# What is the oldest scam in the book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374 "2010-07-12T09:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/1 "2010-07-12T09:08:39Z")
In another thread, I saw this > [@This sounds like a new internet scam but can anyone explain it.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-sounds-like-a-new-internet-scam-but-can-anyone-explain-it/546345/6): > > Oldest scam in the book. it’s a common enough phrase, but what is the oldest documented scam? ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/2 "2010-07-12T09:13:41Z")
I don’t have an answer (yet, at least) but when I was googling around one of the top results was this thread. Google’s little bots are really on the ball! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/3 "2010-07-12T09:22:15Z")
The shell game is probably pretty old. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/4 "2010-07-12T09:35:58Z")
Another practice dating from around the same time as the shell game is good old fashioned insurance fraud. Ships would be ‘insured’ then reported as being sunk when they were actually just moved to another port. Not sure if this counts as an insurance scam or just fraud but it’s old. On a side note whilst the shell game is certainly a scam I think the majority of the money was made not by the guy taking bets on the game but by the pick pockets that worked their way through the watching crowds. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/5 "2010-07-12T09:55:28Z")
She promises to have sex with you in exchange for gifts, but when you show up with the gifts, she and her bulky friend beat you up or kill you, and take your things. This scam predates ships. It probably predates using shells as tools. It certainly predates “documentation.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/6 "2010-07-12T12:26:26Z")
In ancient times, mixing base metals with gold. It dates back as far as Archimedes. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/7 "2010-07-12T12:41:25Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > She promises to have sex with you in exchange for gifts, but when you show up with the gifts, she and her bulky friend beat you up or kill you, and take your things. > > This scam predates ships. It probably predates using shells as tools. It certainly predates “documentation.” The bulky “friend” was more likely to be her father and brothers and the gifts were called a dowry. Along the same lines, many people would consider religion a scam. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/8 "2010-07-12T12:43:45Z")
“Give me a piece of your meat now, I will give you some of my next kill later.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/9 "2010-07-12T12:54:25Z")
Your birthright for that bowl of stew. Oldest one in the Book. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/10 "2010-07-12T12:58:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Your birthright for that bowl of stew. Oldest one in the Book. Nice. But is it the oldest one? Abraham did the “she’s my sister” thing. And I’m sure that snake wasn’t totally on the level. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/11 "2010-07-12T13:08:58Z")
Good ones - I’m not sure about the snake, but they did try to pull the old “get him drunk and fuck with him” trick on Noah. And hell, Cain killed Abel and tried to present his brother’s offerings as his own. That counts. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/12 "2010-07-12T13:20:28Z")
Religion. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/13 "2010-07-12T13:22:55Z")
Well, this is in the Code of Hammurabi: > [@](#): > > If any one deceive a barber, and have him mark a slave not for sale with the sign of a slave, he shall be put to death, and buried in his house. The barber shall swear: “I did not mark him wittingly,” and shall be guiltless. [http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM](http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM) (number 227) That’s one hell of a scam… :dubious: ETA: The old slave-a-roo; shenanigus barberus. But seriously it is in _the book_. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/14 "2010-07-12T13:27:55Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > She promises to have sex with you in exchange for gifts, but when you show up with the gifts, she and her bulky friend beat you up or kill you, and take your things. > > This scam predates ships. It probably predates using shells as tools. It certainly predates “documentation.” And don’t forget it’s converse: He promises to protect and shelter her and her young’uns forever if she will give him sex. He impregnates her and leaves joking with his friends about his prowess and what a dawg she was. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/15 "2010-07-12T13:46:23Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Well, this is in the Code of Hammurabi: > > [http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM](http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM) (number 227) > > That’s one hell of a scam… > > :dubious: > > ETA: The old slave-a-roo; shenanigus barberus. > > But seriously it is in _the book_. That’s exactly what I was wondering. It has to written down to win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/16 "2010-07-12T14:33:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > but they did try to pull the old “get him drunk and fuck with him” trick on Noah. Actually, that was Lot, not Noah. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/17 "2010-07-12T14:46:10Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Religion. [Moderator Note] Let’s avoid religious jabs in GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/18 "2010-07-12T15:05:27Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > She promises to have sex with you in exchange for gifts, but when you show up with the gifts, she and her bulky friend beat you up or kill you, and take your things. > > This scam predates ships. It probably predates using shells as tools. It certainly predates “documentation.” This scam (more or less) is in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which predates both the Bible and the Code of Hammurabi, so I’d say it is indeed the oldest scam in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/19 "2010-07-12T15:35:11Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > This scam (more or less) is in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which predates both the Bible and the Code of Hammurabi, so I’d say it is indeed the oldest scam in the book. Stupid Gilgamesh. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/20 "2010-07-12T16:16:01Z")
Don’t have my copy of Gilgamesh in hand, but I’ll bet there’s a case of the old “meet me and we’ll talk about it, I won’t bring a weapon, really” scam in there somewhere. Let me see if I can find my copy of “History Begins at Sumer” and see what’s in there. I remember “apple polishing” but I’m not sure about scams. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374.md?page=2)