Scamfluencers
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Описание
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. On Wondery’s new weekly series, 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.New episodes come out every Monday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. Listen ad-free on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.
It’s hard to know what to believe about George Santos’ wild origin story. Since being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, almost every facet of his life has been called into question...
In the second part of this two-part rerun from last December, journalist Christie Smythe wants to dig deeper into the man who’s become the face of corporate greed. She begins following him everywhere,...
Wouldn’t you love to be a famous? Money. Red carpets. Adoring fans. Did we mention the money? But you’re also on a tightrope. Because when everyone’s watching, you’re only one misstep away from it all...
With a number of fraud trials in the news, we thought we’d revisit one of the cringiest fraud cases we’ve ever covered: Martin Shkreli’s. In this re-run episode from last winter, we chart his rise – a...
Cuddly as a cactus and charming as an eel, he’s your new favorite snarky talk show host. Join The Grinch (and his faithful dog Max) each week as he rants against Christmas cheer and roasts celebrity g...
When some of the wealthiest, most famous teams announce their plan to break away from Europe’s biggest football competition in April 2021, it causes 48 hours of complete chaos. With billions of dollar...
Melissa Caddick has always dreamed of doing big things. When she becomes a high-powered financial planner, she’s finally able to buy a huge house, take extravagant vacations, and live the life of an A...
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 entoura...
Rose Marks runs a fortune telling business that attracts people with big problems and even bigger wallets. In the early 1990s, she reels in one of her most lucrative clients: A wealthy romance novelis...
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 electe...
Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi present themselves as eccentric, free-spirited art dealers. Most alluringly, they seem to have incredible access to a trove of rare paintings that were thought to be los...
In Quebec, maple syrup is tightly regulated by a government-backed federation. It controls syrup prices – and profits. When a group of outlaws discovers they can make a ton of money by circumventing t...
Carlos Watson is a Stanford Law School graduate with big Silicon Valley connections and even bigger dreams. When he pitches investors on his idea for a Millennial-focused news website called Ozy Media...
In the finale to this two-part series, which originally aired last fall, Alex Guerrero comes under scrutiny from the FTC, but Tom Brady stands by his business partner. Together, they open a sports cen...
Football season is kicking off again, and we’re celebrating by returning to this two-part series on one of the NFL’s biggest stars. Tommy Brady is retired (for now), but the mark he and his “body coac...
There’s a lot that’s happened to Jen Shah since this episode originally aired in August 2022. The “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star was sentenced to more than six years behind bars, and earlier...
In the early 2000s, an Appalachian-born sex worker named JT Leroy becomes a literary wunderkind. His gritty, buzzed-about novels and tragic backstory earn him celebrity fans like Courtney Love, Carrie...
As Erika Jayne’s pop star career blossoms, questions continue to mount about her husband Tom Girardi’s finances and his legal practice. His clients have been waiting in limbo to receive the settlement...
Tom Girardi dreams of being a do-gooder lawyer like his childhood hero on the TV show “Perry Mason.” When he starts his own legal firm in the 1960s, he does just that, representing clients against the...
In 2006, Lamor Whitehead gets arrested while wearing a mink coat, prompting the New York post to dub him a “high roller.” But after a stint in prison, Lamor reinvents himself as a man of God. He start...
David Bunevacz is the king of faking it ‘til you make it. After running a shady Olympics ticket brokering scheme, he moves on to his most lucrative venture yet: A weed vape company that seems to be mi...
When the actor Ben McKenzie started hearing about Bitcoin, he was immediately skeptical. While his friends were investing, he started investigating. In this special episode of Scamfluencers, Scaachi K...
Charles Hensley gets his first brush with fame when he invents a nasal spray called Zicam. After his product turns out to cause harm to some patients, he abandons the homeopathic world and pivots to H...
In the mid-90s, Dr. Mehmet Oz is a rock star surgeon with a reputation for performing on high-profile clients. He eventually scores his own television show, and soon he becomes daytime television roya...
In the finale to this two-part series, which originally aired last summer, Hushpuppi expands his business with new partnerships, including with the North Korean cyber criminals who hacked into Sony. H...
In the spirit of summer travel season, we’re reconnecting with the king of posting obnoxious vacation photos on Instagram: Hushpuppi. This episode, which originally aired in July 2022, follows the for...
As a young girl growing up in Michigan, Gina Champion-Cain dreams of becoming a business woman. After she moves to San Diego, she makes a name for herself as one of the city’s most influential develop...
From a young age, Hans Niemann knows he loves chess and wants to face off against his hero, Magnus Carlsen. Hans grows into a brash and intense player who makes questionable moves during online chess...
Josh Cartu is from a small town outside of Toronto. But he dreams of a faster and flashier lifestyle, driving the expensive cars he’s grown up idolizing. With his two brothers, he heads out into the w...
Brian Johnson, who will later become known as Liver King, grows up a scrawny kid who often gets picked on. He decides to start bulking up so that he won’t get picked on anymore. As an adult, he takes...