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

22.02.2024 - 00:13 / atlasobscura.com

Many years ago, Loren Pankratz got a call from a rare book dealer. The man was at the end of his career, he told Pankratz, and had a special book to sell. It had been passed down from his grandfather, and perhaps only three other copies existed in the world. He thought Pankratz, a former professor of psychology in Oregon who collects books on cons and frauds, might be interested. Pankratz bought the book, which was in German, and it sat on his shelf for years, unread. Then, years later, he met a translator who helped him understand the gem he was holding onto.

The book was a guide for Germans planning to immigrate to America in the early 20th century. Part guide, part warning, it outlined dozens of scams that a newcomer to the United States might find when they stepped off the boat.

Written by inventor-turned-journalist William Lange and published in 1912, it was called Modern Swindles: A romp through early 20th century con-games, frauds, and fallacies. Pankratz published it for the first time in English in 2022.

The chapter titled “The Con of the Matchmaker” describes how American con artists published their own newspapers, filled with ads for women looking for husbands. Anyone who answered such an ad would have their finances scrutinized and then wrested from them by a so-called marriage broker, with no actual wife at the end of the ordeal. A few pages later, Lange warns readers of the shifty sort who sells a fine watch and then swaps it for an older, less expensive one at the end of a transaction.

German immigration to the United States peaked in the 1880s, and by the 1910s, some 2.3 million German-born immigrants were living in cities across America. Like many new arrivals from abroad in this period, many Germans were coming from farms and industrial areas, directly into big cities such as St. Louis and Cincinnati. Where they came from, most people stayed close to home, where they largely knew the people around them and there were few surprises. Lange, working in cities throughout the Midwest, likely collected his stories of American cons from his fellow newspaper reporters.

“They weren’t ready for the con games that would be available in America,” says Pankratz. “In America you could dress up like anybody. You could be a lowlife, put on fancy clothes, and pretend to be someone else. You couldn’t do that in Germany. Everyone knew who you were and what status you were. The immigrant faced a whole new challenge of identifying and understanding who was in front of you, and that person could be there to take your money.”

Lange’s advice isn’t predicated on religious morals or fear mongering—each chapter is a lesson on being thoughtful. If something sounds too good for it to be true—a good deal on an