# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/21 "2010-07-12T16:29:32Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > 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. 😛 On the other gender’s side of the equation, there’s always “Of course it’s your child, you’re the only one.” ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/22 "2010-07-12T16:30:46Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > 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. A) Dowry generally isn’t paid to the wife’s family, but rather to the husband’s family. B) Even with “bride price”, the payer does generally end up married as they sought, not merely assaulted. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/23 "2010-07-12T16:50:10Z")
Selling something you don’t own has got to be pretty old… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/24 "2010-07-12T16:52:52Z")
What about the Trojan Horse? That dates back to the 12th century BC and it’s in the _Iliad_. ---
**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, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/25 "2010-07-12T16:54:01Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > 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. The first “trick” in the Epic of Gilgamesh is when the temple prostitute Shamhat is sent to subdue the wild man Enkidu. After having sex with her for 6 days and 7 nights, Enkidu loses his strength and his wildness, but gains reason and understanding. So taming a wild man with sex is the oldest trick in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/26 "2010-07-12T16:55:42Z")
Neanderthal art proves that they invented the “pull my finger” gag. ---
**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, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/27 "2010-07-12T17:08:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What about the Trojan Horse? That dates back to the 12th century BC and it’s in the _Iliad_. Predated by both the Code of Hammurabi and Gilgamesh. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/28 "2010-07-12T17:14:49Z")
\*\*What is the oldest scam in the book? \*\* Marriage. Trust me on this… . ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/29 "2010-07-12T17:29:07Z")
Here’s a paper on [Accounting and Forms of Accountability in Ancient Civilizations](http://latienda.ie.edu/working_papers_economia/WP05-21.pdf). (PDF) It starts addressing accountability and fraud on page 8. Around 3250 BC (in Mesopotomia) a common practice with clay tablets was to make an impression of the objects to be traded, as a way of proving that the contents of a delivery matched the description. There are some examples of these sort of tablets a few pages later. I think that makes embezzlement the oldest one in any book… since these symbols actually predate writing itself. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/30 "2010-07-12T17:35:41Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Predated by both the Code of Hammurabi and Gilgamesh. Stupid Gilgamesh. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/31 "2010-07-12T17:40:46Z")
> [@'\[cc](#): > > ;12674129’]“Give me a piece of your meat now, I will give you some of my next kill later.” I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a wooly mammoth burger today. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/32 "2010-07-12T17:44:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, that was Lot, not Noah. I think **Alessan** meant figurative fucking with, not literal. [What happened with Noah](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%209:20-24&version=KJV) was just his son trying to embarrass him while he was drunk. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/33 "2010-07-12T18:10:37Z")
Aren’t there ancient stones worked to look like sea shells that archaeologists think were used as counterfeit decoys to trade with inland tribes who valued shells as a form of currency? ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/34 "2010-07-12T19:41:34Z")
Make spiky clubs fast: > [@](#): > > MAKE SPIKY CLUBS FAST!!! > > Hello, not-tribe-member. Urk name Urk. Many moons ago, Urk in bad way. Urk kicked out of cave by Thag. Thag bigger than Urk, Thag take Urk spiky club, Urka (Urk wo-man). Urk not able kill deer, must eat leaves, berries. Urk flee from wolves. > > Today, Urk big chief. Urk have best cave, many wives, many spiky clubs. Urk tell how. > > WHAT DO: make one spiky club and take to cave places below. Add own cave place to bottom of list, take cave place off top. Put new message on walls many caves. Wait. Many clubs soon come! This not crime! Urk ask shaman, gods say okay. > HERE LIST: > > 1. Urk > First cave > Olduvai Gorge > > few) Thag (not that Thag, other Thag) > old dead tree > by laked shaped like mammoth > > few) Og > big rock with overhang > near pig game trail > > Many) Zog > river caves > where river meet big water > > Urk hope not-tribe-member do what Urk say do. That only way it work. > > (c) Dave Hemming 1998. Circulate how you please, but keep my name on it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/35 "2010-07-12T22:43:30Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Aren’t there ancient stones worked to look like sea shells that archaeologists think were used as counterfeit decoys to trade with inland tribes who valued shells as a form of currency? I think I saw that on a PBC science show with Alan Alda. The expert though the fake shell was a knock-off of the real thing. I suspect it was done for art though. It must be easier to get a real shell than to carve one from stone. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/36 "2010-07-13T03:03:17Z")
God resting on the 7th day, and creating that whole “sabbath” thing that people still fall for. C’mon, he’s God, what does he have to rest for? And of course that whole Garden of Eden/snake/apple scam. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/37 "2010-07-13T03:25:33Z")
my dear Thog, I must solicit your strictist Confidence in this matter, for it is of Utmost secrecy and urgency. I am a senior partner in the Neanderthal Corporation. We sell energy (wooden logs, ready for burning) to all the cave-dwellers here in Nigeria. We have over 4,000,000.00 colored beads in profits. But because of tax Regulations I must appeal to your goodnes of heart to help me deposit the beads in your cave. This transaction is 100 per cent safe and if you let me partake of it, you will gain 70% Please responde immedieately and tell me your cave number and the number of your bead account . yours faithfully, Dr. Ugh, chief cave dweller ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/38 "2010-07-13T03:39:20Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > On the other gender’s side of the equation, there’s always “Of course it’s your child, you’re the only one.” That’s the one I first thought of too. “I’m pregnant and the baby is yours”, must be very very old. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/39 "2010-07-13T14:21:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think I saw that on a PBC science show with Alan Alda. The expert though the fake shell was a knock-off of the real thing. I suspect it was done for art though. It must be easier to get a real shell than to carve one from stone. Not if you’re miles and miles from shore, which is why they were prized in the first place… Maybe it wasn’t a cottage industry, but simply one man’s desperation to come up with those shells he owed Rocko by Three-Sun-Ups or he’d get his legs broken. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374/40 "2010-07-13T14:33:21Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a wooly mammoth burger today. “This real mammoth? I paid you twenty good clam shells for a mammoth steak.” “That real mammoth.” “It tastes like bison to me.” “It mammoth.” “Nobody see a mammoth in over three winters. Where you find mammoth?” “I hunt, I kill mammoth.” “Where you find mammoth?” “I no tell. If I tell, who give me clam shells?” “…This better be mammoth.” “It mammoth.” “Hey! … Is this clam shell? Or rock?” “It clam shell.” “Where you get clam shell?” “Rocks-for-head, clam shells come from ocean.” “That is four-hands of sunsets of walking. You no had clams yesterday.” “I hide my clams.” “If real clam shell, why crumbly like rock when I chip it?” “It old. Was buried for a long time.” “…This better be real clam shell.” “It real.” (…SUCKER!) (…SUCKER!!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-scam-in-the-book/546374.md?page=3)