Since the dawn of time, people have craved instant riches. Some of the more devious of their fellow citizens have exploited that human desire and forged their own path to a fortune.<\/p>\n
Here we look at the leading exponents of the art of taking advantage of people\u2019s primeval urge to get something for virtually nothing.<\/p>\n
The simple rule to learn from this is that if something sounds to good to be true\u2026 it almost certainly is.<\/p>\n
In 1996 the manager of English Premier League club Southampton, Graeme Souness, took an intriguing phone call<\/a>. The person on the other end claimed to be George Weah, a former World Player of the Year.<\/p>\n \u201cWeah\u201d convinced Souness to sign his cousin, Ali Dia, by claiming he\u2019d played for Paris St Germain and won 13 caps for Senegal.<\/p>\n Souness gave Dia a one-month deal and he even played in the EPL<\/a>, coming on as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier only to be replaced 50 minutes later.<\/p>\n \u201cHe ran around like Bambi on ice,\u201d said Le Tissier. \u201cIt was very embarrassing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n It later emerged that \u201cWeah\u201d had in fact been a student friend of Dia, who never played for Southampton again and soon left the club.<\/p>\n Ali Dia, the Premier League\u2019s most famous con man, is 53 today. In this clip #SaintsFC<\/a> boss Graeme Souness talks up his new signing and his nice chat with George Weah.<\/p>\n Gold.pic.twitter.com\/eRi7xLYj6D<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Proper Football (@sid_lambert) August 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n