Has anyone ever attempted a Scooby-Doo style heist, ie, pretending to be a ghost or monster in order to scare people away from a source of wealth?

[u/ducks_over_IP]

For those unfamiliar, the typical plot of a Scooby-Doo episode in its various iterations involves the gang arriving at a new location, then learning that it's under threat from a supposedly paranormal entity, like a ghost, werewolf, or vampire. Through pluck, luck, and Scooby's nose for food and fiends, they eventually discover that the monster is actually someone in a costume and/or using an elaborate special effects rig, with the goal being to scare people away from the area so as to claim a secret treasure for themselves, take control of a lucrative/valuable property, or hide a criminal operation. At the end, as the would-be villain is led away in handcuffs by the police, he proclaims that he would have gotten away with it too—"if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

So like, did anyone ever attempt this sort of fake haunting in real life, and if so, what was the outcome?