Scamfluencers

Audible

You never really know someone…especially online. In today’s world, the power of influence can be the quickest path to money and fame, and it often ends in ruin. These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. Join co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi as they unpack epic stories of deception from the worlds of social media, fashion, finance, health, and wellness. These influencers claim to be everything from charismatic healers to trusted financial insiders to experts in dating. They cast spells over millions. Why do we believe them, and how does our culture allow them to thrive? From Black Swan Murder to a fake social media influencer to an audacious Hollywood Ponzi schemer, each season will take the listener along the twists and turns, the impact on victims, and what’s left when the facade falls away.

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28 episodes
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Avg 49 min
English

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#232
Yesterday · 56 min
Carl Rinsch: Lights, Camera, Fraud | 232
Carl Rinsch had everything Hollywood loves in an up-and-coming director: talent, charisma, and the ability to make people believe. His obsessive perfectionism was written off as the mark of a visionary. But when Netflix handed him millions for a TV series and the pandemic kept everyone at a distance, Carl went on a spree – cars, crypto, luxury mattresses – torching the money and every relationship he’d ever built. By the end, no one was buying what Carl was selling. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#231
September 14 · 55 min
Milli Vanilli: Girl You Know It’s (Not) True | 231
When news broke that Milli Vanilli were lip-syncing frauds, it was a defining moment in pop-culture. Forty years later, their name is still synonymous with fakery. But Rob and Fab weren’t the masterminds. Behind them was a Svengali producer named Frank Farian, who’d built his entire career on a simple formula: recruit talented artists to make the music, then cast beautiful people to sell it. But when the truth came out, Rob and Fab took the fall – while their puppet master walked away clean. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#230
September 7 · 43 min
ENCORE: Martha Stewart: The Homemaker Hustler Part 2 | 230
We’ll be back next week with a brand new episode of Scamfluencers. In the meantime, enjoy the conclusion of Martha Stewart: the Homemaker Hustler: In the summer of 2003, Martha Stewart is indicted for obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. She stubbornly maintains her innocence and vows to fight the charges, but her cover-up falls apart during a messy and humiliating public trial. She and her stockbroker are facing prison time, but she’s determined to come out on top – no matter what it takes to get there. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#229
August 31 · 40 min
Encore: Martha Stewart: The Homemaker Hustler Part 1 | 229
We’ll be back in two weeks with new episodes, but in the meantime, we’re revisiting an episode about one of America’s most famous lifestyle moguls: Martha Stewart spends decades building her lifestyle empire from the ground up. Her cut-throat business savvy helps make her America’s first self-made female billionaire. But when she becomes embroiled in an insider trading scandal in 2002, it’ll spark a media circus and threaten to muddy her squeaky clean image. A damning investigation by the U.S. government promises to take her down – alongside some of her closest friends. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#228
August 24 · 53 min
Sam Israel: Greed Is Good Part 2 | 228
This is part two of our series about Sam Israel – a wealthy hedge fund manager whose company starts quickly hemorrhaging money. Rather than admit defeat, Sam lies to his clients, and when they start asking questions, he bets everything on a conspiracy theorist named Roberth Booth Nichols. What follows is stranger than fiction, involving buried treasure, fake identities, a plot involving the President of the United States – and a con man who's about to discover what it feels like to be conned. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
August 24 · 6 min
Listen Now: Audible True Crime
Introducing Audible True Crime, a dedicated podcast feed where we bring you the best podcasts in true crime, with episodes dropping every single week. Find your next bingeable series about unsolved murders, cold cases, scams and mysteries. This is the cream of the crop of Audible podcasts, featuring award-winning series and soon-to-be favorites. Stop pestering your friends or searching “best true crime podcast” on Google. Up first, Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment: A search for spiritual guidance leads a group of strangers to seek direction from a self-help guru. And not just any guru. James Arthur Ray is an Oprah endorsed motivational speaker and entrepreneur whose unorthodox methods that blend self-improvement and economic advice have won him praise and a growing following. He’s fast becoming a self-help superstar. But Ray’s increasingly extreme methods push his followers to their limits. What are they seeking? What does he offer? And what happens when it all goes too far, and people die? Listen to Audible True Crime wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes on Audible True Crime early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible App or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Listen now: link.pscrb.fm/6438e/fdaudibletruecrimeron-93b44 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#227
August 17 · 48 min
Sam Israel: Greed Is Good Part 1 | 227
Sam Israel was born into wealth, but he wanted to prove he could make it on Wall Street on his own. So he started a hedge fund – and almost immediately started losing money. But instead of admitting failure to his investors, he decided to lie. Eventually those lies spiraled into a $450 million fraud, a faked suicide, and a wild descent into a secret world of black-ops and dangerous con men. In a last ditch effort to dig his company out of debt, Sam is going to bet everything on a venture so bizarre, so shrouded in secrecy, that it’ll make the fraud look rational by comparison. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#226
August 10 · 56 min
Miracle Children: The Price of Admission | 226
T.M Landry was a small independent school in Louisiana that gained national fame for sending kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to Ivy League schools. The viral videos were inspiring. The acceptance letters were real. But behind the scenes, the school doctored transcripts and fabricated personal stories to get students in – and behind closed doors, students endured psychological and physical abuse at the hands of the school’s founders. In this episode, we talk with the two New York Times reporters who broke the story – Erica L. Green and Katie Benner, authors of Miracle Children: Race, Education, and a True Story of False Promises. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#225
August 3 · 57 min
Juliette D’Souza: The Sham Shaman | 225
Juliette D’Souza had no medical degree and no spiritual training – but she convinced her clients she was a gifted healer and shaman. For more than a decade, her natural charm gave her control over her followers and their life savings. But when one victim stumbles onto the truth while trying to feed Juliette’s pet monkey, her spell starts to crack. Her victims band together to bring her down – and discover that getting justice will be almost as hard as breaking free. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#224
July 27 · 1 hr 2 min
Martin Armstrong: The Man Who Bet Billions on Pi | 224
Martin Armstrong is a Wall Street outsider who builds a financial prediction model with a hidden connection to the number pi. And whether it’s fortune-telling or just a fluke, Martin’s system really does predict some major economic events. His discovery attracts billions in investor funds and gives him the confidence to make bets no rational person would make. But when those bets fail, Martin faces a choice: admit the model was wrong or insist the whole world is conspiring against him. What happens next is either one of the greatest deep-state coverups in history… or an unhinged numerology scam that has Martin’s followers still tangled up to this day. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
July 21 · 4 min
Listen Now: I Am Not Nicholas
“I am not Nicholas Rossi!” gasps Arthur Knight through an oxygen mask in March 2022. Recently discharged from a Covid ward in Glasgow, he's in a wheelchair. The police say he’s Nicholas Rossi, suspected of faking his death and wanted for rape in Utah. The story makes headlines globally. When journalist Jane MacSorley meets Arthur Knight and his wife Miranda, she thinks the police have made a mistake. She embarks on a yearlong investigation, making a unique discovery which changes everything. Listen to I Am Not Nicholas Season 1 on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free by joining Audible on the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#223
July 20 · 54 min
The Wildenstein Family Part 2: The Art of the Steal | 223
In our last episode, we followed the Wildenstein family over the span of four generations as they came to dominate the art world. The family prized success – and secrecy – above all else. But when the Wildenstein men attempt to cast aside the women they brought into their fold, leaving them with nothing, these women are going to fight back using the one thing the family fears most: publicity. As the Wildensteins make headlines, they’ll face court case after court case – and be forced to reckon with some brutal buried history. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
July 14 · 8 min
Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto
Just in time for America’s 250th birthday, follow Dan Taberski (Hysterical, 9/12, Missing Richard Simmons) as he sets off on his most complicated quest yet: to reclaim the manifesto and write his own. Dan attempts to rescue the manifesto as a form from the sweaty clutches of cynical politicians and mass shooters and return it to its rightful place: with the artists, the warriors, the visionaries, and the mildly crazy regular folks with something to say, the passion to say it, and the courage to do something about it. From Audible Originals and Please & Thanks Productions, this 6-part series explores the power of the manifesto and asks: Can we get inspired again… and can we do it without a bullet? Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts. Or binge all episodes of Manifesto ad-free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#222
July 13 · 54 min
The Wildenstein Family Part 1: The Art of the Steal | 222
For over a century, the Wildenstein family has quietly dominated the art world, amassing one of the largest private collections ever assembled while most people have never even heard their name. The anonymity isn’t an accident; it’s a strategy. Because what they are hiding is enormous: a sprawling fortune built on secrecy, tax evasion, stolen masterpieces and alleged Nazi collaboration. Four generations of Wildenstein men constructed an empire designed to be invisible. But when one family member’s messy divorce blows the vault wide open, a century’s worth of buried secrets comes spilling out. Now, the women they’ve tried to discard are about to tear it all down. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#221
July 6 · 1 hr
Bill Mize: The Car Crash King | 221
Bill Mize always believed he was destined for fortune – he just couldn’t figure out how to get it. After flaming out as a restaurateur and drug dealer, Bill finally found his calling: orchestrating a sprawling fraud ring of staged slip-in-falls and car wrecks for insurance money. He recruited his closest friends and family into the scheme, then skimmed some of their portion of the payouts. His obsession with control over everyone in his orbit eventually led to his downfall – and a run from the authorities that made national headlines. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#220
June 29 · 1 hr 4 min
Trevor Milton: The Elon Musk of Semi-Trucks | 220
Trevor Milton called himself a serial entrepreneur and his playbook was simple: pick a futuristic idea, promise it will change the world… then talk about it constantly online. His biggest pitch was an emissions-free semi-truck that would make diesel engines obsolete. Investors poured in billions of dollars. But Trevor spent far more time selling the dream than building the truck – and soon, a scorned business partner, a frazzled engineer, and a finance bro with a conscience will start pulling at the threads of his startup empire, exposing the used car salesman at its core. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#219
June 22 · 1 hr 2 min
John McAfee: The Antisocial Virus | 219
John McAfee was a brilliant but volatile programmer who helped pioneer antivirus software, making himself a fortune in the early days of personal computing. But he had an addictive personality and a short attention span, so after walking away from cybersecurity, he spent his life chasing bigger thrills, taking wilder risks, and getting into trouble in multiple countries. Behind the scenes, a lifetime of relentless self-indulgence was destroying everything – and everyone – around him, leaving him high, broke, and on the run from the U.S. authorities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#218
June 15 · 45 min
ENCORE: Lance Armstrong: Tour De Fraud | 218
We’ll be back next week with new episodes. In the meantime, in honor of next month’s Tour de France, we’re revisiting one of the most infamous sports scandals of the early 2000s: Lance Armstrong’s determination to win helps him survive cancer and become cycling’s biggest star in the early 2000s. But his ruthless desire to be the best leads him to create a secret cheating scheme. It fuels him to a historic Tour de France winning streak—but requires an elaborate cover-up that includes bullying anyone who tries to expose him, even his teammates. After he’s exposed and falls from grace, his pride and stubbornness makes his apology tour feel more like backpedaling to save his reputation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#217
June 8 · 45 min
ENCORE: Rod Blagojevich: All the Governor’s Men | 217
We’ll be back soon with all new episodes. In the meantime, enjoy this episode about Rod Blagojevich, the infamous governor of Illinois who used his office to line his pockets. Rod Blagojevich is an ambitious son of immigrants who knows how to win over a crowd. After marrying the daughter of a powerful alderman, he rises through the ranks of Illinois politics. He gets elected governor in 2002, and immediately starts wheeling and dealing, leveraging his influence for his own personal gain. But when he gets wrapped up in a scheme to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, he’s faced with the campaign of his life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#216
June 1 · 43 min
ENCORE: Jho Low: How to Buy Friends and Influence People | 216
We’ll be back soon with new episodes. In the meantime, enjoy this episode about Jho Low, the fraudster who charmed Hollywood’s elite while allegedly stealing over $4 billion from one of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth funds. Jho Low, a Malaysian-born businessman, will do anything to climb the social ladder. After attending Wharton business school, he establishes himself as a globe-trotting playboy with a celebrity entourage. He uses his money to get near Leonardo DiCaprio, Miranda Kerr, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Kim Kardashian. But the source of Jho Low’s seemingly endless cash is a mystery…. Until one of his former associates decides to blow the whistle. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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