Charles Ponzi earns infamy for his name The most famous con artist in modern history, Charles Ponzi raked in $15 million over the course of 18 months by promising outrageous short-term profits of 50% to 100% when he was, in fact, just shuffling money from one person to the next while keeping most for himself. The most famous con artist in modern history, Charles Ponzi

Who are the most famous con men?

Here are 20 of the most notorious con artists over the whole course of human history listed in no particular order:David Hampton.Jerry Tarbot.Natwarlal.Reed Slatkin.Frank Abagnale.Ali Dia.Calisto Tanzi.Bernie Madoff.More items

Who is a grifter person?

Grift was born in the argot of the underworld, a realm in which a grifter might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, or a confidence man-any criminal who relied on skill and wits rather than physical violence-and to be on the grift was to make a living by stings and clever thefts.