The first record of attempted insurance fraud was in 300 BC when a Greek sea merchant tried to sink his insured ship.
The first financial fraud was recorded in 193 AD when the bodyguards of Roman emperor Pertinax tried to sell his throne.
Fraud Ponzi schemes are a type of illegal pyramid scheme named for Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi, He used the scheme after moving from Italy to the United States in 1903. His original scheme was based on using countries' money-exchange rates to make money, based on international postage stamps. Ponzi duped thousands of New England residents into investing in the postage stamp speculation, and was deluged with funds from investors, taking in $1 million during one three-hour period. However, the money soon stopped being invested in coupons, and went to early investors, and a lot to Ponzi himself.
Fraud Ponzi schemes are a type of illegal pyramid scheme named for Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi, He used the scheme after moving from Italy to the United States in 1903. His original scheme was based on using countries' money-exchange rates to make money, based on international postage stamps. Ponzi duped thousands of New England residents into investing in the postage stamp speculation, and was deluged with funds from investors, taking in $1 million during one three-hour period. However, the money soon stopped being invested in coupons, and went to early investors, and a lot to Ponzi himself.
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| 1920 photo of Charles Ponzi |
Ponzi didn't invent the scheme, though. In 1857, Charles Dickens' novel Little Dorrit featured a similar scheme.
American stockbroker Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $64.8 billion Ponzi scheme on December 11, 2008, the largest in history. The operation was fairly simple. Madoff deposited all his investors' money into his Chase bank account and paid them off as necessary. At its height his account balance was over $5 billion. The scheme collapsed when he ran out of money and Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison six months after his arrest,
In 2008 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the largest-ever raid of a workplace. They arrested nearly 400 immigrants in Postville, Iowa for identity theft and document fraud.
GlaxoSmithKline pleaded guilty in 2012 to criminal charges of health care fraud and was fined a record US$3 billion.
There was only 1 victim of credit card fraud in Canada 2016. They lost $214.
Between 1995 to 1998, Nigerian Emmanuel Nwude and his accomplices completed the third biggest private scam in documented history. They convinced a Brazilian bank to send them $242 million over the course of three years to "invest" in the profits of a new airport. The airport in question never actually existed.
In 2015, Neil Moore, a prisoner serving time for a $2.7 million fraud conviction, walked out the front gate of the high security Wandsworth jail in south London. by forging his own release papers.
One of the most prevalent cons around is the Nigerian email scam. Essentially an advanced-free fraud, the con-man promises the email recipient access to the vast fortunes of a wealthy man, royalty, or foreign company if only the recipient can put up some money to help said wealthy man, royal, or company out of some terrible bind. The amount of money lost to the Nigerian scam exceeds three hundred million dollars annually in just the United States and the United Kingdom alone.
One of the most prevalent cons around is the Nigerian email scam. Essentially an advanced-free fraud, the con-man promises the email recipient access to the vast fortunes of a wealthy man, royalty, or foreign company if only the recipient can put up some money to help said wealthy man, royal, or company out of some terrible bind. The amount of money lost to the Nigerian scam exceeds three hundred million dollars annually in just the United States and the United Kingdom alone.
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