Traitors and Conmen Trivia

1. This former con artist, born in 1948, had his life story told in a major film. He later ran a financial fraud consulting business. Who is he?

From Quiz This Is a Scam

Answer: Frank Abagnale

In the 1960s, Frank Abagnale passed bad checks worth more than $2.5 million in 26 countries. The movie "Catch Me If You Can" is based on his life. He made several escapes from justice by impersonating other people. A few examples are: an undercover cop, a Pan Am pilot, and a doctor.

From Quiz Real Facts About Fake People

Answer: Joan of Arc

While there were several imposters who claimed to be Saint Joan of Arc, the most successful of these was Claude des Armoises. With the support of Joan of Arc's brothers she carried on the charade from 1436 until 1440. She asserted that an unknown female was burned at the stake while she was smuggled away from the scene. She fooled much of the nobility, and the ruse brought her a good marriage, gifts, and other subsidies. Even after she confessed to Charles VII of her deception, there were many who did not believe her.

From Quiz Remember the Fifth of November!

Answer: Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Quisling actively assisted Nazi Germany while it was conquering his country with the aim of being in charge of the puppet government. "The Times" newspaper was the first to use the name as a descriptive common noun in an editorial in 1940. It has been in widespread use to describe collaborators ever since. After the war he was arrested, tried for various crimes, including murder, theft, embezzlement and conspiring with Hitler. He was found guilty and was executed by firing squad. Benedict Arnold is a famous American traitor. Frits Clausen led the collaborative government in Denmark. Ferenc Szalasi led the collaborative government in Hungary.

From Quiz Buying the Brooklyn Bridge

Answer: Victor Lustig

In 1925 Paris was recovering from the first World War and was booming, but there were still financial problems and, on reading an article stating that the city had problems maintaining the Eiffel Tower, Victor Lustig saw the ideal opportunity. Posing as a Government official he invited six scrap metal dealers to a secret meeting where, using forged documents, he invited them to bid for scrapping the Eiffel Tower. He insisted on secrecy because of possible public outcry. The idea was not completely implausible, the tower had never been intended to be permanent, and everyone knew it was in bad repair. Selecting the most gullible of the men to work on Lustig was able to complete the con and collected not only the funds for the tower, but also a sizable bribe from the man to accept his bid. Amazingly he got away with it as the dealer was too embarrassed to go to the Police. A month later he tried it again with six new scrap dealers, but one of them reported it to the Police and Lustig had to flee France to avoid arrest.

From Quiz Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee

Answer: California

Boyce and Lee both came from affluent families who lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California near Los Angeles. They served as altar boys together and both shared an interest in falconry, although Boyce's interest in the birds went much further than Lee's.

From Quiz Traitors

Answer: Rathbone

David Herold was trapped with Booth at Garrett's Farm. Atzerodt was a fellow conspirator. Mary Surratt was the one woman who was caught in the {web;} her son, John, was later tried - it ended with a hung jury. Major Rathbone was in the Lincoln Box at Ford's theatre when Booth {attacked;} he was injured in the confrontation with Booth.

From Quiz This Is a Scam

Answer: Charles Ponzi

Charles Ponzi, who died in 1949, is perhaps one of the most commonly known con artists in history. His life both began and ended in poverty. He arrived in the US with $2.50 and a determination to strike it rich. He succeeded at being rich for quite a while, but that all ended with an FBI raid, a prison escape, and deportation to Italy.

From Quiz Why Do You Hate Us So?

Answer: Mir Jafar

Because of his desire to be Nawab (governor or person of high status) of Bengal, Mir Muhammed Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur (commonly known as Mir Jafar), concocted a secret pact with Robert Clive of the British East India Company to compromise the Army of Bengal in a battle with the British, while withholding his own soldiers from the battle. After being named Nawab, Jafar tried to gain financially from the Dutch, lost and regained favor with the British and died in 1765. The British ruled India without native assistance for the next two centuries.

From Quiz Remember the Fifth of November!

Answer: Lord Haw Haw

William Joyce was born in America, but his family moved to Ireland when he was a young child. He then moved to England in the early 1930s. He joined Oswald Moseley's Union of British Fascists, and just before war was declared in 1939 went to Germany because he feared arrest in Britain. He became a naturalised German citizen. Lord Haw Haw was a nickname originally applied to broadcaster Wolf Mittler, but when Joyce became the chief propaganda broadcaster it was moved to him. He always started his broadcasts "Germany calling, Germany calling". Listening to him was not illegal and it is estimated that as many as eighteen million people in Britain listened to him. At the end of the war he was captured, brought to London and tried for high treason at the Old Bailey. He was found guilty and hanged. It was claimed that when he started broadcasting from Germany he still held a British passport (though it had been obtained on false pretences) and therefore owed allegiance to the King. This gave the British the right to try him and execute him.

From Quiz Judas

Answer: His disgruntled ex-wife turned him in

John Anthony Walker was an American Navy officer who pleaded guilty to being a spy for Russia from 1968-1985. His activities were found out, when after refusing to pay his ex-wife any alimony, she turned him into the FBI. During these years of the Cold War he recruited his son into spying for the Russians also. Everyone in his spy ring was caught and everyone other than his son was given a life term in prison. His son was given 25 years. He found out that there is some truth to the old saying that goes something like this "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".

From Quiz I Spy With My Little Eye

Answer: He was a Lutheran pastor

This would make the choices that Fuchs went on to follow even more puzzling. Their potential for destruction was at the opposite end of the spectrum to that of his father's work.

From Quiz Buying the Brooklyn Bridge

Answer: George C Parker

George C Parker made a very good living selling New York's landmarks to unwary tourists. He sold Madison Square Garden, The Statue of Liberty, Grant's Tomb and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His absolute favourite con was selling Brooklyn Bridge, which he did around twice a week for several years, by convincing his "clients" that they could make a fortune by traffic control measures. Several times the Police had to intervene to stop people erecting barriers and toll booths on the bridge. When he sold Grant's Tomb, which he did more than once, he posed as the general's grandson and had very impressive fake documents to prove ownership. Convicted of fraud three times he died in Sing Sing Prison.

From Quiz Traitors

Answer: Ezra Pound

Broadcasting fascist propaganda from Italy. Sanity problems later.

From Quiz This Is a Scam

Answer: Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil

Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil started out blackmailing his co-workers. When he realized they were skimming off the top of the debts they collected, he told them that for a portion of what they took he wouldn't turn them in. He eventually graduated to impersonation and sales of non-existent stocks.

From Quiz Remember the Fifth of November!

Answer: Mary, Queen of Scots

Although she became Queen at only 6 days old Mary did not take up her throne until she was nineteen. She spent her childhood in France and was married to the King of France. During this period Scotland was governed by Regents. She married Lord Darnley, but that marriage ended with his suspicious death. She then married Lord Bothwell, who was suspected of being involved in the death of Darnley. An uprising forced her to seek sanctuary in England. Many English Catholics believed her to be the legitimate Queen and Elizabeth saw her as a threat. She was imprisoned in various castles and private houses over an eighteen year period. The Babington Plot was a plot to kill Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne. Elizabeth had her executed by beheading for her part in it. She was executed at Fotheringay Castle in February 1587. Sir Anthony Babington, after whom the plot was named, was also executed for his part in it.

From Quiz Judas

Answer: Norway

Vidkun Quisling was a native Norwegian politician who took over his country and assumed the role of Prime Minister in 1942 with the support of the German Nazi occupation force. Quisling moved into the Royal Palace and promoted Nazi propaganda. At the end of the war Quisling and his associates were arrested. He was executed by firing squad for embezzlement, murder, and high treason. His name became synonym of traitor and the term is still used today.

From Quiz I Spy With My Little Eye

Answer: Schizophrenia

The tragedy of this illness was that so little was known of it until fairly recently. Yet, in spite of this, the suicide rate still remains high from sufferers of this cruel disease. One wonders, in an attempt to explain his actions, if Fuchs himself struggled with a mild form of it.

From Quiz Buying the Brooklyn Bridge

Answer: Frank Abagnale

Starting when he was only sixteen Frank Abagnale passed an impressive $2.5M worth of forged cheques in a five year period. He posed as an airline pilot, doctor, prison inspector and lawyer and twice escaped from police custody, once from inside a penitentiary, and all before he was twenty-one. Arrested and sentenced to 12 years prison he was released after five years on condition he helped the FBI in their fight against fraud. He now runs his own Security Consultancy advising the business world on how to avoid fraud, a classic poacher turned gamekeeper scenario. The film "Catch Me If You Can" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was released in 2002 and is based on his ghostwritten autobiography.

From Quiz Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee

Answer: Soviet Union

While Boyce possessed a high IQ, he lacked direction. Lee, on the other hand, had barely graduated from high school and had quickly gotten involved in drug dealing for a living. Chris knew that outrage at the nation's corrupt morals would not motivate Daulton to sell out his country, but money would. They decided Daulton would approach the Russians at their embassy in Mexico City.

From Quiz Traitors

Answer: Civil War

He ran the infamous Confederate Andersonville prison in Georgia.

From Quiz This Is a Scam

Answer: Victor Lustig

In 1925, Victor Lustig held a secret meeting with six different scrap metal dealers. He convinced them that the city needed to scrap the tower because it was too expensive to keep. He took them for a tour of the tower in a limo and was so convincing that one of the dealers handed over the necessary money. Victor Lustig ran off with the money. He was so successful with his first attempt that he tried the scheme again one month later.

From Quiz Real Facts About Fake People

Answer: Dean of Admissions to MIT

Marilee Jones was a high school graduate who managed, through fraud and deceit, to become the Dean of Admissions to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was also a best-selling author who was featured in/on "The New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal", and "USA Today". After her scam had been uncovered and she was fired, she continued to speak publicly about the college application process. She has never publicly admitted her guilt but has claimed on several occasions that she did not recall any of her fraudulent activity.

From Quiz Why Do You Hate Us So?

Answer: Christine Keeler

British Secretary of State for War John Profumo met Christine Keeler in 1961 and had an affair with her. In 1962 it became public knowledge and it was learned that she also had a relationship with Yevgeny Ivanov, a senior attaché at the Soviet embassy in London. In June, 1963, after denials, Profumo resigned. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan resigned in September of that year, citing ill health. It may have been exacerbated by the scandal.

From Quiz Remember the Fifth of November!

Answer: Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda became a passionate supporter of North Vietnam. She visited there and was photographed with their anti aircraft guns. She even became involved in talking to American prisoners of war (through the North Vietnamese) about the "benevolent" treatment they were receiving from their captors. Some tried to tell her they were being tortured but she refused to believe it. Some later claimed their treatment became even harsher because they had refused to speak to her and say what their captors wanted. After the war many veterans tried to bring charges of treason against her, but she has never received any real punishment for her support of America's enemies. She has since said that she regrets her acts, but she has yet to receive the forgiveness of veterans.

From Quiz Buying the Brooklyn Bridge

Answer: William Thompson

William Thompson operated in New York in the 1840s. He would approach a well dressed and obviously affluent person pretending that they knew each other. The person approached was usually too embarrassed to admit they had no idea of who he was. After a while he would ask if they had the confidence in him to lend him money or a valuable item, such as a watch or piece of jewellery, until the next day, and would then disappear never to be seen again. He was eventually arrested and in their report of his 1849 trial the "New York Herald" christened him "confidence man". According to the "Oxford English Dictionary" the first time confidence trickster appeared in print was in the "New Orleans Picayune".

From Quiz Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee

Answer: Spy satellite

TRW developed and manufactured satellites used by the CIA. At TRW, Boyce's duties in the Black Vault included operating cryptographic equipment which was used to pass on telex traffic from the CIA in Washington to other locations, such as the CIA installation in Australia. The information sold was mostly cipher cards for the surveillance satellites used by the CIA, and information on Rhyolite and Argus, two surveillance satellite programs.

From Quiz This Is a Scam

Answer: George Parker

George Parker (1870-1936) had a very elaborate scheme, complete with a fake office, fake documents showing him as the owner of various landmarks, and an ability to convince people that what he spoke was the truth. He was able to continue his scheme for years, and regularly "sold" the Brooklyn Bridge to gullible people twice a week, telling them that they could get rich by tolling the bridge. Police had to come shut down people trying to set up toll booths on a regular basis and tell them that they didn't own the bridge. He was eventually caught and thrown in prison where he died.

From Quiz Why Do You Hate Us So?

Answer: Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus, generally known as Brutus, was of a different political faction from Julius Caesar, dictator of the Roman Republic. However, impressed with Brutus' abilities, Caesar made him Urban Praetor in 45 B.C. As Caesar took more and more power for himself, Roman senators began plotting against him and Brutus was recruited to their conspiracy. On the Ides of March, 44 B.C., as many as 60 senators stabbed Caesar to death, Brutus apparently being the second to do so. The attack was so violent that some of the conspirators stabbed each other. Brutus committed suicide in 42 B.C., rather than be captured and executed for Caesar's assassination.

From Quiz Remember the Fifth of November!

Answer: The Soviet Union

Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt were all recruited to Communism during their time at Cambridge University. They passed secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II and into the 1950s. The identity of the so called "fifth man" has been the source of much speculation over the years and various candidates have been put forward. John Cairncross, who was identified as a Soviet agent in the 1990s seems the most likely candidate. Philby, Burgess and Maclean all ended up defecting to the Soviet Union and all eventually died there. Anthony Blunt, a respected art historian, was not unmasked until much later and traded immunity from prosecution for information. It was jokingly said that MI5 in effect 'locked him up in the queen's art gallery'. He named several other agents, some of whom he had recruited. He died in England in 1983, having been publicly denounced by Margaret Thatcher and stripped of his knighthood in 1979.

From Quiz I Spy With My Little Eye

Answer: He was interned by the British authorities

This, however, was only for a short period of six months. One of his professors intervened on his behalf and he was allowed to return to work.

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Last Updated Oct 26 2024 5:46 AM

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