Commerce or Scammers

The world is rife with con artists, grifters and hustlers who make it their life’s mission to take advantage of the susceptible and the vulnerable. This has been happening since time immemorial.

The first scammer is often cited as Greek sea merchant Hegestratos, who in 300 B.C. attempted the earliest recorded financial fraud by trying to sink his own ship for an insurance payout. He planned to collect on a “bottomry” loan, which acted as a form of insurance policy on the vessel and its cargo. The...