What’s poppin’ congregation? This week, we have Lady Bunny and Monét X Change discussing Amy Bock, a 20th century con woman who famously disguised herself as a wealthy sheep farmer convincing another woman to marry her. Plus, Goldman Sachs and Ozy Media try to work out their business relationship after someone impersonated an executive during a conference call. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/26/business/media/ozy-media-goldman-sachs.html 

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2b30/bock-amy-maud

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/black-sheep/story/2018670137/con-artist-the-story-of-amy-bock

https://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/collections/3021/objects/39269/photograph-albion-house-mrs-ottaways-boarding-house-kaka-point

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_asylum 

https://alchetron.com/Amy-Bock#amy-bock-5027d02e-edbc-447f-81b2-719f6b82d9c-resize-750.jpeg

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/carlos-watson-ozy-media-stays-open-1235024859/

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Jordan Carlos joins us to discuss how during the 1970’s the FBI hired Mel Weinberg, a career conman to tackle some of Washington’s biggest politicians. This story inspired the movie American Hustle. Plus, Late Night Talk Show Host John Oliver is scamming the scammers…Congress that is. Stay schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/last-week-tonight-john-oliver-recap-season-9-episode-7-congress-data-1335598/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/obituaries/mel-weinberg-dead-abscam-informant.html

https://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/2013/11/jersey_hustle_the_real-life_story_of_abscam.html

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/abscam

https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/expulsion/140HarrisonWilliams_expulsion.htm

What’s poppin’ congregation? This week, content creator La’Ron Hines joins us to discuss how a New York man is scammed by his therapist Dr. Ike Herschkopf, getting caught in a web of entanglement and paying him $3 million in monetary compensation. Plus, the city of Fresno, California lost $600,000 and told no one about it. Stay Schemin’!

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Lisa Gilroy joins us to discuss how Beanie Baby Mania took the 90’s by storm with people collecting and selling Ty Inc. stuffed toys for thousands of dollars. Plus, influencer scammer Caroline Calloway is accused of owing her landlord over $40,000. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources: 

https://www.insider.com/influencer-caroline-calloway-accused-of-not-paying-40000-in-rent-2022-3

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22870250/nft-beanie-baby-price-guide-bubble-princess-value

https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather/great-beanie-baby-bubble-went-110000959.html#:~:text=In%201999%2C%20Jeffrey%20White%2C%20a,the%20best%20of%20him%2C%20too.

https://thehustle.co/the-great-beanie-baby-bubble-of-99/

https://theweek.com/articles/461977/great-beanie-baby-bubble

https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/May-2014/Ty-Warner/

The Great Beanie Baby Bubble by Zac Bissonnette

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Vinny Thomas joins us to discuss Gerry Cotten, the infamous Crypto King. Gerry created the crypto currency exchange, “QuadrigaCX,” later to leave users with no access to their funds after his mysterious and controversial death. Plus, scammers are now using deep-fake technology to impersonate people.

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources: 

https://www.newsweek.com/gerald-cotten-wife-where-jennifer-robertson-now-crypto-king-quadriga-1693705

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten

https://www.coindesk.com/video/recent-videos/the-story-behind-quadrigacx-and-netflixs-crypto-king/

Netflix’s Crypto King

https://cryptonews.com/news/impostors-make-deep-fake-videos-of-ordinary-more-believable-people-promote-crypto-scams.htm

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Chinedu Unaka joins us to discuss how in the 80’s a group of MIT and Harvard students perfected card counting and took to casinos, making over $57 million dollars. Plus, a former British Airways pilot is sentenced to a year in jail after it was discovered he wasn’t actually the pilot he said he was. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources: 
https://web.archive.org/web/20050113100211/https://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,324,00.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27519748

https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/10/3223068/mit-mike-aponte-blackjack-card-counting-defcon

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/31/pilot-jailed-lying-flying-experience-get-british-airways-job/

https://www.businessinsider.com/british-airways-pilot-jailed-faked-resume-flying-experience-pressed-button-2022-4

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/race-ethnicity#:~:text=%E2%80%9CRace%E2%80%9D%20is%20usually%20associated%20with,and%20characterize%20seemingly%20distinct%20populations.

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Danielle Pinnock joins us to discuss Nakesia Washington, a scamming travel agent who specialized in planning trips for the Essence Festival, only to leave clients high and dry. Plus, romance fraud is on the rise and one man sends nearly $500,000 to a love interest he never met. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources: 
https://www.blackenterprise.com/travel-agent-arrested-essence-festival/

https://www.nola.com/news/courts/article_1966499c-9d9e-11e9-874b-9b8a792ac22f.html

https://www.wdsu.com/article/she-hurt-a-lot-of-people-bbb-says-about-obl-travel-owner-after-getting-45-complaints/22692013

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/essence-fest-scam-obl-travel-many-claimed-they-have-lost-thousands.1688299/

https://alwaysalist.com/?p=15543

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/romance-fraud-love-wrong-place-proves-costly-82958741

What’s poppin’ con-gregation?  This week, Solomon Georgio joins us to discuss Sarma Melngailis, a business woman who went from “Queen of Vegan Cuisine” to the “Vegan Bernie Madoff.” Plus, pet scams have become such a problem in Michigan that the Michigan Attorney General released a video warning residents. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt.

Sources:
https://people.com/food/bad-vegan-fame-fraud-fugitives-true-story/

https://people.com/crime/fugitive-former-vegan-restaurant-owner-caught-after-ordering-dominos-pizza/

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/11/how-sarma-melngailis-became-a-runaway-fugitive

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/03/sarma-melngailis-netflixs-bad-vegan-stares-down-her-past-and-future

Netflix’s documentary, Bad Vegan

https://www.intheknow.com/post/dog-breeder-scam/

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Traci Thomas joins us to discuss Jamison Bachman, a man who posed as a charming tenant only to victimize his roommates, determined to take their homes from under them. Plus, an elderly woman pleads guilty to helping a Nigerian scammer she fell in love with. Stay Schemin’!

CW: Mentions of physical assault and suicide are in this episode.

Time Stamps : @ 26:44 CW: Physical Assault & Suicide Warning

                         @ 52:30 CW: Murder

                         @ 52:52 CW: Suicide

Research by Kaelyn Brandt. 

Sources:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/jamison-bachman-worst-roommate-ever.html

https://thenetline.com/jamison-bachman-now/

https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/woman-sentenced-after-helping-scam-artist/article_1b2ae9e0-9b02-11ec-bb64-5ff45577d3b2.html

https://ipropertymanagement.com/laws/california-squatters-rights#:~:text=A%20squatter%20can%20claim%20rights,ownership%20of%20the%20property%20legally

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Jabari Davis joins us to discuss Heather Morgan, a rapping former-CEO who was a part of the largest asset seizure in history, involving over $4 billion in bitcoin. Plus, a Greek Orthodox priest and hedge fund manager participates in a “short and distort” scheme. Stay Schemin’!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt. 

SOURCES:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hedge-fund-priest-thou-shalt-make-money-1445918531?mod=mktw

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/jury-sec-case-finds-priest-shorting-biotechs-stock-made-false-statements-2021-11-05/

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/the-many-shifting-sides-of-cryptos-most-notorious-couple.html

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2016/08/03/the-bitfinex-bitcoin-hack-what-we-know-and-dont-know/

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/doj-seizes-usd3-6-billion-in-stolen-bitcoin-arrests-couple.html

https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/bitcoin-billionaire-rapper-busted-after-fbi-seized-her-3-9-billion-fortune-183ad0e8cb0

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/nyregion/bitcoin-bitfinex-hack-heather-morgan-ilya-lichtenstein.html

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Brittani Warrick joins us to discuss how a 19th century Scottish man, convinced people to establish the new country of Poyais, however it didn’t actually exist. Plus, one antique store goes viral after a tik toker exposes the real cost of antique swans. Stay Schemin’!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt. 

SOURCES:

https://www.distractify.com/p/tiktok-goodwill-thrift-shop

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Gregor-MacGregor-Prince-Of-Poyais/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/gregor-macgregor

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-untold-truth-about-poyais-a-dead-land-sold-as-a-mystical-paradise-bf6719715229

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, comedian Frankie Quiñones joins us to discuss how 18 barrels of bourbon went missing from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, producers of the famed Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon. Plus, scammers capitalize off of fake high end whiskey being sold in local liquor stores across the nation. Stay Schemin’!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt. 

SOURCES:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/dining/drinks/fake-bourbon.html

https://craigcalcaterra.com/blog/the-pappy-van-winkle-heist-that-wasnt2710188/

https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/inside-the-great-pappy-van-winkle-heist

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-29/the-pappy-van-winkle-bandit-speaks-and-says-he-didn-t-do-it

https://www.grunge.com/450262/the-truth-about-the-pappygate-bourbon-heist/

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson join us to get an update on some of our favorite scammers: Anna Delvey, Elizabeth Holmes & The Tinder Swindler. Plus, a Chinese student spends 21 days living a luxurious life for free as part of an art project for her school. Stay Schemin’!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt. 

SOURCES:

https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/how-anna-delvey-tricked-new-york.html

https://www.insider.com/anna-delvey-writes-about-inventing-anna-and-life-in-jail-2022-2

https://www.insider.com/netflix-paid-anna-delvey-sorokin-tv-series-victim-fund-2021-1

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/13/elizabeth-holmes-sentence-september-fraud

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/tech/elizabeth-holmes-verdict/index.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-founder-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-life-story-bio-2018-4#it-was-during-high-school-that-holmes-developed-her-work-ethic-often-staying-up-late-to-study-she-quickly-became-a-straight-a-student-and-even-started-her-own-business-she-sold-c-compilers-a-type-of-software-that-translates-computer-code-to-chinese-schools-5

https://www.etonline.com/tinder-swindler-simon-leviev-joins-cameo-signs-with-manager-inside-his-hollywood-plans-179407

https://www.insideedition.com/exclusive-alleged-tinder-swindler-simon-leviev-speaks-on-money-romance-and-allegations-in-1st-sit

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a38819028/tinder-swindler-netflix-true-story-simon-leviev/

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a38955743/tinder-swindler-simon-leviev-true-story-where-is-he-now/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/17531724/simon-levievs-bodyguard-peter/

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/04/verdict-reached-in-michael-avenatti-fraud-trial-over-stormy-daniels-book-money.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10289325/Student-stays-Beijing-three-weeks-without-spending-penny-disguising-socialite.html

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, Bridger Winegar joins us to discuss Sergei Mavrodi, the man behind one of the world’s largest Ponzi schemes. Plus, a 73-year old Long Island woman helps the NYPD catch a scammer. Stay Schemin!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt. 

SOURCES:

https://www.nbc15.com/2022/01/22/watch-grandmother-helps-catch-scammers-fun/

https://qz.com/1259524/mmm-and-bitcoin-russian-ponzi-mastermind-sergei-mavrodi-is-dead-but-his-legacy-lives-on-in-crypto/

https://www.rbth.com/history/332261-mmm-fraud-mavrodi

https://historyofyesterday.com/sergei-mavrodi-the-man-who-left-30-million-people-broke-2bbd03a9cd82

https://112.international/society/give-us-our-money-back-how-the-world-will-remember-the-mmm-financial-pyramid-founder-sergei-mavrodi-27224.html

https://www.forbes.ru/biznes/359219-hozyain-piramid-sergey-mavrodi-kak-simvol-lihih-90-h