Built in the waning days of the 19th century, the Eiffel tower was erected as the entrance arch to a world fair and survived two world wars to become a towering beacon of Parisian resilience and French resistance. As a modern icon of romance, every day, dozens upon dozens of couples pose and propose in front of the tower as a symbol of their love. In the early 20th, century, however, the Eiffel tower was seen as something of a tacky, modernist eye-sore -- a dangerous pile of rubbish and rust.

To con artist Victor Lustig, however, the tower was much more: the perfect scam.