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.
150 episodes transcribedIn the early 2000s, an Appalachian-born sex worker named JT Leroy becomes a literary wunderkind. His gritty, buzzed-about novels and tragic b...
When Mike Williams vanishes on a hunting trip, the authorities suspect he was eaten by alligators but the true predators who took Mike may lu...
As Erika Jayne’s pop star career blossoms, questions continue to mount about her husband Tom Girardi’s finances and his legal practice. His c...
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...
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 i...
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 luc...
When the actor Ben McKenzie started hearing about Bitcoin, he was immediately skeptical. While his friends were investing, he started investi...
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...
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 t...
In the finale to this two-part series, which originally aired last summer, Hushpuppi expands his business with new partnerships, including wi...
In the spirit of summer travel season, we’re reconnecting with the king of posting obnoxious vacation photos on Instagram: Hushpuppi. This ep...
Savage subtweets. Scathing diss tracks. Tell-all memoirs. These are the weapons that celebrities use to wage modern social warfare against ea...
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 nam...
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 inten...
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 u...
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...
Peggy Fulford is glamorous, smooth-talking, and runs in the same circles as pro athletes. In the 1990s, she gets into sports money management...
Rita Crundwell dreams of raising championship horses, but her day job is much less glamorous: She works in finance for her small city in Illi...
Larry Rudolph is an enormously successful dentist and big game hunter in the Pittsburgh area. From the outside, he seems to have it all: A de...
After N*Sync and Backstreet Boys cut ties with Lou, he gets to work assembling a new boy band: O-Town. But behind the scenes, he’s taking out...
