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Che Guevera: Cunning communist
As a young medical student, future Cuban communist Che Guevera toured South
America blagging freebies from passers-by. In an interview with a Chilean newspaper,
he posed as a leprosy expert who had treated 3000 victims. The reverential article
enabled Che and his chum to garner free food, drink and motorbike repairs.
Richard Huggett: Party pooper
A retired school teacher who pulled off one of the biggest political blags of
the century and even sparked a change in the law on parliamentary elections.
He stood in the 1994 European elections as a 'Literal Democrat' - winning 10,203
votes and depriving the Liberal Democrat candidate of the seat by 700 votes.
Friedrich Gulda: De-compser
This paranoid pianist who wanted to find out what people really thought of him,
he faked his own death so he could read the obituaries, then came clean. So
if you want to know who isn't deserving of your affection and cash, stage
your own demise to see who slags you off or fails to turn up to your funeral.
Jamie Harvey: Risk Jockey
This top DJ once blagged his way into a nightclub and into the VIP lounge simply
by turning up at the door with his records. The management gave him free entry
and free drinks all night because they thought, wrongly, that there had been
a mix up in the bookings.
William Cash: Hacking in
This journalist gatecrashed Madonna's party at the Cannes film festival
by putting a vehicle that looked like a police car in her cavalcade. He was
then mistaken for a famous actor which help him get into the bash. He says that
fancy dress parties are easy targets for blaggers: "It blurs the lines
between guests, adds an air of informality and makes it 50 times easier to get
through," he explains.
George Psalmanazar: Impressive impostor
This 18th century blagger managed to convince Oxford University that he was
from Formosa (modern day Taiwan). They allow him to teach Formosan - even though
he had made up the language. He then wrote a successful book called The Historical
and Geographical Description of Formosa despite never having visited the country.
Dennis Hope, satellite salesman
Dennis Hope has selling pieces of the moon since 1980. Exploiting a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty - which forbids states, but not individuals, from owning bits of planets - he has transformed himself from unemployed ventriloquist to millionaire – making over £4million from flogging off lunar land.
There are now satellite operations all over the world. Moonestates, a Cornwall-based UK franchise, can sell you an acre of the moon for £20. www.moonestates.com
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