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n the 1820s, Scottish conman Gregor MacGregor pulled off one of history's most audacious scams by inventing a fake country called Poyais. He convinced British investors to buy land and bonds for this so-called utopia, promising lush, fertile land and a booming capital city. To sell the dream, MacGregor produced a polished, official-looking guidebook complete with maps, illustrations, and even fake currency.
Hundreds of eager settlers, believing they were heading to paradise, embarked on a perilous journey to Poyais—only to arrive in a desolate, uninhabited jungle. Many perished from disease and starvation, realizing too late they'd been duped. Despite his fraudulent scheme, MacGregor was eventually arrested for fraud in France, but remarkably, he was acquitted. Unfazed, he continued his life of deception. MacGregor's Poyais scam remains one of the most successful and audacious acts of securities fraud in history.
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