Scams & Cons
Scammers don't steal your money, they create a world where it makes perfect sense to hand your cash over to them. Three-card-monte, the longest running show on Broadway, seems easy. You're watching the tosser and you always see the queen. What you don't see is a group of shills working you into the gate where you'll lose everything you have.Sometimes a large sum of money is accidentally sent to you and the sender asks for the additional cash to be sent back. In the meantime, they empty your bank account.We'll tell you all about the scams, how they work and why people fall for them. Don't become a sucker. Listen in.
Episodes
149 episodes
The cons that helped the Texas 7 escape prison for 41 days
It's not easy to escape from prison, but when you have a lot of time on your hands and experienced con artists available ... well, it's going to be inevitable. A few weeks ago, we looked at how con artists used their skills to escap...
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Season 9
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Episode 7
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32:16
Our fears make us perfect marks for scammers
Fear gets your attention. It throws you off-kilter. It corrupts your judgement. You recover quickly when surprised by a spider. The impact is greater if you awaken in the night and see a stranger standing at the foot of your bed.&nb...
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Season 9
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Episode 6
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14:24
Romance scams are getting more sophisticated
The basics of romance scams haven't changed all that much. Find someone who is lonely, gain their trust and affection, then bleed them dry of all the money and assets they have.In this update to season one's story, we tell you how scamme...
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Season 9
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Episode 5
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18:57
The cons that convicts use to escape prison
Why would a good scammer give up their trade just because they are in prison where those skills could be used to escape?If they are bold enough, they wouldn't.This is the tale of the Maze Prison Break. Maze is a prison within a pr...
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Season 9
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Episode 4
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29:08
Scammers impersonate funeral directors to take money for video feeds
Nearly all scams are impersonation scams. They need you to believe they are someone else in order to get you to hand over your money.In this episode, we tell you about some of the new ways scammers are using impersonation techniques to r...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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17:48
The objects tricksters use to distract you
In our last episode, I told you about social engineering -- how a con artist's patter can convince you to do anything. But sometimes props are needed to make that tale seem more real.In this episode we talk about the devices and distract...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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16:41
When scammers speak, they leave you no choice
Nearly all scams are built around the technique of social engineering. Con artists know how to manipulate you, what buttons to push and allow you to believe you made a choice you never had.In this episode, we explore the techniques of so...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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20:54
Season 9 begins Sept. 11!
We're ready to go back to school with Scams & Cons classes that begin Sept. 11.Enjoy the long weekend, then it's back to the fun!
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Season 9
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0:39
Someone in St. Louis is channeling my thoughts
It's time for our summer break so I can prepare new episodes for season 9. Listen in as I give you the details and respond to some listener notes.Have a great summer and make some time away from the news to have some fun. You deserve it!...
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Season 9
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3:10
Scammers are pretending to be exorcists
If you bought tickets to a pop-up taco museum restaurant in San Antonio, you got scammed. If someone wants to hook you up with a priest who does exorcisms, beware. But we begin with the story of a brand new scam called call merging. It involves...
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Season 9
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9:27
Scamming for hotel rooms with roaches and used condoms
More than 60 hotels are conned by a man who dirtied rooms with roaches and condoms, and scammers are showing up at people’s doors to collect money they say they are owed. And I want to tell you the tale of a gambit that I can't call a con, but ...
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Season 9
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14:22
How to stay safe from nearly all scams
We're all vulnerable to scams, but we don't have to be willing victims. Today I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago -- tell you just what to do to thwart scammers.
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Season 8
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Episode 16
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21:47
New scam targets those who tap credit cards
A new scam is moving across the country that can capture the information on your credit card's chips, plus Minnesota legislators are considering a law that would reimburse victims of scams.
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Season 8
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Episode 15
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13:20
The Scopes trial was a scam -- but not necessarily a bad one
What some of you may remember as the Scopes Monkey Trial is a scam. If you don’t know about the trial, you may know about the movie, “Inherit the Wind,” which – and I’m being charitable here – took poetic license with the truth. Today, as we ne...
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Season 8
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Episode 14
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32:49
Butcher scammed out of meat
Alabama leads the nation in losses from online scams and a Massachusetts butcher shop owner says he was scammed out of $60,000 of meat. Plus, we'll update you on the Frye Festival scheduled for Mexico, but who knows where in that country it wil...
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Season 8
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Episode 13
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25:41
The most notorius scammers
There are con artists who have pulled off major cons. What they do is so ballsy, it’s hard to believe anyone would fall for them. Yet, in the annals of history, they live on.Today on Scams And Cons, we'll tell you their stories.
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Season 8
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Episode 12
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26:22
Scammers begin work without authorization - and make the victim pay
We'll tell you the story of con artists who preyed on the elderly with home remodeling scams. One was brazen enough to outright tell the homeowner what needed to be done and begin work.
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Season 8
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Episode 12
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16:34
Using AI to build sucker lists
Is this written by me or an AI? Will you hear my voice or an AI voice in this podcast? (Spoiler, you'll hear both)AI voices and images are so easy to create these days that it's easy to throw someone into a money-gushing panic if they ge...
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Season 8
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Episode 11
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18:10
Georgia banks exempt from protecting you from scammers
In this week's news, Thailand takes the unusual step of cutting off electricity to 500,000 people to stop scammers and con artists are staging car crashes to collect insurance money.Plus, Georgia exempts banks from protecting customers f...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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12:24
Deep fakes: Am I who I say I am?
Is this written by me or an AI? Will you hear my voice or an AI voice in this podcast? (Spoiler, you'll hear both)AI voices and images are so easy to create these days that it's easy to throw someone into a money-gushing panic if they ge...
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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31:51
Scammers pretend to be TV news anchor to rob previous victim
A man got taken by a scammer and called a local TV station for help. The scammers weren't caught, but they later called the man back, pretending to be the anchor and tried to shake him down again.It didn't go well for the scammers.
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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12:33
Communities of scammers are roaming the country
Groups of con artists roam the country, sweeping into a community and taking it for all they can until the police get wise.They're called Travellers and we'll tell you how they work and why they are different from other scammers.
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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26:11
The pigeon drop is revived to steal expensive jewelry
The pigeon drop -- and oldie, but a goodie -- is misdirecting people so their new expensive purchases can stolen and fake Amazon customer service agents targeted a woman and tried to clean out her bank accounts.
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13:01