Victor Lustig's Eiffel Tower Scam: A Notorious Fraud in Paris
In 1925, Victor Lustig, a con artist, orchestrated a remarkable scam by 'selling' the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal. Lustig posed as a government official and convinced scrap metal dealers that the French government intended to dismantle the Eiffel Tower due to high maintenance costs. He used forged documents and official appearances to lend credibility to his scheme. Lustig successfully deceived a dealer named André Poisson, who paid both the purchase price and a bribe. Lustig fled with the money, and Poisson, embarrassed by the scam, chose not to report it. Lustig later attempted the same scam again but was forced to flee when a prospective buyer became suspicious. 
