10 Most Outrageous Deceptions In History

Historical monkey business.

By Chris Waugh /

The word "deception" immediately summons negative connotations; it suggests that someone has deliberately perpetrated a fraud by using pretence and cunning. Unsurprisingly, deception has been an ever-present throughout the course of human history - although not always in a negative sense. The majority of deceptions perpetrate a fraud against the public and the citizens of a nation, and obviously this is undesirable and unacceptable. American Presidents are prime offenders when it comes to defrauding the public, with two featuring on this list, while some of the most infamous and daring crimes in history have involved duplicity in order to succeed. Yet some of the most remarkable examples of deception in history have been carried out for, it can be argued, the "right" reasons. Naturally during a war under-handedness and double-dealing with occur - that is expected during battle - and, down the centuries, that has led to false information or deception altering the course of an entire conflict. In fact, in one of the most-successful and remarkable cases of deception throughout history, a Welsh tramp helped to dupe the Nazis and allow for the Allied assault on southern Italy during World War II. Here are the 10 most-outrageous examples of deception throughout human history.