Scams & Politics
Fraud, swindles and crooked politics: the darker side of society.
The Phantom Army That Kept Hitler Away from Normandy
Double agents, radio traffic and a fictional army kept alive the idea that the real invasion was still coming somewhere else.
The Rigged Sale of the Eiffel Tower
Victor Lustig never owned the Eiffel Tower. In 1925, he still managed to sell it by making an absurd lie feel like a confidential government file.
A dead man washed ashore carrying Allied secrets. None of it had happened by chance.
On April 30, 1943, a body was found near Huelva, Spain. The man wore a British uniform, carried a briefcase, and seemed to have left a…
The Pentagon Received This Plan in 1962. Almost No One Saw It for Thirty Years.
Fifteen pages proposed manufacturing the anger needed for a war. The signatures at the bottom did not belong to extremists.
They Didn’t Need to Prove Cigarettes Were Safe. They Only Had to Manufacture Doubt.
In December 1953, tobacco executives met in a grand New York hotel. They were not looking for a scientific answer. They were looking for a strategy.
The Magazine Had Bought the Scoop of the Century. Two Weeks Later, the Paper Gave It Away.
In 1983, Stern opened its vaults for dozens of diaries attributed to Hitler. The story had a crashed aircraft, convinced experts and a seller no one…
He Invented a Country. Then He Sold Its Land to Real People.
Two ships crossed the Atlantic for a capital drawn on maps. As the coast came into view, something became impossible to explain.
The Sheikh Was Fake. The Envelopes, Politicians and Hidden Cameras Were Not.
The FBI wanted to recover stolen paintings. Its fictional billionaire ended up meeting members of Congress prepared to sell their influence.