Victor Lustig: Master Confidence Man

11 Pages 2854 Words

Victor Lustig, a confidence man, completed one of the most outrageous scams in history and was a master of deception and trickery. Lustig’s many scams were not limited to any geographic area. He found trusting marks in the United States, Canada, and France amongst others. Over his career, Lustig pulled off dozens of scams between 1922 and 1935, including his most infamous scam: selling the Eiffel Tower twice. Leading up to this, Victor completed smaller cons and studied the art of deception. Victor knew how to use asymmetrical information to manipulate his marks and appear as an authority on a certain subject.
In order for deception to occur a mark must reasonably rely on the facts that the operator is presenting and subsequently surprised. Similar to all great confidence men, Lustig studied individuals’ behaviors and weaknesses to learn how to manipulate his mark to trust him and rely on his word. He was viewed by others as very open and honest which often allowed his marks to tell him all he needed to know. In all of his scams Victor conveyed himself as the expert in that particular field. Victor was always extremely careful in picking his mark in accordance with his particular scam. Victor was extremely persuasive; he convinced people to put money into outrageous investments with little thought or information. Victor took advantage of his marks’ greed and gullibility and always left them feeling deceived.
In 1922 Victor came to the United States and was quickly struck by his own greed. He looked for anyway to make a quick profit and he found it in an old run down farm house in Missouri. The farm house was being sold by a bank after it was repossessed. It seemed as though no one was ever going to buy this farm so when Victor placed an offer one could imagine the bank’s excitement to finally get this property off their hands. Victor gave himself an alias and concocted an elaborate story about where he had come from and wh...