Con Men - June 1, 2022

My An Arkie's Faith column from the June 1, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

The well-dressed man walked into the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. He made his way to a reception held in the ballroom and quickly began mingling with the guests. He looked like a movie star and possessed a hypnotic charm. He spoke five languages and made easy conversation with many wealthy and influential Parisian businessmen. 

The year was 1925, and Victor had recently arrived in Paris from the U.S. He was born in Austria-Hungary on January 4, 1890. Victor described his father and mother as the "poorest peasant people" who raised him in a grim house made from stone. As a teenager, he was a panhandler, pickpocket, burglar, and street hustler. 

When transatlantic travel resumed after the first world war, Victor frequently crossed the Atlantic on luxury liners, looking for marks among the first-class passengers. Dressed like a wealthy gentleman, he displayed impeccable manners and was smooth as silk. Victor made friends quickly and soon was on good terms with the voyage's most affluent passengers. During the 1920s, he lived in America with detectives from over forty cities looking for him.

On the trip to Paris in 1925, he planned a con that swindling experts call "the big store." With contacts he had made at Hôtel de Crillon, he became known in Parisian business circles. Victor printed official-looking stationary, identifying him as Deputy Director of the Ministre de Postes et Telegraphes. He then wrote to the top people in the French scrap metal industry, inviting them to the hotel for a secret meeting to discuss removing the landmark. Absolute secrecy was critical, he insisted, to avoid a public uproar.

"Because of engineering faults, costly repairs, and political problems I cannot discuss, the tearing down of the Eiffel Tower has become mandatory," Victor told them in a quiet hotel room. "The tower would be sold to the highest bidder." Built for the 1889 Paris Exposition, the Eiffel Tower was only intended to stand for twenty years and then be dismantled. In 1925, it was 36 years old and a rusting eyesore. Incredible as it sounds now, many Parisians wanted it gone.

After the secret meeting, offers started rolling in. One dealer was especially eager to win the contract. Andre Poisson asked to meet Victor alone. He explained he was new to Paris and didn't have the insider connections the other dealers did. Victor said that he understood. As a government bureaucrat, he didn't make much money and had trouble making ends meet. But he insisted that selling the Eiffel Tower was a big decision and wanted to get it right. Andre took the hint. He paid $20,000 as earnest money for purchasing the Eiffel Tower and another $50,000 to guarantee his bid would be the winner.

Victor was on a train out of Paris within the hour with $70,000 in cash. He had pulled off his biggest con. Victor spent his entire life as a con man. He traveled with a trunk of disguises and could transform quickly into a rabbi, a priest, a bellhop, or a porter. Dressed like a baggage man, Victor could escape any hotel in a pinch and take his luggage with him. He used 47 aliases and carried dozens of fake passports. He created a web of lies so thick that even today, his true identity remains shrouded in mystery. 

I'm sure that no one has tried to sell you the Eiffel Tower, but I'm also sure that someone has tried to scam you. It seems like scams are everywhere. The internet makes it even easier for con men to deceive you. I hope you have done better seeing through con men than I have.

Last year, Jeff bid to put a new roof on my house. We both signed a professionally printed contract form. I gave him money to buy the 50 squares of shingles needed to do the job. He had one pallet, six squares of shingles, delivered to my house, and told me that he would start the work in two days. Jeff called instead of beginning work and said he and the other roofer had contracted Covid. Many people in our community were sick with Covid, so I didn't see a red flag. After two weeks, I called Jeff to see how he was doing and when work would start on my roof. He would never answer the phone. I called the number of the other roofer, and he wouldn't answer either. 

When I took my contract and canceled checks to the police department, they immediately knew I had been conned. Jeff was well-known by the police, but not by the last name he gave me. I was not the first person in town to be scammed. This is a sinful world, and many people can't be trusted. Con men and women are out there, ready to lie to us and rip us off. 

Lying is popular today. That's because we have believed the devil's lie that truth doesn't matter. Satan has convinced many Christians that there is no such thing as absolute truth, so there can be no absolute lie. The end justifies the means, and there are no lies, just alternative facts. That's the big con, and it started in the Garden of Eden. "The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'" "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5 (NLT)

Gentle Reader, con men are all around us. But the original con man is the devil. "He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44 (NLT) The Bible advises us to "be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 (AMP) Watch out for con men like Victor and Jeff. They want to separate you from your money. But even more, watch out for the original con man, Satan. He wants to separate you from God.