“Eiffel Tower in drastic need of renovation.” That’s the headline of an article in a 1925 newspaper in Paris. You and I would have read that article and moved on with our lives. Victor Lustig thought differently. He saw an opportunity of a lifetime.
Lustig’s always been a con artist. Acting as a noble man, selling things that don’t exist. He was however a bored con man. And wanted to perform bigger and bigger confidence tricks.
So on reading the article, he started setting a plan in motion. He asked a forger friend of his to forge stationary from the French ministry of Posts and Telegraphs – the ministry that took care of the Eiffel. Using the stationary, he invited 5 scrap metal dealers from Paris to come to the Crillon Hotel.
Once everyone was settled, Lustig started his presentation: The Eiffel needed to be dismantled and sold. It was just too expensive to upkeep. 7000 tons of steel. These 5 men were selected with care because they were professional and discrete. To prevent public uproar, things would have to be done quickly and quietly. He asked them all to bid for the tender within the week.
Fooling the mark
While all 5 people sent in their bids, Lustig already knew who he was going to focus on. He had paid attention to how people were reacting during his small presentation. And he chose Andre Poisson to be his mark. Because Poisson was one of the smaller businessmen and was keen to make a reputation for himself. He had shown more keenness.
The way Lustig closes the deal is a thing of marvel however. Poisson’s bid was 250,000 francs. Lustig sets a private meeting with Poisson. Where he seems to declare that Poisson had made a winning bid but there were smaller problems in the way.
Lustig drops hints of how government officers have to work so hard, and at his level, they have to dress up elegantly as well. But even when big deals are closed, they don’t make anything.
All of Poisson’s doubts seemingly vanished when he realized Lustig was asking for a bribe!
Lustig got paid a small bribe on top of the tender price for a fake bill of sale on forged government stationery!
Lustig then skipped town and waited for Poisson to realize he had been swindled. But when he saw no news about the fraud in papers for 6 months, he returned and ran the same scam again! He sold the Eiffel Tower twice!
The anatomy of a successful con
If you deconstruct Lustig’s con, you can see that he:
- Sets the stage to build credibility
- Provides an offer that connects with what the mark needs
- Melts doubts by building rapport and acting in a very “dependable” way
He gets the mark to trust a stranger with a very audacious deal. Because trust = credibility + dependability + emotional connect.
And while its credibility that got him the meeting, it was dependability that allowed him to close.
The neuroscience of trust and dependability
We humans have an inherent need to trust others. That’s how societies are formed. That’s how we humans have prospered: by being cohesive in groups.
Our brains produce a hormone called oxytocin. The trust hormone. It’s this hormone that makes us let down our guards. It’s this hormone that facilitates kinship.
And do you know a sure fire way of releasing oxytocin besides social interactions like touching and hugging? Stress reduction.
You depend on people who reduce your stress levels. Who gives you a release.
Victor Lustig vs Al Capone
When Lustig runs away to America from Europe, he sets his eyes to con the hardest man to con ever. Al Capone.
This is the most difficult con ever because if you are caught, you are dead.
With his past history, Lustig gets a meeting with Al Capone. He convinces Capone to invest $50,000 in his next con.
With $50,000, Lustig goes to a bank and places the cash in a vault. And then he waits.
After 2 months, Lustig goes back to Capone. And tells him that the con job failed. The whole plan had fallen through.
When Capone was on the verge of violence, Lustig acted surprised. And told him: the job failed, but he had not lost Capone’s money. He handed the cash to Capone.
The catharsis was enough for Capone to come to see Lustig as a truly dependable and honest con man. Which prompted Lustig to go for his intended close: he told Capone how he was left penniless and would struggle to eat till his next job.
So Capone, out of the kindness of his gangster heart, gave $1000 to Victor Lustig as a gift.
Action Summary:
- Be dependable. Consistently fulfil peoples expectations.
- Be dependable. Let people feel relief when they think about you. That feeling of stress relief is what creates trust.
- Set the stage up for credibility. Showcase you are the authority even before you come in contact with your audience. Work on building up your reputation and collect social proof.