Five greatest lies that shock the world

5. The Trojan Horse

Well, this is one epic lie that can never be forgotten. Perhaps one of those moments you realize that when it comes to war, it's okay to fight dirty, as long as you win the war. When the prince of Troy, Paris stole the beautiful Helen, wife of a spartan King, all hell broke loose and the most embarrassing war began. Why is it embarrassing? Well, because the fight started because of a woman and thousands died.

The war had been going on for ten gears when the Trojan thought they had overcome the Greeks but the Greeks had another trick up their sleeve. Known as one of the best tricks in the history of war and battles, the Greeks built an enormous wooden horse with hollow belly wide enough for men to hide. The Greeks were able to convince their enemies that the horse was simply a peace offering, the Trojans accepted the horse and allowed it into their walls. That night, as the Trojans slept, Greeks came out of the horse and began to slaughter the Trojans in their thousands.

4. Han van Meegeren's Vermeer Forgeries

Han van Meegran was an artist in the early 20th century who felt he was underappreciated. So to get luck on his side and convince critics, Meegren decided to embark on a journey of trickery.

Art collectors and art critics we're in loggerheads about the simple fact that the popular artist, Vermeer painted a series of works that detailed biblical scenes. So like an opportunity, Meegan jumped on the idea and started forging one of such works, disputed by many to have been painted by Vermeer, "The Discipline at Emmaus". Meegren paints such attention to details that he left nothing out, he faked everything, down to the cracks and hardness and even texture. So to get his work pronounced, Meegren played on the confirmation bias of the critics who wanted to believed that Vermeer actually did paint the biblical scenes. Obviously, people would believe what they want to believe and it works, experts hailed the painting as authentic and Megreen a lot of money making and selling fame Vermeers.

Megreen was obviously getting a lot of money and attention that he made a silly mistake. He sold a painting to a prominent member of the Nazi party in Germany and after the war, Allies considered him a conspirator for selling a " national treasure" to the enemy.

3. Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme

The greatest Ponzi scheme ever, compared to the likes of MMM, this one is king.

When Bernie Madoff, an investment banker in the U.S admitted that his investment firm was a scam, he was putting it mildly. In 2008, Madoff confessed to having cunned at least $50billion dollars from investors who trusted him with their savings. For more than a decade, Madoff was able to keep the fraud going with the Ponzi scheme formulas.

The scheme still works today and many Nigerians fall for it in very little ways. The scheme is actually named after notorious Charles Ponzi who used it first in the early 20th century. This is how it works: A schemer (who we call scammer), promises investors great returns but instead of actually investing the money, he keeps some for himself and uses the funds from new investors to pay off earlier investors. In order to get new investors, new age schemes often play the referral game. It's actually funny because we just fail to see it.

Although this lie wasn't invented by Madoff, he certainly took it to the next level. He broke the record of the amount anyone has ever made from such scam, a whooping $50billion and he was and to do for so long. The trick was for him to constantly look for more investors and this is where the idea of letting his investors look for investors to come in (referrals). 

2. Anna Anderson, Alias Anastasia

By the time the Russian revolution was over, it had taken all the royals with it. The existence of the royals was intolerable to the Bolsheviks and in 1928, they murdered the entire Romanov royal family, the king, Czar Nichola II, his wife, son, and four daughters. This was to ensure that no one could resurface and really round for support from the public.

Although just soon after the massacre, rumors began to spread that some members of the royal family escaped and survived, and as you would expect, people began to come out and claim royalty, one of those people is Anna Anderson. In 1920 Anderson found her way to a hospital after she attempted to commit suicide. Whilst being questioned, she confessed that she was Princess Anastasia of the Romanov royal family. Due to her resemblance to the princess, she stood out from other claimants and she also had convincing knowledge about the royal family and life at the court.

Anderson's lie wasn't perfect as she didn't think of relatives who could recognize the late princess. By 1927, Anderson's former roommate identified her to be Franziska Schanzkowska, not even Anna and certainly not Anastasia. Anderson didn't give up on her attempt to cash on the royal money, she stuck with her story until her death in 1984. After her death, her DNA was tested against that of the remains of the royal family and it was discovered that she was actually fake. Smart girl uhn?

1. Titus Oates and the Plot to Kill Charles II

Titus Oates was already known for fabricating lies and his acts of deception before he took it to another wave by fabricating his most notorious plot. As a young student, Titus Oates had been expelled from one of the best schools in England as well as in the navy, convicted of perjury, and escaped imprisonment. All these pales in comparison to his biggest lie.

Oates was raised as a protestant by an Anabaptist preacher, he entered Cambridge as a young man to study for Anglican orders. After a few misconducts for. Oates, he was dismissed from his post as an Anglican and as a smart man, he began to associate with Catholic circles. Oates was able to enter a catholic seminary through encouragement from some anti-catholic Israel Tonge. In fact, he made it into two seminaries and both ended up expelling him. Though it didn't matter that he was expelled, Oates already got what he went there for by the time he was dismissed.

By 1678, Oates created such a dubious plan that it shook England, he concocted the plan and pretended that the Jesuits were planning to have the king of England, King Charles, Murdered. What Oates passed was that the Catholics wanted to replace Charles with his Catholic brother, James. England was in disarray for three years and it fueled anti-catholic sentiment and also resulted in the executions of about 35 people.

Oates met his fate when Charles died though. James became king and had Oates tried and imprisoned. Although he eventually got out with a pardon and a pension