Scam Goddess: Fraud Friday – "Friday Night Frauds" w/ Dave Schilling

Podcast: Scam Goddess
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Dave Schilling
Release Date: September 5, 2025

Main Theme / Episode Overview

This uproarious episode of Scam Goddess delves into the wild true story of Bishop Sycamore—the infamous “fake” high school football team that scammed its way onto ESPN. Host Laci Mosley is joined by comedian and podcaster Dave Schilling for a comedic, insightful breakdown of the scandal’s key players, the mechanics of this legendary sports grift, plus a tangent or two about college, guilt-tipping bartenders, and the art of scamming as a life skill.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Dave’s Relationship With Scams – Kicking Off the Conversation

[04:03]

• Laci asks Dave about personal scam experiences.
• Dave: “I despise liars. Of course. I hate myself because I’m constantly lying to people because I live in Hollywood.”
• They roast the “Who’s Who in American High School” directory—a classic pay-to-be-honored scam.
• Dave: “Of course, it was B.S. Everybody got to be in there. … I was one of the laziest people in my high school.”
• Laci riffs on the honor being meaningless if you have to pay (“Get your checkbook out, bitch.”).

The College Scam & Bribing for Table Service

[06:24]

• Changes in the college admissions hustle: Laci notes college is now desperate to admit anyone post-pandemic.
• Tangent about the perils of sex on twin beds in college housing.
• Laci: “You show up based off vibes…when my show up, my show up!”
• Laci shares her “scam” of bribing hosts at restaurants—except when it backfires.

Guilt-Tipping at Bars as a Service Industry Scam

[09:38]

• Dave shares a story: bartender purposely guilt-trips him to extract a tip.
• Laci counters with her own aggressive/bully tactics as a former bartender.
• Both riff on escalating fake sob stories to increase tips — “That was the bank, they taking the house for real this time!”
• Dave, joking: “Gotta put my dog down. Can’t afford his meds. … Anyway, our specials…”
• The pair glorify these little hustles as low-level but effective social cons.

What’s Hot in Fraud: Writing Off Halloween Candy

[16:37]

• Weekly segment on trending scams: A listener tip about “writing off” candy as a business expense if you slap your business sticker on it.
• Laci: Wonders if you can do this even if you don’t own a small business.
• Dave: “No, I think you kind of have to be incorporated.”
• Dialogue goes off the rails as they envision a world where kids must complete chores or riddles for treats.

Main Segment: Historic Hoodwinks — The Bishop Sycamore Football Scam

The Scam’s Summary

[22:05 – 71:33]

The Setup

• Bishop Sycamore, a “school” nobody had heard of, played IMG Academy on ESPN, got demolished, and was quickly revealed as a likely fake.
• Dave: “Some of them not in high school, not high school age…just like dudes who wanted to get to the NFL…”
• Laci fantasizes: “What if they had been GOOD? …like, now they all play for the NFL!”

Mechanics of the Scam

• School invented out of nothing; few players, little equipment, barely any coaching staff, almost no funding.
• Only enough players to fill the field—many played both offense and defense with inadequate rest.
• Team claimed to have “Division 1” prospects; none of this could be verified.
• ESPN, desperate to find a willing opponent for unbeatable IMG, gave them a national TV deal.
• Laci: “How your school gonna be an online school, but ain’t no information about it online? That’s where y’all live?”

The Televised Disaster

• Announcers slowly realize live on air that Bishop Sycamore may not be legit.
• [41:05] ESPN Announcer: “Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division 1 prospects…to be frank, a lot of that we could not verify.”
• Headsets, “coaches” faking expertise, confusion on the field, mismatched jerseys and equipment.
• Dave: “Who the fuck is watching high school football on ESPN7?”

The Collapse

• Bishop Sycamore played games just two days apart, violating safety standards. Multiple injuries.
• Laci and Dave lampoon the lack of facilities—maybe practicing in parking lots, sharing helmets.
• “Coaches” include the mother of a player after most staff quit.
• Many athletes: over-age, some with children of their own, others with arrest warrants too numerous to allow team flights.
• No food provided, some players resorted to stealing from supermarkets.
• School only offered a single Bible class (and “vibes”).

The Fallout & Legacy

• Bishop Sycamore was quickly banned; Ohio launched an official investigation.
• Coach Johnson left with $300,000 in unpaid bills; proceeds went to headsets, not student needs.
• Laci: “Was he lying? He said you’ll play at OSU facilities…he didn’t say WHICH side of the street.”
• Michael Strahan’s production company and Kevin Hart’s company both develop TV/film adaptation plans.
• Laci and Dave, in typical Scam Goddess fashion, actually champion the stylistic audacity:
  Laci: “Points for style! Points for costumes, wardrobe. …Love the headsets.”
• Dave: “He’s gotta go in some sort of hall of fame for greatest, most ridiculous scams.”

Scammer of the Week: NFL Player Healthcare Fraud

[71:33 – 75:34]

• Laci and Dave recap the latest on a fraudulent ring of former NFL players who stole millions from the league’s health care reimbursement plan.
• Players filed for expensive, unnecessary equipment: “ultrasound machines designed for women’s health” among other bizarre items.
• Dave: “Hey girl, you wanna come over…do an ultrasound?”
• Laci: “Sometimes I just be feeling like doing an MRI, and you know the hospital is long wait.”
• Ends with riffs on at-home open heart surgery tutorials: “Sometimes you wake up and you’re like, God, I wish I could just do an MRI tonight…”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [04:13] Dave: “I despise liars. Of course. I hate myself because I’m constantly lying to people because I live in Hollywood.”
• [06:54] Laci: “Now…college was a scam…colleges are like, ‘We’ll suck your d*ck.’ Please, please come!”
• [10:53] Dave (on guilt-tipping): “The bartender says to the bar back, ‘Not getting a lot of tips tonight.’ …I gave her like $4…she knew I had cash.”
• [23:53] Dave (on Bishop Sycamore): “There was a scam that was so perfect. But the one flaw is that they had to be on TV. … And the problem is, they gotta play the fucking games and they stink.”
• [35:05] Laci: “I love when white people—no shame white people out there—but there’s a certain language white people use instead of being direct and it is exhausting.”
• [43:08] Dave: “ESPN chose this team based on vibes and that’s fine…vibes are currency.”
• [54:21] Laci (on older players being mistaken for teens): “That’s when the kind of, like, blackness of it all comes in. …They all look grown to me once they turn 11.”
• [62:16] Dave (on five fights a practice): “If you don’t feed people, you make them play football in an open field…and make them all live together…yeah, they’re gonna fight.”
• [64:14] Laci: “Bishop Sycamore was a school where they educate you on how to scam, and that is a valuable skill. … You can definitely make crime a career and a passion.”
• [69:01] Dave: “You’re eating vibes for dinner tonight, guys.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:03 – Dave’s history with scams (Who’s Who in American High School).
• 09:38 – Guilt-inducing tip tactics at bars.
• 16:37 – What’s Hot in Fraud: the Halloween candy business write-off hustle.
• 22:05 – "Historic Hoodwinks": The Bishop Sycamore saga begins.
• 37:26 – The ESPN game, breakdown, and aftermath (score: 58–0).
• 41:05 – Viral ESPN announcer moment realizing the scam.
• 46:24 – Dangerous playing conditions, mismatched helmets, student safety.
• 54:03 – Student-athletes’ legal problems, living conditions, and hunger strikes.
• 62:16 – Team fights and inner collapse.
• 64:14 – Laci reframes the scam as “vocational training in con artistry.”
• 71:33 – Scammer of the Week: NFL players’ healthcare fraud.

Tone, Style, and Notable Dynamics

• Laci and Dave maintain a hilarious, irreverent tone even as they dissect serious fraud and real-life consequences.
• There’s a running riff on “vibes” as both a lifestyle and scam currency.
• They often spin off on tangents—always circling back to how scam artistry permeates everything (from college admissions to restuarant tips to football grifts).
• Occasional deeper points about systemic inequities, racial bias, and the dark consequences for the real victims of cons.

For Visuals & Further Engagement

• Laci plugs Scam Goddess’s Instagram for photos and videos relating to Bishop Sycamore.
• Listeners are invited to snitch on retired scams via scamgoddesspod@gmail.com.

Final Thoughts

• Bishop Sycamore stands in Scam Goddess lore as a con both disgraceful and, in execution, audacious—worthy of a docu-series.
• The episode is a masterclass in blending comedic improvisation with incisive social commentary on cons and frauds of all sizes.

As Laci Mosley says:
“Stay schemin’, congregation.”

[End of Summary]