10 Biggest Scammers Who Stole Billions Of Dollars!

hey guys it's chris from your grandparents getting tricked into giving their credit card information to a stranger to celebrities being fooled into promoting fake festivals here are nine of the biggest scams ever [Music] number nine the dale the 1970s were a strange time with civil rights rallies environmental movements presidential scandals and fear of nuclear war most people were just trying to get through the days but the average consumer was missing something and liz carmichael knew just what they needed the fuel crisis of 1974 led to a consumer need for more energy efficient vehicle options enter the dale a cheap efficient stylish three-wheeled car sounds too good to be true well you're absolutely right it was a giant hoax after receiving 30 million investment dollars close to 200 million dollars today carmichael was planning on revolutionizing the vehicle industry little did investors know carmichael had an interesting past she was born as jerry dean michael who just so happened to be on the run from feds for charges relating to counterfeiting liz was a tried and true con artist that got national attention for her biggest con yet she got the 20th century motor car company involved and quickly began advertising some of the taglines called it the most exciting new car of this century the first space-aged automobile even describing it as designed and built like it was ready to be driven to the moon these were some pretty far out claims for an equally far-out looking vehicle liz claimed that they would sell over 200 000 models but here's the catch you've been waiting for they only ever made one prototype the neon yellow car was full of motorcycle parts with no steering wheel mechanism gas pedals or suitable motor the only motor in it came from a lawn mower the futuristic dale couldn't even go 30 miles an hour let alone drive to the moon it was a car sold on a dream but once the nightmarish truth got out millions of investor dollars were lost and carmichael was sent to prison number eight real-life war dogs did you know the hit film war dogs was based on a true story ephraim diavoli was 19 years old while owning the aey inc arms company at the age of 23 david mordecai pacquiao's joined the company and by 2006 they had amassed over 149 contracts a year later the pair landed a massive deal with the us government for 300 million dollars aye was to supply the afghan army with millions of ak-47 rounds along with rockets and other heavy artillery according to the contract with the us pacquiao's and diveroli were supposed to get the weaponry from albania but they actually got it from china which was a direct violation of the original agreement it was especially bad because the u.s bans all chinese ammunition the man actively covered up the fact that the rounds were created in china by removing the chinese markings on all of the gun crates after discovering the scam the us did not take the ax lightly and charged the two with fraud devaroli was sent to prison for four years on account of conspiracy to defraud the united states and pakis was given seven months of house arrest number seven fire festival in 2007 the ultimate party for the ultra rich and celebrity elite was advertised with tickets costing up to 100 000 bucks a piece and promotions from well-known sociolites like kendall jenner and hayley baldwin the fire festival was supposed to be the party of the century guests were promised luxury accommodations with gourmet meals celebrity interactions and a true island getaway over 5 000 people bought tickets racking up over 26 million dollars in sales once arriving for the exciting experience in the bahamas festival goers were shocked at what awaited them cheese sandwiches into go boxes small tents with soaking wet mattresses and outhouses hardly the luxury experience people were hoping for high profile artists were on the docket to perform but many like blink 182 pulled out shortly before due to how sketchy the event seemed the man behind it all was billy mcfarland for his crimes against partiers he was sentenced to six years in prison and had to give back the 26 million dollars hulu and netflix have both published documentaries about the massive festival scam and it's hard to believe the festival's organizers thought they could just whip up a luxury experience in a few months when it should have taken over a year number six coveted relief money scam 2020 was really a year for the history books covent 19 came out of nowhere and hit everyone off guard ruining plans and forcing us to stay indoors no one could have predicted or successfully prepared for it it was in this year that scammers took advantage of the chaos and fear surrounding the virus and stole over 4.2 billion dollars from individuals across the country imperatively over the course of 2017 and all the way through 2019 a total of 7.6 billion dollars was taken from unsuspecting victims the news of 2020's record was released in the internet crime report from the fbi this march it's estimated that the 4.2 billion dollar figure is just a rough estimate since it's highly likely that many of the people that got scammed were too embarrassed to admit what happened a facebook group created for scam victims with over 700 members did a survey that showed almost 75 percent of people were too ashamed to file a report the scammers had multiple methods of getting what they wanted many would make fake profiles on social media sites like facebook and instagram some even going on dating sites or apps for games using these personas they would innocently start a conversation with their mark with a pre-written script meticulously crafted to trick gullible victims after forming some kind of connection the scammer would make up an excuse for why they needed money whether it was issues after losing their job during covet or fraudulent medical problems the people they were targeting felt bad for their new friend and would often send money to help in california 69 000 people fell for these tricks it's unfortunate that someone would take advantage of people during such a vulnerable time and it's even more sad that they were so successful in doing so just remember the next time someone you don't know reaches out to you on social sites don't become a victim did you ever get a message on facebook from someone trying to scam you let us know in the comments down below and if you're liking this video be sure to hit the thumbs up and subscribe buttons if you haven't already number 5. scott rostein everyone has heard of or at least joked about those mega rich businessmen who fly exclusively on private jets to their 16th vacation home on a private island off the coast of france well scott rothstein was one of those men and he got his money by scamming others in the wealthy elite rostine was a lawyer as well as a shareholder and the ceo of the rothstein rosenfeld alder law firm in 2009 it was discovered that he along with some of the other higher ups in the firm were guilty of involvement in a 1.2 billion dollar ponzi scheme in case you don't know a ponzi scheme is a type of scam that tricks investors into putting money into a project little do they know their money isn't gonna go to the intended project but instead it's going into the pockets of early investors while the early investors think the money is coming from the project it's actually coming from the new funds and the cycle just keeps on repeating eventually the fbi caught on to what rostein was doing and they issued a search warrant for the law firm's offices in fort lauderdale during november of 2009 spooked by the feds rothstein fled to casablanca with 16 million dollars talk about a lavish getaway he was either overcome with guilt or too scared of what the police might do to him that he wrote a suicide message to his partners thankfully they were able to talk him out of the deed and justice was served finally on june 9th of 2010 scott received his prison sentence of 50 years in prison it just goes to show that some mega-rich people will get their hands dirty for money number 4. james paul lewis jr in 2004 a 57 year old california man by the name of james paul lewis jr scammed investors out of 814 million dollars putting on a front is an investment advisor james would trick his clients into investing in certain businesses while really he was just taking their money in an elaborate ponzi scheme he owned a large investment firm called the orange county firm financial advisory consultants that was inevitably shut down due to his crimes lewis had been scamming his trusting clients for over 20 years with over 5 200 in his criminal career it wasn't until december 22nd of 2004 that the fbi raided his office only to find 2.3 out of the 814 million dollars he was supposed to have on hand for his clients many of whom were elderly and needed the money to get through their final years of life the fbi found that lewis had sent some of the money overseas and traded it into foreign currency while also using it to buy luxury cars fancy homes and more for his crimes u.s district judge cormac carney sentenced lewis to serve a maximum sentence possible of 30 years and ordered him to pay back 156 million dollars in restitution to this day lewis serves his prison sentence but only 11 of that 156 million dollars has been recovered number three credit card scams scammers have been tricking people for years and know exactly how to get what they want ever since credit cards first rolled out decades ago hackers and scammers have found ways to make money off of innocent victims collectively billions of dollars have been stolen but how do they do it you might ask how could some people be so gullible and just give their credit card information out to strangers well they use multiple methods to trick card holders many times it starts with a simple phone call you've probably gotten one or maybe a thousand calls asking about your car's extended warranty how you owe money to the irs and there's a warrant out for your arrest or maybe there's reduced insurance rates in your area you probably hang up as soon as you hear that robotic voice but some people most often older people and less technologically savvy adults well they keep listening these types of scams are known as phishing schemes and can lead to money being stolen off of cards or even entirely new credit cards being opened in the target's name this can often lead down a slippery slope to identity theft it's easier than you think to become a victim of a credit card scam scammers use multiple avenues to try and take your money whether it be through phone calls emails social media and more you should always be careful with your credit card information number two gift cards gift cards are the unspoken favorite christmas and birthday present that everyone wants because after getting one you can buy whatever you want with it and so can scammers they want them too the only difference is they want you to pay for them if you've ever worked a retail job at a store that sells these coveted cards then you probably know where we're going with this in 2020 the better business bureau reported almost 3 million dollars stolen due to gift card scams there's an average of 700 bucks out of pocket of each victim this number is probably much higher since less than 10 percent of those tricked filed an incident report similar to the credit card schemes perpetrators often call their victims saying that they're going to be arrested immediately unless a certain amount of money is given on a visa gift card or that they've won the lottery but must pay a certain amount before receiving the jackpot they then ask for the numbers on the back of the card and make their getaway without a trace sadly most gift cards can't be returned once they're purchased so there's almost no way for victims to get their money back after realizing they've been tricked sadly the elderly are the ones most commonly fooled with over 66 of those being women it's been found that the most bought gift cards in these scams include ones for google play target amazon ebay and itunes in canada one of the top gift cards used for theft is a steam card mainly used for online gaming the issue has gotten so bad that retail employees are now trained to recognize the signs of a gift card scam even though it's very difficult to tell someone they've been tricked once they've convinced themselves otherwise so next time you buy a gift card for someone else ask yourself if you can really trust that person number one reed slatkin the early 2000s seemed to be a massively popular time for ponzi schemes one of which conducted by a man known as reed e slatkin who stole over half a billion dollars from investors he claimed the only reason he committed the crimes was because he was under threat slatkin was a member of the famed church of scientology who he said were threatening him to trick investors so the church could profit but the church adamantly denied such claims it's no secret though that the church was a major part of slatkin's life he was converted at an early age during a rocky period in his life right after the death of his father practically growing up in the church it wouldn't be a surprise if his claims of harassment for donations turned out to be true the church was never seen at fault though since there was no evidence of involvement as part of a sentencing deal slatkin assisted investors in taking down and uncovering the depths of the scheme but judge morrow said his help was somewhat sketchy since he would often wait until hints of evidence were found before admitting anything indicating that there could be more he was hiding eventually he was given a 14-year prison sentence one of his victims john poitras said this sentence was an absolute insult to the victims since he and many of his friends lost life savings in the scam along with the multiple year sentence slatkin was ordered to pay back 240 million to his victims thanks for watching which of these scams surprised you the most let us know in the comments down below and don't forget to subscribe we'll see you next time

Channel: World List

Views: 23,462

Rating: 4.9435735 out of 5

Keywords: world list, scammers, people, stories, stolen, money, billions, millions, dollars, biggest scams, biggest scammers, people stories, people who stole billions, largest scams, million dollars, billion dollars, million dollar scams, billion dollar scams, richest, rich, wealthy, wealthiest, wealthy people, richest people, rich people, scam, fraud

Id: S2Okr_s32uY

Length: 14min 9sec (849 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 28 2021