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The act of tricking people into giving up their valuables has been in full force for hundreds of years.
Whether it’s information, valuable commodities or just cold hard cash, these criminals – and they are criminals, no matter how much they’ve been romanticised into “artists” – will use every trick up their sleeves to swindle everyone from blue collar workers to the super rich 1%.
But how do they do it? And what happens when they get caught out? By listening to these con artist podcasts, you can get a glimpse into the lives of these professional liars, from Ponzi schemers to full-on murderers.
It’s a dangerous world out there …
Some of these podcasts only touch on con artists from time to time. Some feature a con-artist-of-the-week. And a few are even dedicated just to one singularly troublesome trickster operation.
Unfortunately, whatever the scenario, con artists and scams seem like they’re here to stay. But at least with these fascinating podcasts you can hopefully learn more to protect yourself from con artists and fraudsters in the future!
How to listen: I’ve linked directly to the podcast website where possible. For those that don’t have their own websites, or the website is not kept up-to-date, I’ve just picked a platform (normally iTunes as it’s what I use). But many of these podcasts can be found across multiple platforms, so if you have a different podcast platform that you use, definitely check it out. Phew, that was a lot of ‘platforms.’
Podcasts About Multiple Con Artists
A lot of con artist podcasts focus on one case (or one case per season). And that’s totally understandable because it allows the host to do a real deep dive and really get into all the sordid details.
But sometimes I just want one 45 minute episode that covers everything without the commitment of a full season. That’s where the following podcasts come in!
These are some of my favourite podcasts that cover a variety of con artists and scams from the most infamous fraudsters to the ones you’ve never heard of!
Swindled (2018)
Swindled is one of my go-to podcasts about con artists. Hosted by an anonymous “concerned citizen”, this true crime podcast is all about why you should never trust anything, or anyone – ESPECIALLY if it seems too good to be true.
All of the stories featured on Swindled are about white-collar crime, con artists, political corruption or corporate evil. The episodes cover everything from Ponzi schemes and grifters to the far reaching effects of public health scandals.
And the best part is that every episode is a 2-4-1 deal. They start out with a shorter story related to the bigger story before seamlessly transitioning. The intro is also perfection.
If you aren’t already listening to Swindled, please go do that now.
Con Artists (2019)
I’m a big fan of Parcast Network, and regularly listen to quite a few of their original podcasts, one of which is Con Artists.
Or at least I did until it sadly ended in October 2020 (followed by a two-part crossover with Cults, which happens to be one of my favourite podcasts about cults!). The good news, though, is that there are over 100 episodes to binge!
In Con Artists, host Alastair Murden gives a deep dive on dozens of infamous con artists and scams. Some of the episodes might be familiar, like the ones about Charles Ponzi and Herbalife, but there many less well known stories, such as Bre-X or Christophe Rocancourt.
I know some people don’t get on with the no-nonsense style of Parcast podcasts, but I personally prefer the lack of fluff and banter. If you’re like me, this will easily become one of your favourite con artist podcasts.
The Dream (2019)
If you came here looking for the best multi-level marketing (MLM) podcasts – the ones that expose MLMs, not promote them – then The Dream is THE podcast for you.
In The Dream, host Jane Marie explores the phenomenon behind MLMs, what makes them so popular, and why they succeed. But what makes this podcast stand out from other podcasts about scams is Jane’s personal relationship with MLMs. See, nearly everyone she grew up with in Michigan is involved in MLMs.
Jane handles the topic with such care and empathy, it’s impossible to walk away from The Dream without a new perspective on MLMs… or, well, at least the people at the bottom perpetuating them. The people at the top are still scum.
While it does have an ongoing narrative that means it covers some of the same MLM schemes multiple times across episodes, the general intent is to discuss MLMs as a whole, and expose them… as much as is legally allowed. Because remember: MLMs are 100% legal.
Anyway, I love this podcast. If you’re not already listening, you should be!
Since this one is pretty popular (there’s a good chance anyone looking for MLM podcasts is already up to date with The Dream), another MLM focused podcast is Sounds Like an MLM, But Okay. It personally wasn’t my favourite because BANTER, but it’s worth a shot if you need to fill a The Dream-sized hole.
Scam Goddess (2019)
This podcast about scams and con artists is so much fun. From the ridiculously catchy theme tune to the fun energy of host Laci Mosley (and all her guests), Scam Goddess is non-stop entertainment.
Laci and her guests cover a range of scams and con artists, many of whom weren’t on my radar. I particularly loved the episodes on Jeremy Wilson (with guest Nicole Byer) and the Arethan Franklin imposter (with guest Yvonne Orji). While I haven’t loved every guest, Laci is a fantastic host, and always brings out their best.
Each episode starts by asking the guest what their relationship is to scams, and is then broken down into three different segments: (1) “what’s hot in fraud”, where a listener will send in a recent scam they’ve heard about or witnessed; (2) “historic hoodwinks”, in which Laci describes an infamous con artist and their scam to her guest – this part is the bulk of the episode; and (3) “scammer of the week”, where Laci shares someone with respectable scams.
I rarely LOVE conversational podcasts, but this is one of the exceptions. Join the con-gregation today!
The Perfect Scam (2018)
Anyone familiar with the con artist world will understand why my absolute favourite thing about this podcast is that Frank Abagnale Jr consults on this podcast and even co-hosts on some episodes. Yes, THAT Frank Abagnale Jr.
Although even when it’s just journalist Bob Sullivan, it’s a good podcast as he definitely knows his stuff (he should, he’s published multiple books on the topic). But the fact that Frank has put his name to it at all should tell you that this a worthwhile con artist podcast.
The Perfect Scam digs into scams and frauds the average person would never know about, and reveals how they were perpetrated, how they were discovered and how to protect yourself in the future.
Red Collar (2020)
When you think of fraud and con artists, you probably think of charismatic, seemingly rich men in suits talking about stocks. Or maybe they’re scamming sweet, but naive women out of their life savings. And, to be fair, there’s a good reason those stereotypes exist.
But there’s another side to these crimes we don’t tend to talk about as much – the fraudsters that kill.
Red Collar is a podcast about con artists who were willing to do whatever it takes to support their lifestyle. Host Catherine Townsend introduces us to cases such as the infamous Bikini Killer, and the dismemberment of Li Zhao’s cousin.
This podcast is a relatively new find for me, but I’ve already binged – and loved – most of it!
Note: I’ve seen quite a few reviews saying this podcast is great except for how quickly the host speaks (and also sometimes the low, constant music). Maybe it’s just my ADHD, but this absolutely wasn’t a problem for me. Then again, I listen to everyone on 1.5 – 2x speed, so what do I know?
Podcasts With Some Episodes About Con Artists
The following two podcasts are two of my favourite podcasts of all time, and so I think you should just listen to them, full stop. While these might not exclusively be podcasts about con artists, they do both have multiple episodes that will scratch that itch. You’re welcome.
Criminal Broads (2019)
I discovered Criminal Broads about 6 months after it first aired, and binged all the available episodes in an afternoon. And I’ve been hooked since. If you don’t instantly fall in love with this podcast, too, we will probably never be friends.
As the name suggests, Criminal Broads is all about women who commit crimes (and some who fight crime!). The podcast covers female serial killers, outlaws, con artists, pirates, Nazis and more from all over the world.
But if you are specifically interested in con artists, a few episodes to get you started are the ones about Anne Hamilton-Byrne, Sophie Lyons and Rosa Marks.
Oh, and did I mention that host Tori Telfer recently released her second book, Confident Women… which is all about, you guessed it, female con artists!
Criminal (2014)
I’m so glad this podcast has become as successful as it has because I’ve been a big fan of Criminal from day one. It covers a wide range of topics related to the criminal world such as scams, detectives, forensics and milk carton kids.
Host Phoebe Judge brings all aspects of the criminal world to light, somehow making even the most mundane of topics fascinating. The episodes range from 15 minutes to nearly an hour, making it pretty versatile.
For scam-related episodes, a great starting place is “Money Tree” and the follow up episode “The Less People Know About Us”, about an 11-year old whose identity was stolen; or “The Many Lives of Michael Malloy”, about an insurance scam gone terribly wrong.
And the good news is that if you love this podcast as much as I do, there are already over 150 episodes to catch up on! Granted, they aren’t all about con artists and scams, but it’s so engaging you’ll forget about that.
Podcasts About Specific Con Artists
And then of course there are the podcasts that spend a season focused on ONE con artist or scam. Some of these have multiple seasons (each dedicated to a different topic), some are just a one-off miniseries. Either way, if you prefer a proper deep dive into a topic, these are the con artist podcasts for you!
American Scandal (2018)
American Scandal is one of the most well know podcasts about scandals, scams. and con artists. This isn’t surprising considering that in only a few years the podcast has covered dozens of scandals that changed the course of US history!
Hosted by Lindsay Graham, each season of this podcast does a deep dive into one major, er, American Scandal. Each season is exhaustively researched and includes interviews and reenactments.
The podcast kicks off with the BALCO doping scandal, but also covers a wide range of topics from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to Bernie Madoff and more! As the name might suggest, several of the seasons are more scandal than con – although, let’s be honest, the line between the two is often thin, especially when talking about corporation scandals.
Nevertheless, if you enjoy con artist podcasts, you’re likely to enjoy all that American Scandal has to offer.
FYI: If you love this podcast, Wondery has also more recently released British Scandal, which does the same thing… but for British history and politics.
The Missing Cryptoqueen (2019)
One of the things I love about con artist podcasts is that I tend to walk away feeling smarter and more aware.
And that was never more true than when I listened to BBC podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen. This enlightening podcast is hosted by Jamie Bartlett, and taught me a lot about cryptocurrencies, which is both kinda cool and very useful.
In 2013, a woman named Ruja Ignatova invented a form of cryptocurrency called OneCoin as an alternative to BitCoin. Ruja called herself the Cryptoqueen and the BitCoin Killer. She was intelligent and charismatic, and she said that OneCoin was going to render BitCoin irrelevant.
Over the next few years, multiple countries and financial authorities issued warnings about OneCoin, calling it a cult, a pyramid scheme and a fraud.
Yet OneCoin continued to grow, amassing thousands of investors worth billions. On paper, OneCoin was increasing in value rapidly, and it was going to make a lot of people very rich.
But then, in 2017, Ruja disappeared.
Want to know what happened to the woman who pulled off one of the biggest scams in history? Then do yourself a favour and listen to this con artist podcast ASAP!
Listen to The Missing Cryptoqueen
Dr. Death (2018)
This is a bit of a different con artist podcast because it doesn’t really deal with your typical scam topics like money and fraud. Well, it does, but not in the way you’d think.
Instead, Dr. Death is about hubris and medical malpractice.
Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon in Texas who was responsible for grievous injury to 33 of his 38 patients in just two years. Two of the patients died, while many were left permanently disabled due to his medical negligence. In fact, Duntsch caused his own best friend to be paralysed after a botched operation.
The thing is, Christopher Duntsch wasn’t a very good surgeon. He had gone through training and he had a medical license, but he was so bad at his job it seemed almost… intentional.
But Duntsch wasn’t the only person responsible for his crimes. The failure of the Texas medical system which allowed him to keep practicing is also at fault. See, they were warned – multiple times – but as a neurosurgeon Duntsch brought in too much money for them to say no.
Hosted by Laura Beil, a medical journalist based in Texas, Dr. Death is a 6-part series (with two bonus update episodes) that change the way you think of medicine and doctors forever. But fair warning, this series can be quite graphic at times, so if medical procedures can make you squeamish, I would sit this one out.
There is also a season 2 out now about another doctor named Farid Fata, but it’s [currently] only available on Amazon Music and Wondery+
Do You Know Mordechai? (2021)
After her divorce, Arya (not her real name) was nervous to get back on the dating scene. So when she met Mordechai Horowitz, she thought she’d hit the jackpot.
Mordechai didn’t match his photo (he was a little older and fatter than he’d said on his profile), but Arya didn’t want anything so superficial to get in the way of a relationship with a seemingly great guy. So Arya gave him a second chance.
And it turned out that the two had a real connection. She felt like she could be herself with him. Arya also liked that unlike her ex-husband, Mordechai was Jewish, like she was.
It probably didn’t hurt that he seemed to be pretty successful.
But soon Arya discovered some of the cracks in Mordechai’s story, and his lies began to unravel.
Presented by journalist Kathleen Goldhar – a close friend of Arya’s – Do You Know Mordechai? shines a light on just who Mordechai Horowitz really is. This a fantastic con artist podcast that really examines the question, “Why do smart women sometimes fall for con men?”
Listen to Do You Know Mordechai?
Chameleon (2020)
Created by Campsite Media, Chameleon is a true crime podcast in which each season is dedicated to one new and fascinating scam. The hosts do a deep dive on the selected con via interviews, and whatever they can find through extensive investigative reporting.
In Season 1, hosts Josh Dean and Vanessa Grigoriadis unravel the Hollywood Con Queen Scam, which ropes Hollywood hopefuls into flying to Indonesia to be a part of a movie that doesn’t exist.
Season 2 moves from Hollywood to Las Vegas where host Trevor Aaronson uncovers an even more unbelievable con. In this story, it’s impossible to know who to trust.
Chameleon is proving itself to be one of the best podcasts about con artists there is, and I cannot wait to see what they do in the future! Following the success of Chameleon, Campside Media has several upcoming podcasts that might be of interest to true crime enthusiasts.
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Dirty John (2017)
The Dirty John podcast took the world by storm in 2017, with the TV miniseries adaptation doing the same a year later.
In 2014 Debra Newell, a successful entrepreneur with her own interior design company, met doctor John Meehan on a dating app, and it was love at first sight. However, while Debra was smitten, her daughters felt the opposite. They had a bad feeling about John.
As they dug deeper and found inconsistencies in John’s story, he retaliated. John convinced Debra her children were jealous and spoiled, causing a rift between the once close family.
Since this is on a podcast about con artists, and it’s one of the most popular there is, it’s not much of a spoiler to say, yes, John Meehan is a con artist. But trust me, there’s so much more to this story, and if you haven’t had it spoiled for you yet, you’re in for a treat.
The 6-episode podcast is hosted by Christopher Goffard, and includes interviews from the Newell family and their friends. If you have watched the TV series, you are likely aware there is a second season about Betty Broderick, which is based on a separate podcast called It Was Simple.
Who the Hell is Hamish? (2019)
Who the Hell is Hamish? is an Australian true crime podcast that covers the crimes of confidence man, Hamish Watson. In order to keep up his moneyed lifestyle, Hamish defrauded millions from dozens of people over three decades.
But how did he get away with it for so long? And how did he finally get caught after all that time?
Host Greg Bearup talks to victims and former friends of Hamish to try and understand what made Hamish tick. From his time as a ski instructor to interviews with his ex-girlfriends, Who the Hell is Hamish? will give you a glimpse into the mind of a sociopath.
Although each of the 9 episodes is a bit longer than the last, I hardly noticed as a binged this con artist podcast in an afternoon. But if you love Australian accents, you’re gonna want to tune in ASAP.
Listen to Who the Hell is Hamish?
Billionaire Boys Club (2020)
In 1983 Joseph Hunt brought together his rich, yuppie college friends to form an elite investment firm called the Billionaire Boys Club (or the BBC).
Except the entire thing was just one big Ponzi scheme, and the money given by investors was used to fund the boys’ lavish lifestyles. Not that all the members were entirely aware of just how shady the BBC really was.
Nor should they have been surprised. Hunt lived by his own Randian-inspired ethos that the ends always justified the means, and he encouraged his fellow BBC members to live the same way.
And for Hunt that meant fraud, kidnapping and even murder…
Hosted by Tracy Pattin and actor Timothy Olyphant, this 6-part podcast is about a group of con artists willing to do whatever it takes to achieve the American Dream.
Listen to Billionaire Boys Club
California City (2020)
California City is a real place; kind of. It’s a town located in the heart of the Mojave Desert that some real estate developers swear is “the next big thing” and one day, investors will make their money back . But they’ve been saying that for over 60 years and it’s still “in development” with no signs of completion.
And that’s because California City is a scam.
The way the scam works is that people are invited to a resort in California City and told they can invest in this amazing opportunity. Visitors are pressured into this once-in-a-lifetime deal to buy property in this up-and-coming community.
Too late they realise it’s all a scam.
The worst part is that the people being conned are incredibly vulnerable groups. Many of the scammers target immigrants, making them feel more comfortable by recruiting members of their own communities to help dupe them. Soon their life savings are gone, invested in a dream that doesn’t exist.
LAist senior reporter Emily Guerin hosts California City, and takes us behind the scenes of this heartbreaking scam. However, this podcast has one upside: it will teach you a lot about investment fraud in the USA and what to look out for so you don’t also get caught out.
Last Seen (2020)
Are you looking for something a little lighter? Do you love art heist movies and stories? Then Last Seen is the con artist podcast for you!
While this a little different from your average podcast about con artists, it’s not uncommon for art thieves and con artists to go hand in hand in our social consciousness. True or not, films like Ocean’s Eleven have firmly melded the two into being at least adjacent or related.
Plus Last Seen isn’t about any old art heist. No, this is about the largest unsolved art heist in history.
In 1990, 13 irreplaceable works of art were stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 81 minutes. In total, the pieces were worth over half a billion dollars. And now, three decades later, not a single piece has ever been recovered.
Who stole the art? Was it an inside job? A private collector? And what happened to all that art? After all, it is otherwise unheard of for art worth that much money to go undetected for so long.
Host Kelly Horan walks us through the heist, the players, the theories, and everything she can possibly uncover about the operation. She’ll have you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happened to the art, but sadly we may never know.