Money Doubling
In 1920s, the famous con man Victor Lustig built a money printing machine that could create perfect duplicates of any currency. No bank could tell them apart. The reason? The money was real, it was the box that was fake. And since Lustig sold his boxes for $10,000 each, he made a packet.
Jump to Melbourne in 2009 and the same scam has just been pulled on three businessmen.
Two men, aged 23 and 25, have been arrested for a scam in which they claimed that they had created a chemical that could duplicate cash. They sold this fake concoction to three unsuspecting Victorian businessmen.
The scammers took a single note, put it between two pieces of black paper and poured a ’special liquid’ over the top. (really a mixture of hairspray, baby powder and bleach.)
A short time later and the notes had apparently duplicated themselves.
The three victims gave a total $160,000 to the con artists to be ‘duplicated’ before the two alleged swindlers were caught.
Interestingly, police have said that, while the business men were conspiring to make fake cash, they had not broken Australian law because they did not succeed!
What do you think of the victims?
Criminals? Idiots? Victims?
cridiots?
Wow, that scam’s still going around? That’s awesome. And stupid. Stupid-awesome.
Interesting. I do like the picture.