

2Emmanuel Nwude was a former director of Union Bank of Nigeria and he impersonated the then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and committed the largest fraud in the country by selling a---------- to a Brazilian for $ 242 million between 1995 and 1998. Fill in the blanks.

3It was dubbed as the biggest example of frivolous litigation of all times. In 1992, 79- year- old Stella Liebeck ordered coffee at this food chain. She spilled the coffee, was burned and one year later, she sued the company. The jury awarded her $ 2.9 million. Soon the story became a media sensation. Identify the food chain.

4He was born as Carlo Pietro Giovanni and was raised in Italy. He was known as a top notch swindle who promised clients a 50 per cent profit within 45 days, or 100 per cent profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries. His schemes collapsed, costing his “investors” $ 20 million. Identify.

5Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay were the masterminds behind the fraud. Their company’s story ends with the bankruptcy of one of America’s largest corporations shaking the Wall Street to its core. It managed to fool the regulators with fake, off- thebooks corporations for so long. Identify.