Bernard Madoff

Top 10 Conmen and Scams

The recent heavyweight champion of Scam. Dubbed “the man who conned the world”, the ex chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market attempted what federal officials called “the world’s largest Ponzi scheme”. (A “Ponzi scheme” is a classic scam offering short-term gains: see next entry). He pocketed an estimated billion dollars, his victims ranging from charities to Kevin Bacon to Steven Spielberg. In 2009 he was jailed for a term of 150 years.