How incredibly shocking!
It’s amazing the great lengths some will go to appear rich, but one man pretended to be a billionaire to actually make it rich. According to Daily Mail, 57-year-old Phillip Galles of the Chicago area repeatedly lied about owning 122 luxury cars as well as Picasso paintings all to con about $2 million as part of an investment scam.
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We’ve known plenty of people who have a flashy car or two when they can’t truly afford them, but this guy took things to a whole other level. Based on his supposed wealth, and the claims that a Kuwaiti sovereign-wealth fund as well as the owner of a professional sports team were looking to invest in the hedge fun he was managing, Galles reportedly was able to get people to hand over their money without further questions.
Galles used Facebook to post photos of the vast collection of cars he supposedly owned. Among them were numerous Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and at least a couple classic Mercedes SLs. The guy also bragged about owning his own yacht, a luxury condo, several properties in the US, etc. And he posted photos of his luxurious vacations abroad. But prosecutors say all of that was part of an elaborate lie to lure in and trap his victims.
A big red flag for potential investors should’ve been Galles’ claims he could deliver annual returns upwards of 363 percent. But plenty of scammers prey on people’s greed and the belief they’ve found the secret ticket to extreme wealthy.
In reality, investors say Galles was running a Ponzi scheme. The funny thing is even though this has been done countless times before, people still fall for these ploys. Just in case anyone hasn’t gotten the memo, just because someone is driving an expensive car doesn’t mean it’s theirs or that they’re rich. Also, nobody on the internet knows you’re a dog. Woof.
Images via Daily Mail
