Top 10 Most Notorious Con Artists of All Time

In 1925 he convinced scrap dealers that the Eiffel Tower had to be demolished because of high maintenance costs and pocketed a fortune in bribes. He later even pulled off the trick a second time.

In the 1960s he cashed millions in fake checks while successfully posing as a Pan Am pilot, pediatrician and lawyer – all before his 21st birthday.

The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. He defrauded tens of thousands of investors, celebrities and charities of an estimated 65 billion dollars.

The man who gave his name to the pyramid scheme. In 1920 he promised investors 50% returns within 45 days through international postal reply coupons, funded with money from newcomers.

Posing as a wealthy German heiress in New York, she swindled banks, hotels and high society out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for her supposed art foundation.

The Dutch painter who fooled the Nazi elite (including Hermann Göring) and museums with self-painted 'new' masterpieces by Johannes Vermeer.

Successfully impersonated surgeons, monks, prison guards and lawyers without any training. During the Korean War he even successfully performed operations on a navy ship.

Defrauded thousands of investors through his brokerage Stratton Oakmont with 'pump and dump' schemes involving worthless penny stocks, while living a debauched party life.

In the 19th century he invented an entirely fictional Central American country called 'Poyais'. He sold land titles and government bonds to hundreds of Scottish settlers who ended up in the jungle.

French master swindler who posed in Hollywood as a member of the super-rich Rockefeller family and conned film producers and wealthy friends out of millions.