Charlatan
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A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in the Canterbury Tales story "The Pardoner's Tale," with the Pardoner who tricks sinners into buying fake religious relics. Synonyms for charlatan include shyster, quack, or faker. Quack is a reference to quackery or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have medical training who purports to provide medical services.
The Pardoner, from the Ellesmere Chaucer
Charles Ponzi
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Charles Ponzi was an Italian swindler and con artist who operated in the U.S. and Canada. His aliases included Charles Ponci, Carlo, and Charles P. Bianchi.
Mug shot, c. 1910
Ponzi in 1920, while still working as a businessman in his office in Boston
Even before his trial, Ponzi's name had begun to pass into the language as a fraudster. This 25 September 1920 ad for Washington Mutual Savings Bank in Seattle, declares, "Don't Be Ponzied".