Many would agree it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, where hustling, cutting corners and occasionally lying is necessary if one wants to stay on top. Of course, some people push the envelope too far. Here are eight of the most notorious con artists, grifters and swindlers from the 19th century onward.
Princess Caraboo
In April 1817, the residents of Almondsbury, England, were surprised to find a mysterious woman in a shawl and colorful dress wandering around their village. She spoke an indecipherable language, though she seemingly referred to herself as “Caraboo,” and her recognition of exotic fruits like pineapples suggested that she came from Asia. Eventually, a Portuguese sailor agreed to “translate” for the stranger, relaying the information that she was a princess from the Indian Ocean island of Javasu who had escaped a kidnapping attempt by pirates.
The woman lived comfortably for the next few months at the home of an Almondsbury magistrate, where she showed off her native style of dancing and religious worship to curious visitors until a landlady in nearby Bristol revealed that Princess Caraboo from Javasu was really Mary Willcocks from Devon. Apparently, the townspeople didn’t take the news too badly, as Willcocks avoided imprisonment and even got the magistrate’s wife to pay for her trip to America. She later returned to England, married and…
