Fraud History — True Stories, Easy to Read

Last updated: 2025-08-26 · Estimated time: 7–10 min

These short stories are true and written at about a 10th‑grade reading level. Each one ends with a source so you can check the facts.

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A Risky Voyage and a Clever Claim (Athens, 4th c. BCE)

Story: A grain ship leaves port with a loan that must be paid back only if the ship returns. When things go wrong, the borrower’s side claims the cargo is theirs and tries to duck the debt. In court, the speaker walks the jury through paperwork tricks and false ownership claims. Even in ancient Athens, people tried to game the rules of finance.
Source: Demosthenes (attrib.), Against Zenothemis. Perseus / Scaife Viewer — https://scaife.perseus.org/library/urn%3Acts%3AgreekLit%3Atlg0014.tlg032.perseus-eng2/

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The Day Rome Sold the Throne (193 CE)

Story: After the emperor is killed, the Praetorian Guard does the unthinkable: they auction the empire to the highest bidder. A rich senator, Didius Julianus, wins by promising a massive bonus to the soldiers. It’s not “fraud” by law, but it is a stunning case of corrupt incentives beating justice—and it ends in chaos.
Source: Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 73 (Epitome). Thayer / University of Chicago — https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/73*.html

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The Check That Didn’t Look Quite Right (18th–19th c.)

Story: A clerk stares at a check and feels something is off. The engraving is slightly wrong. The cut‑out shape doesn’t match. Early bankers fought forgers with craft: watermarks, serial numbers, and careful books. This is one of the first times we see a system built to make cheating harder.
Source: Business History Review (1967), “Early American Checks and an Example of Their Use.” Cambridge University Press — https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/early-american-checks-and-an-example-of-their-use/50F2D2A904FE0ADC356D293F02F5B6FB

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Selling a Country That Didn’t Exist: Poyais (1820s)

Story: A smooth talker named Gregor MacGregor prints maps, laws, and land titles for a place called Poyais. Investors buy. Settlers sail. When they land, there is no real city—only jungle and disease. The pitch was beautiful paperwork and a dream of easy wealth. The reality was a deadly fake.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — “The Craziest Scam: Gregor MacGregor Creates His Own Country” — https://www.britannica.com/story/the-craziest-scam-gregor-macgregor-creates-his-own-country

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Lines Around the Block: Ponzi (1920)

Story: In Boston, crowds line up to give money to Charles Ponzi, who promises huge profits from postal reply coupons. Early investors get paid with cash from new investors, so the story looks true—until inflows slow and the whole thing crashes. That’s why we call it a Ponzi scheme today.
Sources:

• Investor.gov — “Ponzi Schemes”: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/ponzi-schemes
• Encyclopaedia Britannica — “Charles Ponzi”: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Ponzi

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“Please Verify Your Password”: Early Phishing on AOL (mid‑1990s)

Story: Teen coders release AOHell, a tool that sends fake “From AOL Staff” messages at the push of a button. People type back their passwords and card numbers. What used to be a one‑off con becomes software‑driven and scalable—a pattern we still see today.
Source: M. Rekouche, “Early Phishing.” arXiv:1106.4692 — https://arxiv.org/abs/1106.4692

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Friday Night, Printer Errors: The SWIFT Heist (2016)

Story: Attackers slip into systems around Bangladesh Bank’s SWIFT terminals and send payment messages asking for almost $1 billion. Some requests get caught by lucky spelling errors. But $81 million still moves and is laundered in the Philippines. The lesson: protect the endpoints and the process, not just the network.
Source: ISACA Journal, “Lessons Learned from the Bangladesh Bank Heist” (Vol. 6, 2023) — https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2023/volume-6/lessons-learned-from-the-bangladesh-bank-heist

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“Sophia” Wants to Help You Invest (2023–2024)

Story: You meet “Sophia” on a chat app. Weeks of friendly talks follow. She suggests a trading site and shows “proof” of profits. You wire money. The site is controlled by the scammers. When you try to withdraw, the fees grow—or the site vanishes. Victims across the U.S. reported $1.14 billion lost in 2023.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — “Love Stinks: When a Scammer Is Involved” (2024‑02; cites 2023 losses) — https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2024/02/love-stinks-when-scammer-involved

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Why This History Matters

• New tools, old tricks: tech changes, incentives don’t.
• Good controls make cheating expensive and risky.
• Studying real cases sharpens your fraud sense.

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