FEATURED
Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme
💰 $65 billion
📅 1991-2008
👤 Bernard Madoff
📊 Financial
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Bernard Madoff operated the largest Ponzi scheme in history from his Manhattan investment firm. For nearly two decades, he convinced thousands that he...
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Charles Ponzi's Original Scheme
💰 $20 million
📅 1919-1920
👤 Charles Ponzi
📊 Financial
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Charles Ponzi promised investors 50% returns in 45 days through arbitrage involving international postal reply coupons. The scheme was brilliant in it...
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FEATURED
Enron Scandal
💰 $74 billion losses
📅 1985-2001
👤 Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling
📊 Corporate
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Enron was once America's seventh-largest company. Behind the impressive facade, executives engaged in massive accounting fraud using special purpose e...
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FEATURED
Theranos Blood Testing Fraud
💰 $700+ million
📅 2003-2018
👤 Elizabeth Holmes
📊 Tech
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Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos at 19, claiming revolutionary blood testing technology requiring only a finger prick. She became Silicon Valley's da...
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OneCoin Pyramid Scheme
💰 $4+ billion
📅 2014-2017
👤 Dr. Ruja Ignatova
📊 Cryptocurrency
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Dr. Ruja Ignatova launched OneCoin in 2014 claiming it would become 'the Bitcoin killer.' She convinced millions worldwide to invest through multi-lev...
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BitConnect Ponzi Scheme
💰 $2+ billion
📅 2016-2018
👤 Satish Kumbhani
📊 Cryptocurrency
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BitConnect promised up to 40% monthly returns through its cryptocurrency lending platform and trading bot. Users would buy Bitcoin, convert it to BCC ...
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FEATURED
FTX - Sam Bankman-Fried
💰 $8+ billion
📅 2019-2022
👤 Sam Bankman-Fried
📊 Cryptocurrency
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Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX cryptocurrency exchange in 2019. Within three years, FTX became the world's second-largest crypto exchange, valued at $3...
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FEATURED
Victor Lustig - Sold Eiffel Tower
💰 Millions in modern value
📅 1925
👤 Victor Lustig
📊 Classic Con
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Victor Lustig's most famous scam occurred in 1925 Paris when he read about the Eiffel Tower's expensive maintenance. Posing as a government official, ...
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FEATURED
Fyre Festival
💰 $26+ million
📅 2017
👤 Billy McFarland
📊 Tech
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Billed as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas, Fyre Festival was promoted by influencers like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. A...
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The Nigerian Prince (419 Scams)
💰 Billions cumulatively
📅 1980s-Present
👤 Various
📊 Classic Con
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One of the oldest and most persistent internet scams, the 'Nigerian Prince' email involves a plea for help transferring a large sum of money out of a ...
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WorldCom Accounting Scandal
💰 $11 billion in fraud
📅 1999-2002
👤 Bernard Ebbers
📊 Corporate
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WorldCom, the USA's second-largest long-distance phone company, engaged in massive accounting fraud to maintain its stock price. CEO Bernard Ebbers pr...
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FEATURED
Wolf of Wall Street - Stratton Oakmont
💰 $200+ million
📅 1989-1996
👤 Jordan Belfort
📊 Financial
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Jordan Belfort's brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont, operated as a 'boiler room,' where aggressive brokers used high-pressure sales tactics to push penn...
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FEATURED
Wirecard AG
💰 $2+ billion
📅 2015-2020
👤 Markus Braun
📊 Corporate
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Wirecard was a German payment processor and financial services provider that was once a darling of the fintech world, valued at over $28 billion. The ...
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FEATURED
The Tinder Swindler
💰 $10+ million
📅 2017-2019
👤 Simon Leviev (Shimon Hayut)
📊 Classic Con
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Using the dating app Tinder, Simon Leviev posed as the son of a billionaire diamond magnate. He wooed women with a lavish lifestyle of private jets, l...
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The MMM Pyramid Scheme (Russia)
💰 $1+ billion (estimated)
📅 1994-1997
👤 Sergei Mavrodi
📊 Financial
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In the chaotic post-Soviet economy, Sergei Mavrodi created MMM, a company that promised returns of 1000% or more. It was a simple pyramid scheme adver...
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QuadrigaCX
💰 $190+ million (Crypto)
📅 2016-2019
👤 Gerald Cotten
📊 Cryptocurrency
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QuadrigaCX was Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Its founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten, was the only person with the passwords to the exchange's ...
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Billy McFarland's VIP Pass Scam (Post-Fyre)
💰 $1+ million
📅 2020
👤 Billy McFarland
📊 Tech
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While out on bail for the Fyre Festival fraud, Billy McFarland launched a new scheme. He sold fake VIP passes to exclusive events like the Met Gala, C...
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The Original Snake Oil Salesman
💰 Unknown
📅 Late 1800s
👤 Clark Stanley
📊 Classic Con
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Clark Stanley, the 'Rattlesnake King,' sold 'Stanley's Snake Oil' as a cure-all for everything from back pain to rheumatism. He was a master showman w...
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FEATURED
Fake Pharma - Martin Shkreli
💰 N/A (Reputational)
📅 2015
👤 Martin Shkreli
📊 Corporate
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As CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli acquired the rights to Daraprim, a life-saving anti-parasitic drug that had been on the market for de...
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FEATURED
The Panama Papers
💰 Trillions hidden
📅 1977-2016
👤 Mossack Fonseca (Law Firm)
📊 Corporate
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In 2016, an anonymous source leaked 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The papers revealed how the firm helped world...
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FEATURED
Lucky Thompson - The Psychic Scam
💰 $1+ million
📅 2000s-2010s
👤 Lucky Thompson (Pseudonym)
📊 Classic Con
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A classic 'psychic' mail fraud where letters were sent to thousands of people claiming a psychic, 'Lucky Thompson,' could see a curse on their family....
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FEATURED
The Albanian Pyramid Schemes
💰 $1.2+ billion
📅 1996-1997
👤 Multiple companies (VEFA, Gjallica, etc.)
📊 Financial
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In the chaotic transition from communism, several companies promised Albanians absurd returns of up to 50% per month. Nearly every family invested the...
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Lucky Chance & The Spanish Prisoner
💰 Incaluclable
📅 1588-Present
👤 Various
📊 Classic Con
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One of the oldest documented confidence tricks. The victim receives a letter from someone claiming to be a wealthy person (originally a Spaniard) impr...
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HealthSouth Accounting Scandal
💰 $2.7+ billion in fake earnings
📅 1996-2003
👤 Richard Scrushy
📊 Corporate
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HealthSouth, a massive healthcare rehabilitation company, systematically overstated its earnings to meet Wall Street expectations. At the direction of...
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The Mirage Bar Scam (Saloon Swindle)
💰 Thousands (worth millions today)
📅 Late 1800s
👤 Soapy Smith
📊 Classic Con
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Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith was a legendary con man in the Wild West. His 'Mirage Bar' was a classic short-change scam. A prospector would buy a cheap bee...
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Adelphia Communications
💰 $2.3+ billion in hidden debt
📅 1999-2002
👤 John Rigas & family
📊 Corporate
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The Rigas family, who founded and controlled Adelphia (the 5th largest cable company), treated the public company as their personal piggy bank. They h...
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The Pigeon Drop
💰 Thousands per victim
📅 Ongoing for decades
👤 Teams of street con artists
📊 Classic Con
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A team of two or three con artists works together. One 'finds' a wallet or envelope full of cash in front of the victim. Another con artist appears an...
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FEATURED
Wells Fargo Fake Accounts Scandal
💰 Millions in fake fees
📅 2002-2016
👤 Wells Fargo & Co.
📊 Corporate
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To meet impossible sales quotas, Wells Fargo employees opened millions of checking, savings, and credit card accounts without customers' knowledge or ...
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FEATURED
The Lazarus Heist (Bangladesh Bank Robbery)
💰 $81 million (stolen), $1 billion (attempted)
📅 2016
👤 Lazarus Group (North Korean state-sponsored hackers)
📊 Cybercrime
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In one of the most audacious cyberheists in history, hackers infiltrated the Bangladesh Bank's systems and gained access to its SWIFT credentials. The...
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The Carbanak Cyber Heist
💰 $1.2+ billion
📅 2013-2018
👤 Cobalt Gang (International cybercrime group)
📊 Cybercrime
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A highly sophisticated criminal group used the Carbanak malware to infiltrate over 100 banks in 40 countries. Instead of just stealing customer data, ...
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The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872
💰 $660,000 ($15+ million today)
📅 1872
👤 Philip Arnold and John Slack
📊 Classic Con
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Two prospectors, Arnold and Slack, walked into the Bank of California and deposited a bag of uncut diamonds. They claimed to have found a massive depo...
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FEATURED
ZZZZ Best Carpet Cleaning
💰 $100+ million (market cap)
📅 1982-1987
👤 Barry Minkow
📊 Corporate
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Barry Minkow started a carpet cleaning business from his garage as a teenager. To secure loans and go public, he invented a massive insurance restorat...
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The London Whale (JPMorgan Chase)
💰 $6.2 billion in losses
📅 2012
👤 Bruno Iksil and JPMorgan CIO office
📊 Financial
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A trader in JPMorgan's London office, Bruno Iksil (nicknamed 'the London Whale'), amassed an enormous, complex position in credit derivatives that was...
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The Piltdown Man Hoax
💰 Incaluclable (Reputational)
📅 1912-1953
👤 Unknown (Charles Dawson primary suspect)
📊 Scientific Fraud
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For 41 years, the scientific world believed 'Piltdown Man' was the fossilized skull of a missing link between apes and humans, found in a gravel pit i...
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FEATURED
The Varsity Blues College Admissions Scandal
💰 $25+ million in bribes
📅 2011-2018
👤 Rick Singer, wealthy parents including celebrities
📊 Corruption
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College consultant Rick Singer ran a massive scheme to get the children of wealthy families into elite universities through fraud. He had two methods:...
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FEATURED
The Bre-X Minerals Gold Salting Scandal
💰 $6+ billion (market cap)
📅 1993-1997
👤 Michael de Guzman, John Felderhof, others
📊 Corporate
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A small Canadian mining company, Bre-X, claimed to have discovered the world's largest gold deposit in the jungles of Indonesia. Their stock soared fr...
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The Nigerian Oil Bunkerering Scam
💰 Billions annually
📅 1970s-Present
👤 Various criminal syndicates, corrupt officials
📊 Corruption
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A massive, systematic theft of crude oil from Nigeria's pipelines and export terminals. Criminal syndicates tap into pipelines, often with the complic...
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FEATURED
The McDonald's Monopoly Game Fraud
💰 $24+ million in stolen prizes
📅 1995-2001
👤 Jerome Jacobson and co-conspirators
📊 Corruption
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Jerome Jacobson was the head of security at Simon Marketing, the company that ran McDonald's Monopoly game. He stole all the winning game pieces for t...
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FEATURED
The Libor Scandal
💰 Trillions in affected contracts
📅 2005-2009
👤 Multiple major banks (Barclays, UBS, RBS, etc.)
📊 Financial
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The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is a benchmark interest rate that affects trillions in loans and derivatives worldwide. Traders at multiple ...
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The 'Momo' Challenge Hoax
💰 Mass social panic
📅 2018-2019
👤 Internet hoax, amplified by media and panic
📊 Tech
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A viral internet hoax claimed that a grotesque sculpture called 'Momo' was appearing in children's YouTube videos, challenging them to perform dangero...
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The College Board SAT Score Selling Scheme
💰 Thousands per test
📅 Ongoing
👤 Students, test center administrators
📊 Corruption
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A persistent black market where students pay to have someone else take the SAT or ACT for them, or pay test center administrators to alter scores. The...
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FEATURED
The 'Dr. Death' Medical Malpractice
💰 Incaluclable (human cost)
📅 2011-2013
👤 Dr. Christopher Duntsch
📊 Corruption
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Neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch practiced in Dallas where he maimed or killed nearly every patient he operated on. He severed nerves, left surgical s...
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FEATURED
The Catch Me If You Can - Frank Abagnale
💰 $2.5+ million
📅 1964-1969
👤 Frank Abagnale Jr.
📊 Classic Con
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As a teenager, Frank Abagnale successfully posed as an airline pilot, a pediatrician, a lawyer, and a college professor. He cashed over $2.5 million i...
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The Mountebank Patent Medicine Shows
💰 Millions collectively
📅 1800s-1930s
👤 Various 'Doctors' and showmen
📊 Classic Con
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Traveling 'doctors' would arrive in town with elaborate wagons, entertain the crowd with music and magic, then sell 'miracle elixirs' that claimed to ...
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FEATURED
The Ransomware Pandemic
💰 Billions+ in ransom payments
📅 2013-Present
👤 Various cybercrime groups (REvil, DarkSide, etc.)
📊 Cybercrime
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Cybercriminals use malware to encrypt victims' files and demand ransom payments (usually in cryptocurrency) for the decryption key. The attacks have e...
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The 'Madoff with the Money' Book Royalties Scam
💰 Varies (thousands per victim)
📅 Ongoing
👤 Aspiring authors and publishers
📊 Tech
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A modern variation of vanity publishing where 'publishers' or 'agents' target aspiring authors, offering book deals but requiring the author to pay th...
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The 'Pump and Dump' Stock Groups
💰 Billions collectively
📅 1990s-Present
👤 Online groups, influencers, organized rings
📊 Financial
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Groups or individuals buy large positions in low-priced, thinly traded penny stocks. They then use social media, newsletters, and message boards to sp...
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The 'Miracle' Water Scams (e.g., H2O Melon Water)
💰 Hundreds of millions collectively
📅 2000s-Present
👤 Various health fraud entrepreneurs
📊 Classic Con
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Companies sell ordinary water with pseudoscientific claims about special properties: 'structured water,' 'alkaline water,' 'oxygenated water,' or wate...
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The 'I'm from Microsoft' Tech Support Scam
💰 Hundreds of millions annually
📅 2000s-Present
👤 Call centers in India, other countries
📊 Cybercrime
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Scammers call victims pretending to be from Microsoft or Windows support, claiming the victim's computer has a virus. They guide the victim through st...
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FEATURED
The 'Free Energy' Perpetual Motion Machines
💰 Hundreds of millions from investors over centuries
📅 1100s-Present
👤 Various inventors and charlatans
📊 Scientific Fraud
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For centuries, inventors have claimed to create machines that produce more energy than they consume, violating the laws of thermodynamics. From Robert...
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