The Swindler Who Tried to Sell Insurance to a Ghost
A Seattle man attempts to scam his brother in California with a fake insurance policy, only to be outsmarted by a skeptical editor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A man here recently appeared at a private residence and manifested a great want of business for the Great Western Mutual Accident Association of Denver. After the policies were reviewed, the brother here sent money for premiums to his brother in California, and he, in turn, wrote to the home office for information. He received the following report: 'Mr. B. is just headed my way. The Great Western Mutual Accident Association of Denver is a humbug, a swindling scheme of no real value. The agent here left the city two days ago. The 'San Francisco' office has not yet been paid for, though printed two years ago. Your brother will certainly 'get left' if he trusts in the promises of this irresponsible concern. The books will not fetch any cash in this city. Representation to both appears and denounced in the Local Union.' Upon receiving the following, the California brother wrote to the brother here: 'Just received the notice and mail it to you. You will see that the M. I. Co. is a fraud, and the sooner you drop it the better. If you could manage to secure the agent and send some good fellows to assist you, a coat of tar and feathers would perhaps be conducive to the health of the fellow. Or, if the necessary tar and feathers are not handy, a good ducking in an adjacent stream would do, I suppose. Should he be held so long under water that his breath quit him for good, the accident would not work a hardship on any of his victims.'
“Your brother will certainly 'get left' if he trusts in the promises of this irresponsible concern.”
This 1885 scam reflects the persistent threat of 'affinity fraud'—where swindlers exploit family or social ties to sell worthless products. In an era before modern regulatory bodies, victims had to resort to extrajudicial threats, like 'tar and feathers,' to handle the systemic lack of consumer protection.
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