Foreign Swindles in the Nineteenth Century September 29, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
More in our swindlers series.
Bread Trick: X in Russia goes to a jewelers and gets 4000 roubles worth of goods. He can only pay 500 but asks the owner (the victim) to come to the bank for the rest. At the bank he reminds the banker that they had spoken before and says ‘can you give the 3500 now’. The banker says of course. The jeweler waits and X takes off with the jewelery. In the bank room, X had previously left 3500 bread rolls. We Dai Pre, 25 Sep 1888, 3
Cigar Case: X gambles at the casino and always deals, he also always wins with the help of his mirrored cigar case which helps when the cards pass over. Be warned he got caught. Ed Ev New, 14 Jul 1879, 3
The Glued Handkerchief: X goes to victim jeweler in Germany and looks at all jewels, he starts coughing and from his handkerchief he puts glue on his nose tip that he uses to pick up the most expensive jewel in the shop, he then sneezes again, slips it into the handkerchief and leaves the shop. Liv Cour, 11 June 1870, 5
Pay Off Crook: The victim, a German banker, gets a telegram from a prominent French bank explaining that X in a hotel in his city has stolen a series of bonds. The French bank ask victim to go and pay off X with some money in return for the bonds: the French bank does not want a scandal; it need discretion. The German banker does so and pays X only later finding out that the telegram was forged. Dai Gaz Mid, 1 Apr 1890 [!], 3
Police Here: X (woman) arrives in Russian town posing as Russian detective tracing fake roubles, she borrows a large quantities of real roubles to further her investigation from the local police chief. Bel Mor New, 22 Jan 1869, 4
Prisoner Letter: German victims receive letters from northern Africa informing them that their sons did not die in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 but were imprisoned in Algiers! They need money to return home… Wonder if there are modern versions. Ports Ev News, 1 May 1890, 3
Want a Job: Young men are offered jobs by X in the French scheme to rebuild the city of Carthage (!). Before going though they must pay a large sum for transport and board. Ex and Ply Gaz, 10 Feb 1891, 6.
And don’t forget the classic Gold Coast mermaid swindle…
Can any add to these: drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com
