A Scammer From the Start
Charles Ponzi arrived in Boston on November 15, 1903, aboard the S.S. Vancouver. He’d lost almost all of the little money he had through gambling on the voyage, but that didn’t dishearten him. “I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes,” he told The New York Times later.
He was quick to learn English and worked a series of jobs before finding himself employed as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Before long, he graduated to serving as a waiter but it was short-lived. Ponzi was fired from this first steady job for short-changing the customers. This was small potatoes compared to what he would go on to do.
