Fraud Detection

How did Victor Lustig successfully execute his famous Eiffel Tower con that fooled multiple scrap dealers?

Victor Lustig's Eiffel Tower scam was a masterpiece of meticulous planning and psychological manipulation. He obtained forged credentials from the French Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, posed as a government official at a luxury Paris hotel, and invited six major scrap dealers to a private meeting under the pretense of discussing sensitive government business. Lustig's genius lay in his multi-layered approach to deception. He made the dealers feel special by sharing a fabricated "state secret" about the tower's demolition, demonstrated credibility through extensive knowledge of the tower's specifications including exact measurements and rivet counts, and sealed their interest with concrete numbers—7,000 tons of high-grade salvageable iron. This combination of exclusivity, technical expertise, and financial opportunity created an irresistible proposition that left the experienced businessmen completely mesmerized and eager to participate in what they believed was the deal of a lifetime.