Scam Goddess Podcast — Fraud Friday: The Fake Fossil Finder w/ Adam Conover

Date: August 29, 2025
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Adam Conover

Episode Overview

In this Fraud Friday classic from the Scam Goddess vault, comedian and host Laci Mosley welcomes Adam Conover (Factually, Adam Ruins Everything, The G Word) to dive into the wild world of archaeological fraud. Together, they dissect the story of Charles Dawson and the infamous Piltdown Man hoax — one of the most spectacular scientific scams in history. Along the way, Laci and Adam riff on their own real-life brushes with scams, discuss the pressures of workplace capitalism, and reflect on the broader implications of gullibility, bias, and fraud throughout history.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Scam Confessions and Everyday Hustles

Timestamps: 02:36–10:33

• Adam’s LA Scam Story:
  Adam recounts being scammed by a man in LA who promised to fix the scrape on his car, only to make it worse and pressure him for extra cash.

  "He jumps out of whatever van he was in, pulls out some kind of weird solvent... just makes the whole thing look worse." — Adam Conover [03:25]
  Both Laci and Adam reflect on the awkward social pressure of such situations, and the prevalence of hustle culture in LA.

• On Internalized Capitalism:
  Adam and Laci discuss how people end up paying for bad services out of politeness, and segue into a broader point about feeling pressured to “do the right thing” at work or during scams.

  "You pay somebody to fuck it up more. But I would have done the same thing as it would have felt awkward. I'm like, well, thank you for your service." — Laci Mosley [04:22]

Listener Scam: The Paid-For-My-Own-Overtime Scheme

Timestamps: 10:33–20:41

• Listener Letter Breakdown:
  A fan (“Mortimer O’Houlihan”) writes in about sneaking extra hours on the weekend at work and forging an email to get them compensated — only for Adam and Laci to note the real scam is a toxic employer:

  "Mortimer, this is a horrible story... You're getting scammed. That you unfortunately are the one getting scammed." — Adam Conover [17:06]

  • Laci and Adam emphasize how companies exploit "internalized capitalism," making employees feel guilty for demanding their due rights or payment.

  "If you need anything from them, they like, 'Oh, hello. No, we're a business.' Everyone wants to be Olive Garden when they need something from you." — Laci Mosley [18:48]

Historic Hoodwinks: The Piltdown Man Hoax

Timestamps: 23:42–53:41

• Introducing the Piltdown Man:
  Laci presents the story of Charles Dawson, an amateur British archaeologist who claimed to find the “missing link” in Sussex, England in 1912.

  • Adam and Laci riff about how archaeologists’ work is often misrepresented as glamorous.

  "They're always doing makeup on the bones, you know what I mean? They're just feeding the bones... giving them a nice blush and foundation." — Adam Conover [24:53]

• The Anatomy of a Scientific Scam:

  • British scientists, desperate to have an early-human find like other countries, accept Charles’ fraud uncritically.
  • A single vocal critic, David Waterson, is ignored because the find fits what the community wants to be true.

  "It's really hard to convince people a hoax isn't true when they want it to be true." — Adam Conover [40:16]

• The Details of the Fraud:

  • Dawson’s “discovery” included wrongly matched human skull fragments, filed orangutan teeth, and a “cricket bat” bone implant, all to make the supposed skeleton distinctly British.

  "So now they're just making anything up. They like, oh, my God. The first man, he was definitely British. He was super white. He loved cricket and tea." — Laci Mosley [41:15]

  • Despite evidence to the contrary, scientists and the public believe the Piltdown Man for decades because it confirms national pride and biases.

• Decades Later: The Reveal

  • Only after new scientific methods in the 1940s–50s was the hoax uncovered: the bones were a jumbled mix, jaw and skull from different (and much later) species, and artifacts were faked.
  • The scam endures as a warning about scientific bias, groupthink, and the dangers of letting personal or national ambitions blind reason.

  "40 years is like a long time to be taken in by a fraud. When all the scientists of the world were working on this, I am a little bit embarrassed for them, honestly." — Adam Conover [53:01]

  • Discussion broadens into how every era has its own “accepted truths” that may one day be revealed as scams.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• "My fans already have personalities, very fine personalities, but their personalities are enhanced and improved by watching the show." — Adam Conover [25:52]

• "A lot of history is revised by, you know, whoever was the most evil and murdered everybody." — Laci Mosley [53:41]

• "A lot of people do it. They like to make their own conjectures... but I don't participate in that, you know, so they would get me with this. I would be like, yeah, it looked like a old brain to me... Looks good." — Laci Mosley [49:17]

Scammer of the Week

Timestamps: 55:25–59:38

• Spotlight: Actress Q’orianka Kilcher, charged with two counts of worker’s comp fraud for allegedly collecting disability payments while working on TV (“Yellowstone”).
• Both Laci and Adam sympathize and highlight the disparity in public outrage over small-scale scams versus celebrity or corporate fraud.

“We do not need to put this beautiful woman in jail. Like that is very ghetto.” — Laci Mosley [58:43]

Epilogue & Takeaways

• Awareness and Skepticism:
  Fraud persists where there’s desperation, bias, and lack of oversight. The story of the Piltdown Man is a reminder to stay curious, skeptical, and aware of our own biases — whether it’s at work, in history, or reading the headlines.
• Workplace Realities:
  Sometimes, the real scam is the system itself. Demand what you deserve, and don’t let “internalized capitalism” make you complicit in your own exploitation.
• Comedy as Critique:
  Laci and Adam use humor to deflate pomposity and expose frauds — whether historical or current — while encouraging compassion for those caught up in scams.

Where to Find More

• Adam Conover:
  Listen to the Factually podcast for in-depth interviews with experts on a huge variety of topics.

  “You will learn, you will laugh. It’s a great time.” — Adam Conover [59:54]

• Laci Mosley:
  @DivaLaci on all social platforms, Scam Goddess podcast for weekly fraud-filled fun.
  Submit your own scam stories to scamgoddesspod@gmail.com.

⚡️ Notable Moments & Timestamps

• Adam’s LA scam story: [02:36–06:58]
• Listener scam & workplace hustle discussion: [10:33–20:41]
• Piltdown Man hoax story start: [23:42]
• The 'cricket bat' bone absurdity: [41:15]
• Scientific community finally exposed: [47:55–53:41]
• Scammer of the Week segment: [55:25–59:38]

Closing Tone

Funny, fast-paced, irreverent, and thoughtful — combining real history, laughter, and hard truths about scams, systems, and our own willingness to believe.

"Congregation, stay scheming!" — Laci Mosley