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Fraudsters and Charlatans

Author : Linda Stratmann

Publisher : The History Press

Page : 368 pages

File Size : 14,20 MB

Release : 2010-06-01

Category : True Crime

ISBN : 0752486950

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Book Description

In 1817 a young woman of exotic appearance was found wandering near Bristol. She spoke in a language that no one could understand except, seemingly, a Portuguese sailor. He claimed that she was a Sumatran princess from the island of Javasu. Princess Caraboo, as she was known, became a national celebrity and lived in a grand style, entertaining many distinguished visitors. A few weeks later, however, she was exposed as Mary Baker, the daughter of a cobbler from Devonshire. Mary's deception is one of several intriguing stories of nineteenth-century fraudsters brought to light in Linda Stratmann's entertaining look at some of history's greatest rogues. From bankers who forged share certificates, ruining hundreds of small investors, to 'Louis de Rougemont' whose tales of high adventure branded him The Greatest Liar on Earth', these riveting tales of true crime expose the seedy side of life in which corruption, avarice and scandal hold sway.



The Book of Charlatans

Author : Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Jawbarī

Publisher : NYU Press

Page : 528 pages

File Size : 31,15 MB

Release : 2020-11-10

Category : Literary Collections

ISBN : 1479897639

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Book Description

Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East The Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. The author, al-Jawbarī, was well versed in the practices he describes and may well have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, his book reveals the secrets of everyone from “Those Who Claim to be Prophets” to “Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy” and “Those Who Dye Horses.” The material is informed in part by the author’s own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars’ guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world. A bilingual Arabic-English edition.



Don't Fall For It

Author : Ben Carlson

Publisher : John Wiley & Sons

Page : 198 pages

File Size : 43,32 MB

Release : 2020-01-02

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 1119605164

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Book Description

Learn financial and business lessons from some of the biggest frauds in history Why does financial fraud persist? History is full of sensational financial frauds and scams. Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy after allegations of massive accounting fraud, wiping out $78 billion in stock market value. Bernie Madoff, the largest individual fraudster in history, built a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that ultimately resulted in his being sentenced to 150 years in prison. People from all walks of life have been scammed out of their money: French and British nobility looking to get rich quickly, farmers looking for a miracle cure for their health ailments, several professional athletes, and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. No one is immune from getting deceived when money is involved. Don’t Fall For It is a fascinating look into some of the biggest financial frauds and scams ever. This compelling book explores specific instances of financial fraud as well as some of the most successful charlatans and hucksters of all-time. Sharing lessons that apply to business, money management, and investing, author Ben Carlson answers questions such as: Why do even the most intelligent among us get taken advantage of in financial scams? What make fraudsters successful? Why is it often harder to stay rich than to get rich? Each chapter in examines different frauds, perpetrators, or victims of scams. These real-life stories include anecdotes about how these frauds were carried out and discussions of what can be learned from these events. This engaging book: Explores the business and financial lessons drawn from some of history’s biggest frauds Describes the conditions under which fraud tends to work best Explains how people can avoid being scammed out of their money Suggests practical steps to reduce financial fraud in the future Don’t Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams is filled with engrossing real-life stories and valuable insights, written for finance professionals, investors, and general interest readers alike.



Charlatans

Author : Robin Cook

Publisher : Penguin

Page : 450 pages

File Size : 18,46 MB

Release : 2017-08-22

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 073521249X

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Book Description

The explosive new thriller from New York Times-bestselling author and master of the medical thriller Robin Cook. Newly minted chief resident at Boston Memorial Hospital Noah Rothauser is swamped in his new position, from managing the surgical schedules to dealing with the fallouts from patient deaths. Known for its medical advances, the famed teaching hospital has fitted several ORs as “hybrid operating rooms of the future”—an improvement that seems positive until an anesthesia error during a routine procedure results in the death of an otherwise healthy man. Noah suspects Dr. William Mason, an egotistical, world-class surgeon, of an error during the operation and of tampering with the patient’s record afterward. But Mason is quick to blame anesthesiologist, Dr. Ava London. When more anesthesia-related deaths start to occur, Noah is forced to question all of the residents on his staff, including Ava, and he quickly realizes there’s more to her than what he sees. A social-media junkie, Ava has created multiple alternate personas for herself on the Internet. With his own job and credibility now in jeopardy, Noah must decide which doctor is at fault and who he can believe—before any more lives are lost.



Cheats, Charlatans, and Chicanery

Author : Andreas Schroeder

Publisher : M&S

Page : 284 pages

File Size : 42,35 MB

Release : 1997

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN : 9780771079535

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Book Description

Since 1988, Andreas Schroeder has been a regular contributor to CBC-Radio's "Basic Black," entertaining listeners with outrageous - and always very funny - tales of daring scams and rip-offs. In "Scams, Scandals, and Skulduggery (1996), he collected seventeen of the stories that received the greatest listener response. Now, in "Cheats, Charlatans, and Chicanery, he has done it again, collecting another seventeen of his best tales of knavish frauds and thefts, carried out by ingenious - and often lovable - rogues. Stories Include: "Getting Naked for Big Bucks: How a bevy of disgruntled writers got together to pen a steamy bestseller called "Naked Came the Stranger. "The Man Who Bought Portugal: How Alves Reis planned to take over the Bank of Portugal - with its own money. "Stuff and Nonsense at the Ends of the Earth: How explorers Peary, Cook, and Byrd bluffed their way into the history books. "Impersonating Roger: How butcher's son Arthur Orton became an unlikely celebrity in Victorian England as "The Tichborne Claimant." Once again, Andreas Schroeder tells his wonderfully wicked tales with the sly and deadpan humour that his many fans will recognize - and that new readers are sure to enjoy.



Charlatan

Author : Pope Brock

Publisher : Crown

Page : 393 pages

File Size : 36,38 MB

Release : 2008-02-05

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN : 0307409651

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Book Description

The inspiration for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival documentary, NUTS!. “An extraordinary saga of the most dangerous quack of all time...entrancing” –USA Today In 1917, John R. Brinkley–America’s most brazen con man–introduced an outlandish surgical method for restoring fading male virility. It was all nonsense, but thousands of eager customers quickly made “Dr.” Brinkley one of America’s richest men–and a national celebrity. The great quack buster Morris Fishbein vowed to put the country’ s “most daring and dangerous” charlatan out of business, yet each effort seemed only to spur Brinkley to new heights of ingenuity, and the worlds of advertising, broadcasting, and politics soon proved to be equally fertile grounds for his potent brand of flimflam. Culminating in a decisive courtroom confrontation, Charlatan is a marvelous portrait of a boundlessly audacious rogue on the loose in an America ripe for the bamboozling.



Merchant Princes and Charlatans or Makers of Money?

Author : Henry Sless

Publisher : Springer Nature

Page : 360 pages

File Size : 27,14 MB

Release : 2022-01-01

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 3030866041

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Book Description

This book provides a critical analysis of visual images of British and international finance during the nineteenth century. Its focus is on the financiers themselves, contrasting the depiction of the respectable Merchant Princes with the less than perfect charlatans (white-collar criminals) who defrauded investors of millions. The breakdown of trust between financiers and investors that evolved during this period is represented visually in depictions of the emotional response of investors to the uncertain financial climate. Throughout the book a PEARL methodology has been used to critique the images reflecting the impact of any Publisher’s political bias, the Editorial and Artistic techniques used to convey the messages in the images, and the Legal context (especially a concern in countries such as France and Germany where censorship was strict). The book concludes that white-collar criminals were invariably secretly admired in Britain, and rarely severely satirised. Similarly, Merchant Princes were depicted favourably in Britain as members of the ruling elite during the latter half of the century. This is contrasted with the more extreme anti-monopolistic images in the US and the extreme anti-Semitic treatment of Jewish financiers in France and Germany.



On Charlatans

Author : Chris Bowen

Publisher : Hachette Australia

Page : 136 pages

File Size : 25,71 MB

Release : 2021-02-23

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 0733645240

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Book Description

Why do we continue to vote for politicians who say 'I don't hold a hose, mate' or who advocate that we drink bleach to fight COVID-19? Chris Bowen, who was set to be Treasurer had Labor won the 2019 federal election, has had plenty of time to think about what went wrong and about why charlatans are winning in the game of politics. For charlatans, the road to political success is paved with dishonesty, disunity, fake news and empty promises. Selling themselves as a new and different alternative to traditional politicians, charlatans have decimated centre-left political parties around the world but offer no solutions to the concerns of the ordinary people who they dupe into voting for them. Between Trump's disastrous final weeks in the White House, the United Kingdom's total COVID-19 meltdown under Boris and the three-word slogans driving Scotty from Marketing's policies, Chris Bowen's dissection of the politics of charlatanism and his stirring call to defeat it has never been more urgent.



Fraud

Author : Edward J. Balleisen

Publisher : Princeton University Press

Page : 494 pages

File Size : 13,90 MB

Release : 2018-12-18

Category : History

ISBN : 0691183074

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Book Description

A comprehensive history of fraud in America, from the early nineteenth century to the subprime mortgage crisis In America, fraud has always been a key feature of business, and the national worship of entrepreneurial freedom complicates the task of distinguishing salesmanship from deceit. In this sweeping narrative, Edward Balleisen traces the history of fraud in America—and the evolving efforts to combat it—from the age of P. T. Barnum through the eras of Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff. This unprecedented account describes the slow, piecemeal construction of modern institutions to protect consumers and investors—from the Gilded Age through the New Deal and the Great Society. It concludes with the more recent era of deregulation, which has brought with it a spate of costly frauds, including corporate accounting scandals and the mortgage-marketing debacle. By tracing how Americans have struggled to foster a vibrant economy without encouraging a corrosive level of cheating, Fraud reminds us that American capitalism rests on an uneasy foundation of social trust.



The Formosa Fraud

Author : Graham Earnshaw

Publisher : Earnshaw Books Limited

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 50,28 MB

Release : 2022-02-28

Category : History

ISBN : 9789888422128

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Book Description

More than 300 years ago, the island of Taiwan was a topic of hot controversy in London, thanks to a stupendous fraud perpetrated by a Frenchman claiming to have been born on the island. He made highly controversial claims about the life and the history of Taiwan, then called Formosa, and his book on the subject was a publishing sensation in London in 1704. His name, George Psalmanazar, was fake, and he never told anyone what his real name was or where he came from. But his Formosan stories of mass killings of young boys, of people living underground, of elephants and camels and gold mines was for a time widely accepted, including even by the Bishop of London who invited Psalmanazar to teach his (fake) Formosan language at Oxford University. This is the story of one of the great frauds in literary history.