0:00 In 1925, Victor Lustig set up a temporary, and entirely fake, government office in Paris's prestigious Hôtel de Crillon.0:09 Last week, we admired the audacity of stealing eighteen million dollars worth of maple syrup.0:17 But Victor Lustig wasn't stealing a commodity.0:21 He was selling a national symbol.0:24 The scheme was so audacious, so perfectly executed, that it has become a masterclass in the art of the con.0:33 This is the story of the man who sold the Eiffel Tower.0:37 The plan began not with a lie, but with a grain of truth.0:42 In the 1920s, the Eiffel Tower was not the beloved icon it is today.0:48 Built for the 1889 World's Fair, it was meant to be temporary.0:53 By 1925, it was rusting, expensive to maintain, and many Parisians considered it an eyesore.1:01 Lustig saw an opportunity in this public debate.1:05 He forged official government stationery and sent letters to five of the most prominent scrap metal dealers in Paris.1:14 The letters were an invitation to a confidential meeting at the Hôtel de Crillon.1:21 The topic: the future of the Eiffel Tower.1:25 He presented himself as a deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.1:32 He explained, with a heavy sigh, that the government had made a difficult decision.1:39 The cost of maintaining the tower was simply too high.1:43 It was going to be dismantled and sold for scrap.1:48 The deal had to be kept secret, he insisted, to avoid public outcry.1:53 He even took the men on a tour of the tower, a final inspection before the bidding.2:00 Lustig was a master of reading people.2:03 He didn't just need a victim; he needed the RIGHT victim.2:08 He found him in André Poisson.2:11 Poisson was a newcomer to the Parisian business scene, insecure and desperate to make his mark.2:18 Lustig sensed this ambition, this need for validation.2:23 Poisson submitted the winning bid.2:26 But just as the deal was about to close, he hesitated.2:30 The situation felt… rushed.2:32 This was the pressure point.2:35 The moment the entire scheme could have collapsed.2:39 A lesser con man might have offered reassurances.2:43 Lustig did the opposite.2:45 He confessed.2:46 He told Poisson that he was just a humble civil servant, that his government salary was not enough to support his lifestyle.2:56 He needed a little… consideration.2:59 A bribe.3:00 And that is the move.3:02 The absolute genius of the con.3:04 The request for a bribe didn't scare Poisson away.3:08 It did the OPPOSITE.3:10 It confirmed everything he already believed about how the world really worked.3:17 Of course a government official would be corrupt.3:21 It made the entire story more believable, not less.3:25 Poisson paid the bribe, and then he paid the seventy-thousand francs for seven-thousand tons of a national monument.3:35 Lustig took the cash and a train to Vienna.3:38 He waited for the news to break.3:41 It never did.3:42 André Poisson was too embarrassed to report it.3:46 So Lustig came back to Paris and tried it again.3:50 Same hotel, same story, different group of dealers.3:54 But this time, the chosen mark went to the police.3:58 Lustig had to flee the country.4:01 The con only works if the victim plays their part.4:05 The lesson isn't about audacity.4:08 It's about perception.4:10 Lustig didn't sell scrap metal.4:12 He sold a man a story that confirmed his own cynical view of the world.4:18 The first time, it was a masterpiece of psychology.4:22 The second time, it was just a crime.4:25 The difference was an audience of one.
