A Fraud Sold The Brooklyn Bridge

If you believe that, then I have a bridge to sell you. Everyone has heard this sarcastic comeback, and its origins is traced to New York's Brooklyn Bridge, which, since its completion in 1883, has been "sold" by a scam artists.

Its most notorious salesman is George C. Parker. His method was to target immigrants and tourists with an opportunity to build tollbooths and collect tolls. Parker could extract payments for as much as $50,000 or little as $50 from his victims. He claimed to have a couple of people a week into taking the deals he offered.