Meet the Man Who Pulled Off the Biggest Scam in History

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About Thoughty2
Thoughty2 (Arran) is a British KZbinr and gatekeeper of useless facts. Thoughty2 creates mind-blowing factual videos about science, tech, history, opinion and just about everything else.
#Thoughty2
Writing: Steven Rix
Editing: Alex Brown

[@Thoughty2]

Thanks for watching! Don't forget to support the channel by checking out Trends at trends.co/arran

[@count1572]

:)

[@econno8172]

Love your vids 😄

[@ashp7139]

Why I comment is 47 mins old and video 10mins?

[@dotslashsatan]

Please make another book! Do u actually work in Preston?

[@maxtonatbs5450]

Ye

[@UnknownSend3r]

The irony that his primary motivator was to bring prosperity back to his once wealthy family, only to make the family name synonymous with fraud and deceit a century after his death.

[@gordythecreator]

Good Man! Excellent job. Could you imagine how boring and unknown the family name would be without? Provided a tool for generations to use. Good & bad, right & wrong, etc.. is an opinion

[@collinkhan4163]

Task failed successfully.

[@alainalittle9965]

it is still an achievement... an infamous one to boot. :D

[@utopia4056]

Aint that about a bitch

[@ricardosmythe2548]

The real irony is that this guy coined the phrase by replicating the banks behaviour on a personal level

[@ChengTeoh]

I still can't get over the fact that Mr. Thoughty2 started out without that fabulous mustache.

[@jimmiedmc1]

Hes baby faced in his original videos grew that out over time

[@ogrbrg]

And the red tie :,(

[@samanthaofcatarina]

Wait he didn't always have that mustache

[@johnnyapplesneed851]

Yep he was a bare lipper before.

[@jacobhopper2870]

I remember when he didn't have the stash

[@TheChadPad]

It's ironic that he was trying to get his family out of poverty, but ended up putting so many others' families into poverty while doing it

[@solejacobb8883]

Get rich or die tryin💯.

[@abyass2240]

Yeah quite ironic

[@NastyNate-rd8kv]

Only the strong survive

[@iamdillyj]

That's not irony that was literally a necessity for his goal. It would be ironic if he would have made his own family poor instead because of his plans.

[@TheChadPad]

@@iamdillyj I guess so. More poetic than ironic

[@BasNoAnBua603]

my fiancé calls you "Ohh! The Dapper Man" every time I play your videos. She's got the most adorable mid Pennsylvanian accent so it's particularly endearing to hear.

[@justcallme00oogy]

The saddest thing ever is my actual name is Prince and I originate from Nigeria so just from the get go nobody trusts me

[@alexisthetransgenderduelis4211]

I'll give you my trust, dont break it.

[@lightingthelatenight9942]

An actual Nigerian Prince, maybe the first though not exactly of the type often impersonated lmao

[@dotslashsatan]

Change ur name to conman and people will trust u

[@jixxytrix1705]

......and you expect me to believe that??

[@BloodAsp]

Bruh.

[@silence.9376]

*"The human brain is the most complex structure in the whole entire universe"* _-Human Brain._

[@DetectiveWraith]

I think this “Human brain” character might be a bit biased

[@91DevilDriver91]

it's even weirder. considering that we are made from universes materia, we are actually the universe observing itself.

[@onedone2011]

@@91DevilDriver91 Tree too loud.

[@AndrewFT]

Eyes are more complex…

[@dvult3684]

If we were to be honest, the most complex structure in the world is something never to be seen physically, emotion, something that the brain had scientifically created yet it itself cannot fully understand or nullify.

[@livingcorpse5664]

"It's hard to believe this is the same guy who donated part of his own skin" People are complex. That's why we are taught everyone has good and bad in them and no one can be bad all the time or good all the time.

[@Dude0000]

I’m sure he was well compensated for his act of ‘charity’. I think desperation other than kindness was the motivation. The fact it was a good thing to do was merely happenstance. Imo of course. I don’t know my own motivation most of the time, never mind some Italian immigrant over a century ago.

[@martinmhlanga3007]

The father of lying through the skin of his teeth.

[@sidwhiting665]

The simple answer for why people still fall for these kinds of schemes: greed.

[@arthurchase8570]

thanks for coming to my TED talk

[@DogMeatDelicious]

Bitconneeeeeeeeeeeeeeect

[@filip9564]

@@DogMeatDelicious wazawazawazawazawassuuuuupppppp

[@Mahalo_83]

Desperation

[@starlet5350]

"Ponzi" sounds like a lavish type of pasta.

[@YourFather143]

Until you realize its just some shit limp noodle.

[@hotasianstepsister3039]

More like the one who sings despacito

[@Tht1Gy]

Ponzi? Didn't he ride a motorcycle in the show Happy Days?

[@hydrolito]

Almost sounds like Ponch and Fonzi so did he inspire Chips and Happy Days?

[@______4790]

No actually its a sauze

[@GuntherL1]

The Federal Reserve: "Hold my beer."

[@glenndavis4452]

✌️👍👍👍👍

[@feriafyre]

Should be called the Federal Enslavement System

[@dmitrychirkov4206]

Techniacally, dollar emission is a Ponzi scheme)

[@darrenjones6765]

True dat, geezer.

[@hlzzk1]

8:52 "the only trouble was, all his ideas were sh*t!" *I died*

[@alfonsogarcia5065]

Hilarious how it starts off talking about things being to good to be true. Then cutz to "trends is an absolute gold mine" lol love it

[@shanehenderson630]

I just received my signed copy of Stick A Flag In It!....along with a purple balloon lol

[@count1572]

@@bobsbobbs Yeah

[@jsvendsen6256]

@shane-can you share the significance of the purple balloon?

[@tommymarco]

we need to know abt the balloon pal .

[@justinpettit3432]

"He was so good at it they named it after him" So he's the Randy Moss of scheming?

[@ericcarrington1791]

No! He's the Benedict Arnold of ponzi schemes!

[@matthewjudge7124]

He was the Brian Scalabrine of scheming

[@leighatkins22]

Maybe Mr Scheme was the 1st real schemer...

[@linkesocke4533]

He was the google of schemers.

[@halldorherm]

The fact that his company was "The SEC" is just brilliant

[@areyoutheregoditsmedave]

When I first clicked I thought this was going to be about the inventor of insurance.

[@tirannoide9056]

"Hey Thoughty 2 here" That's all my brain wants to hear before going to bed

[@idkanameforthis]

GIVE ME HATE ON MY VIDEOS..!

[@mazedude5911]

Seced

[@mazedude5911]

I mean second

[@mazedude5911]

Owayed 5th

[@theoldbird_real]

hey 42 here

[@jesusdontlikethatimgaybuts9493]

0:26 actually nigeria still has monarchies for the regional tribes who live there and can trace their lineage back to many older empires in africa. they don’t have much power anymore however are still fairly influential in nigerian politics

[@ezg8448]

And I'm a japanese millionaire!

[@Pana_John]

And Im a Chinese who has opinions

[@michaelpettersson4919]

There are a number of deposed royal families here in europe trying their best to keep up appearances. Some people are just unable to move on...

[@chrisbraid2907]

@@ezg8448 you poor person only a million huh ? Yen or US dollar?

[@theseyi]

This, I’m glad someone brought it up. Yes, Nigeria is not a monarchy, but we have many tribal chiefs (remember Britain took a land with hundreds of tribes and grouped them together). While the chiefs don’t technically have any real power now, they still have wealth and respect, and many run the government. And their sons are referred to as princes. So yeah, there actually are multiple Nigerian princes. Source: I’m Nigerian...not a prince though lol

[@Kwolfx]

Thoughty2, you should do a video on "Count" Victor Lustig; the man who sold money making machines, but whose most spectacular con was selling the Eiffel Tower to a French scrap metal dealer. Supposedly, he also conned $5,000 from Al Capone and lived to talk about how he did it.

[@brownmuta7537]

What I love about all these famously known criminals is they were usually pretty terrible at what they did, like this guy just constantly scammed people, got caught, served time, found a new job and scammed more people, its nuts!! It seems to be infamous all you need to fo is continuously do something you're horrible at and people will admire your persistence forever.

[@tja4379]

why else do you think sisyphos started rolling his stone up the hill? that's quite a while ago and he's still remembered today.

[@TheBeanyi]

When you notification bar can't quite hold all of the text: "Meet the man who pulled off the biggest...."

[@lilj3467]

..

[@SpuddyWesker]

IE YOUR FARTHER HAHAHAHAHA

[@PrinceOfSpace221]

I bought myself and my best friend Thoughty2’s book for her birthday. I feel proud for introducing her to this channel

[@evankyze502]

The seamless segway actually cracked me up. Thanks for the good videos!

[@ImprovementGang]

It is a bit distraught that this happened. I have been scammed before as a kid, and it felt awful. I cannot believe how much worse it could have been for these people. These scammers seem to be psychopaths/sociopaths. I would even say that the internet is making it easier for these people to grow their influence

[@tiger3249]

"The only was..all his ideas were shit" 🤣

[@simulify8726]

The only trouble*

[@crabmtg9179]

Yes!!! Caught that parks and rec reference “Low cal calzone zone” 8:50

[@markcepeda8144]

Informative. And interesting as always !!!!

[@preciouse]

There are actually many royal families in Nigeria. One of my family friends is a Nigerian prince. My computer science teacher is also a Nigerian prince.

[@fiveelms2011]

I came looking for this comment.

[@antennawilde]

The man who tells us about scams while advertising a scam

[@Tank175]

Is trends a scam?

[@jube8835]

@@Tank175 sponsors are often over exaggerated for how good they are and stay aloft through aggressive marketing

[@milo9427]

I find him advertising in his show exceedingly disrespectful.

[@Tank175]

@@jube8835 that is true but I wouldn't call it a scam if the information is just exaggerated and not completely wrong.

[@sahajsin7847]

@@jube8835 isn't that just advertisement. Why would he say it's just a site which gives news, go subscribe?

[@kazumablackwing4270]

Honestly, the credit for the biggest, longest running ponzi scheme belongs to the federal reserve. The US dollar is basically the modern equivalent to Ponzi's "international reply coupons"

[@janorhypercleats]

This is true! If you or I tried to do what the Federal Reserve is doing, we would be put in prison!

[@SvensktTroll]

I think credit goes to the people who made people believe that paper is the same as gold🙄 Here's some paper i made myself and it's way better then your land or gold so please take some of it and give me your gold and land! 😂💦🌊

[@fedoraman8967]

@@SvensktTroll the gold standard was the only thing giving people power over the currency. Of course we switched to a paper based currency, it’s more practical. Do you really think people in the 21st century would be willing to carry a sack of gold everywhere? No. That’s why we don’t. But the dollar being backed by gold makes it so the government can’t just print money because they need an equivalent amount of gold. Nixon taking us off the gold standard gave the federal government complete power over the US dollar because now they can just print money like crazy, which they are doing right now in response to the pandemic.

[@thomassicard3733]

Lack of knowledge is no substitute for knowledge. Do you understand, Kazuma? No, I'm sure you don't.

[@driveral1305]

Actually, Social Security is more of a Ponzi scheme. The Federal Reserve just prints more money whenever they need to.

[@wulfherecyning1282]

One reasons these keep happening is the initiators of schemes *believe* their own garbage, and when they realise their idea doesn't work, they convince themselves it's all okay as they start defrauding in earnest. They're willing to lie to themselves so money keeps coming in.

[@veronicacappelut6240]

Charles Ponzi looks like the guy who sold a monorail to Springfield in The Simpsons. Perhaps the caracter in the catoon is based in Ponzi?

[@nodiggity9472]

Rocking that Edwardian Prizefighter look there, my man.

[@porkbeanz6076]

Great show. I purchased your book a week ago, looking forward to reading it. Thanks for the time you put into the show with cool content, and your delivery is spot on.

[@JOELINCOLN66]

Thanks for The update love You❤

[@Yanks123Fan]

i LOVE this content man keep it up

[@AliAlhussaini]

Biggest scammer: *exists George from India: hold my chicken biryani

[@heuss9414]

Hold my onion bhajis

[@drtoobreezy2851]

Hold my WAIT that's sus fam

[@heuss9414]

@Baba Gandu hold my Rogan Josh

[@adventurepeaks4514]

hold my naan bread

[@markbaker5599]

Hold my poppadom

[@hervetenn3892]

I got into this when I was 20. I gave them $400. It left fishy after 2 weeks, when they kept pressuring me to get in other people to join. I stopped going and accepted my lost. It's ok. Live and learn.

[@yuziac]

i promise when my financial situation gets better first thing im going to do is to donate to you u deserve all the best in life

[@NoelMcGinnis]

Suspiciously large.... booblegs! Ponzi scheme! 😂

[@TheBlueAnorak]

Amazing channel. Sharing just the sort of knowledge that everyone needs.

[@dr.jamesolack8504]

Great stuff.....i did not know that! Thanks for the upload. ✌️🇺🇸✨

[@markgagne4151]

8:53: "Maybe I could sell inflatable dart boards." LOL

[@shkembimtafa3424]

This should be a movie. I'll gladly watch it.

[@dawsonSTT]

I think I've watched a solid 90% of your videos man!😂 Hey, listen to this though. Thank you. I've been pondering my life for the past several months now. And you have helped me evaluate my life for some of this, which I believe is much better and I, a much better person.

[@tommymarco]

you are now a smart guy .

[@bryce1411]

Omg your puns are everything I love u thoughty2

[@jamesjohnson8066]

I have learned so much random knowledge from all these vids but I have no idea what to do with it lol 😂

[@theoldbird_real]

same lol

[@waynegoddard4065]

You funny.........

[@qjames0077]

Just do it

[@jay_kay709]

See if your hand is bigger than yer face genius

[@PaddyGun]

Use it to make you look smart in front of your teacher or professor only to fail the next test they gave you

[@drmann9886]

I thought this was going to be about the Federal Reserve :)

[@aGr3atD4y]

Excellent video!

[@raymxslappedyall3660]

14:31 haha him and his mom just got the same eyes

[@daleperkins7745]

Sometimes when I'm home alone I just stand and stare into the mirror and I ask myself.... Why can't I grow a moustache like that.

[@LetsbeHonestOfficial]

''There's no end to what you can do when you don't give a f*ck about particular people'' - Louis CK Just in this case it's any other people

[@wulfherecyning1282]

8:55 and this right here is the argument in favour of limiting one's swearing. It means you can pull one out of the bag suddenly and make it hilarious. Meanwhile someone like me who swears often could never pull that line off comedically

[@chuckchuckerson5364]

My uncle ran a $250 million ponzi scheme. Ruined quite a few lives, mostly his own children's/wife's. As always, great video my dude!

[@anshuuu9708]

250 million, seriously?

[@boudiriyehawdi7627]

guys i can't be the only one who heard "Hey 42 here" the first time i watched a video from this channel

[@youraveragebean5284]

boudi riyehawdi Yeah same

[@boudiriyehawdi7627]

@Just one more thing nah bro i think it's his accent that makes ut sound like that. but idk you could be right who knows

[@themanthatcamelate1763]

@Just one more thing here is another joke how can you answer a video 30 minuts ago that only is out for 22 minuts...(jokingly say timezones haha 😁

[@Thomas-yr3id]

That's the point

[@PeterStawicki]

Yep that's what i thought originally too

[@Dynamic-Dyl]

Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that your channel is keeping me sane as a weather storm took out my power. Thank you for the great content!

[@tommymarco]

oddly relatable comment .

[@probably_beth]

8:50 love the casual parks and rec reference

[@AuntyGoogol]

Loved all the ads in and around this video!

[@mattipra]

Satoshi wants to know your location.

[@ade5393]

Ironic how there is still an entity with the same abbreviation as the Securities Exchange Company....

[@margaretgreenwood4243]

“Never trust an ‘Italian’ bearing gifts” 😂

[@jasondavis378]

Could Charles Ponzi be linked to the Great Depression?

[@Zyptic]

Am I the only one that winks back at the end of the video? 😆

[@mikitz]

I'm a simple man. When I see a Ponzi scheme, I invest.

[@lanreyjoseph]

🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@Triangleinformation]

GameStop

[@linkesocke4533]

@@Triangleinformation That wasn't a ponzi scheme. That was lots of people working together and investing in meme stocks to stick it to wall street. And it actually made the people that invested a lot of money until brokers stepped in and stopped the whole thing. It might be market manipulation (authorities are investigating that atm) but it's not a ponzi (aka pyramid) scheme.

[@ismaelledoino851]

There was a Ponzi scheme going on close by my city just before the pandemic. A guy from another part of Brazil started it out some 4 years before. By the start of the pandemic, when everybody wanted their money back to face it, he had already wiped out three cities close by. A bunch of old rich people and a few dealers unsurprisingly wanted him dead after knowing everything he claimed he owned was actually rent, and that he din't had a penny. The man ended up running away to neighbor countries, but the police couldn't handcuff him: he made a society with everyone who gave him money, meaning that legally they were investing their money in their own business. In the end 200 milion of Brazil's currency are estimated to be in his possession. This happened in Lorena-SP, Brazil

[@CanibalJr]

Dessa eu não sabia

[@miserabledutchman]

The way he says: "all his ideas were shit." Classic.

[@gardenlifelove9815]

This sounds like the us treasury today lol

[@DavidTaylor-es1bt]

I'm guessing you mean the "Federal Reserve"

[@nefwaenre]

5 mins ago... finally, i'm back to my old early days with Thoughty2.

[@LazorsGD]

9:59 I REALLY LOVE THAT IRC STONKS MEME LMFAO

[@bobdagranny7431]

12:40 reminds me of an old Asterix book, Obelix and Co. :P

[@klausgartenstiel4586]

"and there was only one man to blame." agree to disagree here, mate.

[@urduib]

Valid point indeed sir :)

[@DutchBane]

I got a email from a advocate from london england saying he had a client without any next of kin that died after a brief illness (cancer) and had left 15.2 million pounds sterling in a account and he send me the email because he could get the money free with my help because i have the same last name as the rich guy. Now my email adress ends with sith'ari so this rich guy must also have been the chosen one of the sith.

[@garyberger9257]

They will try anything these days LOL

[@Ms.GreenJeans]

Does anyone Remember the as seen on TV "universal hanger for clothes." I would LOVE to see Thoughtsy cover that story. It's crazy & recent!

[@earbjr4715]

Great presentation.

[@gordythecreator]

That man did his family a huge favor. For generations, they'll have a social-tool to use. Hell, I always forget customer's names. The Ponzi family will not have that problem thanks2 their well-dressed, dapper grandfather!

[@paulnolan4971]

Bernie made off with everyone's bread.

[@kartikkenny1]

That Parks and Rec reference was amazing

[@sounak5853]

16:46 That was gold!

[@rickyangelia4302]

Any one else remember him with a suit and no mustache

[@michaelpettersson4919]

I personally prefer the mustache look, I got one myself.

[@botslayer9814]

@@michaelpettersson4919 I guess you’re just better than all of us

[@countryofaustin]

And RIF

[@ijinxi2141]

@@botslayer9814 yes he is

[@Amy-si8gq]

Thoughty1

[@azmatix819]

I still cant believe he hasn't been cast as a version of the doctor in Dr. Who i mean image a gorgeous mustache a big scarf and a red fez with a bowtie ahhhh!

[@Triangleinformation]

Doctor Who is shit now. Since Thoughty2 is. Brit perhaps he can explain.......

[@nomoneybilly4561]

What is that wierd little wink about at the end 😂

[@pret3x398]

Man, I literally got a scam ad right before this video.

[@AMisfit]

I just want to remind everyone that it's Taco Tuesday today ✌️😋

[@bronzelicker]

nah bro its pancake day

[@delilah8809]

but its wednesday for me

[@yashprakash6185]

'Day after day seems like I push against the clouds'...... I'm going home

[@amj.composer]

@@delilah8809 You're from Asia?

[@delilah8809]

@@amj.composer australia

[@iThiink]

So those "Hey Hun, wanna be your own boss" girls are Ponzi scammers 😂

[@jordanw7188]

Lmao absolutely! Same old scam dressed up in modern age clothing

[@Createdbyelle]

I can watch thoughty2 for hourssss

[@GojiGetsDown]

i actually like the sponser ads way more than youtube’s adds , stuff that i actually sometimes could be interested in *”that reminds me today’s sponser raid shadow legendsssss”*

[@TheMaxoe]

Isn't it ironic that I get one "financial trick you need to know"- commercial at the beginning and the end of this video!? =)

[@richardcai363]

C

[@cathalkelly8796]

"The only trouble was, all his ideas were shit!"..... 🤣🤣🤣

[@Acehamster]

Then at 17.47 “this is an absolute shit show!” 😂

[@jeffdorris5321]

Nice work 🎆✨🎇

[@lisapop5219]

Lmao at the motley fool ad on this

[@MrBon3Stripp3r]

So this is what Malcom does now that he's not in the middle.

[@wheresthebudatae]

Sounds like everything, the banks are the first thing that comes to mind

[@nuloom]

to me the first thought was retirement money/pensions

[@tabby73]

Yup

[@jamesmoriarty3877]

"A suspiciously large pair of boobs" Me, an intellectual: *"Oh, those aren't that...AAAAAAAAAAAA-"*

[@rmcod5743]

And your telling him to grow up after doing this

[@Waltuber]

8:50 Haha, Parks and Rec reference

[@colepullen7297]

Sounds a lot like the film “Catch me if you can”

[@NickSquids]

Meet the Man Who Pulled Off the Biggest Scam in History "Heeeeyyyy, Thoughty2 here"

[@trublgrl]

Biggest scam in history: _Hyperintelligent eleven year old dons false moustache and fools entire internet into thinking he's an adult of slightly-above-normal intelligence._

[@NickSquids]

@@trublgrl Yeah nah. I reckon he's at least 14.

[@druid139]

Do you have a relative named "Philip"?

[@mikesmith1290]

His mustache is the ultimate Ponzi scheme, scamming thousands of mustaches in hopes they can grow their own someday

[@Tht1Gy]

Hey Thoughty2, when are you going to explain: "Life, the Universe and Everything" in ONE simple, easy to understand, video? ROFLMAO!

[@ray_meeks]

“Hey, 42 here”