Explore 5 Hustlers & heists Collections - Atlas Obscura
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Art detective Arthur Brand has recovered scores of stolen works of art, including Picasso's 'Buste de femme (Dora Maar),' which is worth about $30 million.
art

Art Detective Arthur Brand Is Like Indiana Jones but With a More Elegant Wardrobe

Mysterious late-night visits, an undercover hunt for Hitler's horses, and a Picasso on the couch are business as usual for the Dutch sleuth.
Nina Strochlic November 19, 2024
Rose Mackenberg believed in something beyond the world we see—but she didn't believe the mediums who said they were in touch with it.
crime

The Ghost-Busting 'Girl Detective' Who Awed Houdini

As an undercover investigator, Rose Mackenberg unmasked hundreds of America’s fake psychics.
Nina Strochlic March 14, 2024
This diagram from <em>Modern Swindles</em> shows how card cheats work—and what happens to them when they're caught.
objects of intrigue

A Peek Inside a 'Scam Manual' Written to Help Immigrants Avoid Becoming Victims

Early 20th-century migrants from Europe had to be on their guard against marriage brokers, card sharps, ghost mediums, and more.
Nina Strochlic February 20, 2024
Bill G.B. Pallot, pictured here in his Paris home in 2017, has been at the center of a storm over counterfeit antique furniture.
crime

The Furniture Fraud That Threw the French Antiques World Into a Furor

Was it an elaborate scam or a highbrow battle of wits?
Nina Strochlic January 8, 2024
This forged Paraguayan passport was one of thousands that helped spare Jewish lives during the Holocaust.
crime

The Master Forgers Who Saved Thousands of Lives During World War II

From the Polish embassy in Switzerland came a campaign that spared many from Nazi extermination.
Nina Strochlic December 4, 2023