How a Con Artist Effortlessly Sold the Eiffel Tower Twice

Just follow the 10 Commandments written by the world’s smoothest con artist

Shenbaga Lakshmi
7 min readJul 18, 2022
Victor Lustig — the man who sold the Eiffel Tower
Victor Lustig — the con man of the early 1900s. (Free to use)

VVictor Lustig was an Austro-Hungarian man from the early 1900s. He was born and raised in a humble family that couldn’t afford a lot. His parents wanted him to grow into an influential person who could change their lives. But he had other plans.

Lustig was always a bright kid. He got straight A’s, spoke several languages, and his teachers adored him. He was that perfect student from your school yearbooks.

But that wasn’t all Lustig. He was more than your typical nerd.

Lustig was popular among the students as well. He flirted with the girls, chilled with the boys, and had a very relaxed life.

Until one day, everything changed.

The shift

One day in school, Lustig got into trouble.

He allegedly saw a kid doing something shady and confronted him. One thing led to another, and they got into a huge fight.

The fight got way out of control, and Lustig was beaten badly.

The incident affected Lustig so much that his core character changed. Suddenly, he started stealing from the greedy to survive. He…

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Shenbaga Lakshmi

Software engineer chasing cultural stories. 4x Top Writer. Best life tip: Text your friends back! Contact: shenbawrites@gmail.com