Who is the great schemer? This is an adventurer, a liar and a scammer. Why great? Because it’s talented, because conducting a brilliant scam is not easier than masterly playing a musical instrument. Your attention is invited to a number of great fraudsters who cause genuine interest. What they did was, of course, bad, but how they did it was brilliant.
Charming swindler
Despite the fact that fraudsters are criminals, the most talented of them still feel if not respect, then at least minimal sympathy. Such attractive negative characters include the great combinator Ostap Bender, a fictional hero. This is a prototype of a real Odessa resident - Osip Benyaminovich Shor. The future great machinist graduates from the local gymnasium and decides to continue his studies in the Northern capital, but it so happened that the failed student without a penny in his pocket had to return to his homeland.
And here began his career as an adventurer: he invented a profession and successfully got a job. Shor managed to be a grandmaster, artist, fire inspector and not only. While honing his skills, Osip already took on more difficult tasks. Once he even gave a lecture on the breeding of a new breed of hairless chickens, and not just like that, but as an eminent professor! But, as they say, no matter how much rope you twist, anyway the end will be. As a result, Shor was caught and involved in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. In 1922, followed by a move to Moscow and acquaintance with Valentin Kataev, thanks to which the whole world recognized the resourceful Ostap Bender, a great adventurer and schemer.
Millionaire's daughter
As history has shown, not only men can be great scammers. This is the legendary Sonya - the Golden Handle, and the Moscow adventurer Olga von Stein, and the American Elizabeth Bigley. As for the latter, the life of this lady was short, but bright. She expertly played her roles, changed her names like gloves and lowered more than one million other people's dollars.
At 22, she was caught faking checks, so she pretended to be insane, and she was released ahead of schedule. Feeling the scent of money, Elizabeth was no longer able to stop. She moves from Canada to the American state of Cleveland and tries herself in the role of a fortuneteller, manages to work as the manager of a women's boarding house, which was a brothel. One of the guests falls in love with her and marries her. But is this a reason to part with your favorite thing?
Having become a socialite, she launched a rumor about a fictitious relationship with the millionaire Andrew Carnegie and forged a debt of as much as two million dollars. The news spread all over the world instantly, and all the banks vied to offer their services to the wealthy heiress. For 8 years she was the daughter of a millionaire and bathed in luxury. In the end, the scam was uncovered, and Elizabeth was in the dock. The unsuspecting "father" of the adventurer - Andrew Carnegie, who was very interested in looking at his "relative", also came to the meetings.
Eiffel tower seller
The schemer is a person who is able to sell snow to the Eskimo and the sea to a sailor. One of the most interesting and paradoxical affairs of the 20th century was the sale of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and twice. Who is this great schemer? It was Victor Lustig, who, like other virtuoso scammers, started his business from his teens. So, at 20, he managed to sell a fake machine for printing counterfeit money. Having moved to America in 1920, he appropriated the count title to himself, supposedly spoke 5 languages, knew how to behave and present himself in society, and as a result, all doors were open for him. Rumor has it that Lustig even managed to hold Al Capone himself.
The most interesting fraud was the sale of the most famous tower in Paris. Having prepared well, forged the necessary documents and rented a luxury hotel room, Victor announced a tender for a grand purchase of scrap metal and expertly brainwashed all its participants. The winner laid out a lot of money for the purchase of the tower, and when the fraud was uncovered, the swindler was no longer in the city. This deal inspired Lustig so much that he decided to repeat the fraud, but this time the punishment could not be avoided. No matter how talented the schemer, this is primarily a criminal who sooner or later ends up in prison. And so it happened. In the end, Victor ended up in a detention center called Alcatraz.
Great imposter
An interesting fraud hero was Ferdinand Demar, who was nicknamed the “great impostor.” Like a professional actor, he tried on such professions as a civil engineer, deputy sheriff, and the head of the prison. Thanks to the natural talents of reincarnation, he managed to visit a monk, psychologist, lawyer, teacher, scientist.
His true skill was manifested in an adventure in which he played a doctor, and not just a therapist, but an experienced surgeon. Most strikingly, he managed to conduct a series of successful operations, saving the lives of sailors on a military ship. After the exposure, the ship’s commander didn’t even want to sue the impostor, but released him home in peace.
Elusive
Probably the most prominent fraudster is Frank Abignail, who became a real celebrity after the release of the movie "Catch Me If You Can." Even before he reached adulthood, the young fraudster earned his living with his mind, cashing out fake checks. Later he was engaged in larger financial frauds.
It was a truly elusive machinist who was always one step ahead. Frank easily changed names and documents. Surprisingly, he managed to get a job as a co-pilot of civil aviation, to work as a doctor and lawyer. He managed to inherit in twelve countries and was put on the international wanted list. As a result, caught in France, he was sent to the United States and was supposed to be imprisoned for 12 years. But thanks to cooperation with the FBI, he was released ahead of schedule.
This rarely happens, but this is a story with a good ending. The criminal past did not prevent him from becoming a happy family man, having a wonderful home, a profitable business and legally earned wealth. Following the conclusion, Frank created a fraud protection program for banks. He managed to direct his criminal energy into a peaceful direction, nothing can be done, a talented person is talented in everything!
Finally
So, the “schemer”, according to Ozhegov’s dictionary, is a person who is engaged in fraud, fraudulent activities, the range of which is not disclosed by this article. The word has many synonyms: seasoned, dodger, bigwigs, stuntman, adventurer, and even cheeky. All these words apply to all the great deceivers that we talked about in the article.