I have been fascinated with clever or ballsy scams ever since I first read Frank Abagnale's "Catch Me If You Can". This is a great true story about a teenager who runs from the FBI for years, posing as an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer and other professions as he forges millions of dollars worth of checks. (It was a simpler time in the 70's!) They turned it into a great movie too, with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Here is an interesting and brazen scam that was reported on a few years back by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. A 50 year old woman named Karina Knauseder conned two men into providing free bodyguard and driving services for her around Palm Beach, as well as spending thousands of their own money on things for her under the impression they would be repaid.
Knauseder used the name Karin Hryzby to pose as an important diplomat and posted ads for six-figure + bodyguard positions online. 2 men took the job, which included driving her around to luxury hotels as well as going on expensive shopping trips for her.
She doesn't look much like a diplomat in this picture...
After months of work, the men reported her to authorities when they became suspicious after she wouldn't pay them. She must have paid them something to keep them around for 4 and 2 months, but the men said she owed them over $36,000.
...or this one!
Detectives discovered Knauseder was a known scam artist with a warrant outstanding, and a large criminal history of grand theft, fraud, larceny and battery. She had been previously arrested 15 times in past two decades. Now she is doing time for more fraud and theft, as well as forgery.