The Hollywood Hoodwinker w/ Lauren Lapkus (Fraud Friday)

Summary

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Scam Goddess: "The Hollywood Hoodwinker" w/ Lauren Lapkus (Fraud Friday)

Air Date: March 6, 2026
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Lauren Lapkus

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Episode Overview

This uproarious episode of "Scam Goddess" (Fraud Friday edition) sees host Laci Mosley joined by actor/comedian Lauren Lapkus. Together, they dig into the world of entertainment industry scams—sharing personal scam stories, exploring the anatomy of a Hollywood con, bracing their listeners against current scam threats, and crowning the “Scammer of the Week.” The central story: a mysterious woman dubbed the “Hollywood Hoodwinker” who impersonates industry power-players to trick hundreds of aspiring creatives into flying to Indonesia and handing over thousands of dollars.

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Key Sections and Highlights

1. Personal Scam Stories & Relationship to Fraud

[02:14 – 08:23]

• Lauren Lapkus recalls falling for a tourist street scam in Italy as a teenager:
  "We fully fell for one... This man had a boombox... little paper Mickey and Minnie characters... dancing to the music... we bought them... got home and realized it was just yarn and paper. He had a string he was pulling."
  — Lauren Lapkus, [03:25]

• Origin friendship story: Laci and Lauren bonded while both got swept into an indie film project that unraveled as a scam:

  • The film was pitched as a legit, creative endeavor, but involved script theft, faked production credentials, and a ‘luxury’ island shoot that quickly became suspicious.
  • “Be wary of islands. This was after Fyre Fest. We really should have questioned going to an island at all.” — Laci Mosley, [06:39]

• Key insight: Even smart, experienced people—especially when work is slow or a deal feels serendipitous—can fall prey to scams. Timing and the “despo meter” (level of desperation) matter.

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2. Scams in the Everyday: Unlicensed Taxis, Survival Tactics

[09:05 – 12:32]

• Lauren’s story about accidentally taking a sketchy, illegal cab in NYC, being terrified throughout the ride, overcharged for her own survival, and arriving home in tears.
• Laci shares safety tips for women in transit and reflects on real-life threat management.
  • “That’s sad that that’s a requirement... what do I have in my bag of ‘please don’t murder me today’?” — Laci Mosley, [11:44]
• Both lament how common and normalized these “micro-scams” and dangers are.

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3. What's Hot in Fraud: Student Loan Relief Scams

[17:16 – 22:13]

• Laci warns listeners about companies promising quick fixes for student debt, but instead scamming desperate borrowers (sometimes for tens of thousands).

  • “Millennials are already in so much debt. You’re just gonna...” — Laci Mosley, [19:00]

• Lauren and Laci reflect on their own loan/debt avoidance strategies, and the prevalence of mailers and phone calls preying on the hopeful and anxious.

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4. Historic Hoodwinks: The Hollywood Hoodwinker Con

[23:10 – 39:00]

The Scam’s Anatomy:

• For more than two years, an unknown woman has been impersonating Hollywood execs, offering crew, artists, and freelancers “dream jobs” on films supposedly shooting in Indonesia.
• Once marks arrive, they’re pressed to advance cash for travel, accommodations, or fees—collected in small, psychologically manageable increments—never to see them or the job again.
• Key players impersonated include Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy, and others; voice mimicry is so skilled that some victims express admiration.

Techniques Used:

• Voice impersonation (often with subtle regional detail, e.g. “a mix of New York and Midwestern, with a slight lisp” — [48:46])
• Fake websites and GoDaddy domains add to legitimacy
• Email communications reference real industry figures, inside details, and knowledge to build trust
• “Reimbursement” always promised, never delivered

Notable Quotes:

• “I feel like that's a talented scammer...” — Lauren Lapkus, [24:15]
• “She has this way about her convincing people... I could see that.” — Laci Mosley, [36:30]
• “If anybody tells me they’re gonna reimburse me for my travel, I'm like, 'I'm not going. Y’all better preimburse me.'" — Laci Mosley, [25:20]
• "I feel like you are a scammer." — Lauren Lapkus, [26:35]

Comic Paranoia:

• Lauren and Laci speculate (jokingly) that YouTube accent star Amy Walker might secretly be the con artist. “If you have incredible skills like that, we can’t not admire...” — Laci Mosley, [50:22]

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5. Scams’ Psychology: Why They Work & How to Stay Safe

[41:43 – 47:01, also throughout]

• The scammers’ inside knowledge and routine industry chaos make fact-checking tricky.
• Victims are often isolated or less-connected crew (stylists, photographers) rather than stars, increasing their vulnerability and making spread of warnings difficult.
• Laci points out the importance of cross-checking jobs, involving agents, and trusting your gut—though both relate that agents and lawyers sometimes also get conned.

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6. Scammer of the Week: $2 Million Cayman Dive Instructor Sting

[50:23 – 59:20]

• A Georgetown woman conned a dive instructor out of $2 million by promising to secure his Cayman Islands work status and never delivered—eventually leading him to financial ruin.
• The host and guest express both bemusement and pity:
  "At what point do you go, I don't need to be a scuba instructor THAT bad?" — Lauren Lapkus, [56:42]
• Laci’s mom’s wisdom: “Never lend out more money than you’re willing to never see again.” — Laci Mosley, [52:15]
• Discussion on sociopathy:
  “You have to not give a shit... their lives are really carefree because they don't care.” — Lauren Lapkus, [58:16]

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7. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Caring is the cause of strokes. You heard it here first—scammers live a long time.” — Laci Mosley, [14:30]
• “If you’re just one hairstylist, who are you gonna tell?” — Laci Mosley, [31:03]
• “We just want to know... how it’s going, what your next plans are... we won’t try to track you.” — Lauren Lapkus, about the scammer, [46:34]

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8. Practical Takeaways & Warnings

Scam Checks:

• For industry work: Check web domains, insist on prepaid travel (“preimbursing”), make sure agents/vetted contacts are involved.
• For debt consolidation or opportunity pitches: Verify through existing loan agents, don’t accept “reimbursement” promises from unknown contacts.

General Scam Psychology:

• Anyone is susceptible, especially when tired, hopeful, or desperate.
• Scammers thrive on exploiting urgency, insider lingo, and a veneer of legitimacy.

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9. Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:14] – Lauren’s Italy street scam story
• [04:50] – [08:23] – Indie film scam that brought Laci & Lauren together
• [09:05] – [12:32] – Taxi scam & women’s survival tactics
• [17:16] – “What’s Hot in Fraud” – Student loan scams rundown
• [23:10] – [39:00] – “Historic Hoodwinks:” The Hollywood Hoodwinker con breakdown
• [46:21] – [47:25] – On the scammer’s impressive voice skills and industry knowledge
• [50:23] – [59:20] – “Scammer of the Week:” $2M dive instructor victim

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10. Final Notes & Plugs

• Lauren plugs her podcasts: Raised by TV, Wild Horses, With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus
• Laci encourages listeners to send in their scam stories, find her on Instagram (@divalacy), and even on Venmo.

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The Scam Goddess Mantra

“Stay scheming!” — Laci Mosley

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This recap covers the main content; advertisements, brief plugs, and outros were omitted for clarity.

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Transcript

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[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

What's poppin Congregation?

It's ya girl.

Lacey Mosley AKA Scam Goddess. Welcome to an episode of Fraud Fridays where we release older episodes from the Scam Goddess Balt. That's right. Fraud Fridays is where we bring back your favorite episodes from behind the Paywall. Enjoy this episode from behind the Paywall and as always, stay scheming.

Scams cos Robbery and frauds Scams ca Robbery and fraud. Scam Goddess. That's the thing about scams. Sometimes they work.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You know.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You just gotta keep sinking your money into every single one. That's true. Yeah, I missed out on the bitcoin Scam. I'm gonna come with my own coin. No, what we said. We gonna call this coin, Cody. Cybercoin. That sounds like it already existed.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

The cyber coin.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Intercoin. Like Internet and then coin.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

A web coin.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Web coin. I like web coin. All right, guys, Lauren and I are coming out with web coin.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Web bucks.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Web bucks. Web bucks. Definitely sounds fake.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

There's an X at the end here.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

B, U, C, X. Web bucks. Oh, God. If you guys buy web bucks, y' all are really fools. What's up, congregation? It's your girl, Lacy Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. And I'm here with an amazing guest. Guys, I'm so excited to have her on the show. She's super, super talented. She's a writer, She's a director. She's an actress. She's a comedian. You know her. You love her. Ms. Lauren Latken. Hi.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I'm so excited to be here.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm so happy you're here.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So wait, Lauren, what is your relationship with scams?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, so I was thinking about this as I knew I was coming here, and I was like, there's one scam that pops out of my head. It's very stupid and small, but I was like. That was the first thing I thought of, which is my family went to Italy when I was in high school on, like, a family trip.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Nice.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And we. There are all these people on the street, like, trying to trick tourists with shit all the time. Oh, yeah. Like, selling you stupid shit that nobody wants and, you know, whatever. We fully fell for one. There was one where it was like, this man had a boombox set up, and it's so stupid. He had these little, like, paper, like, imitate you, like, knockoff, like, Mickey and Minnie characters that were made of paper with, like, yarn legs and, like, little feet, and they were dancing to the music, like. Like one of those, like, 80s flowers thing, you know? I mean, like, where it's like just kind of like the beat is making it move. And we love them, so we bought them.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You thought this was gonna work at home? Yes. And then we got home and realized

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

they were just yarn and paper. It was like, there's. He had a string that he was pulling. And we eventually, like, saw more people doing it around town after we bought them or, like, looked and saw the string this time, and we're like, we're so stupid.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He got you there. Wait, can I ask where. Do you remember where you encountered him?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Just on the street. Like, it was just like, he Was just, you know, was it near your

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

hotel or where you were eating?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I don't know. But I'm sure it was in a very touristy destination.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Okay.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Mainly just super touristy areas, cuz.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He got y'. All.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. Oh yeah. We were fully. We were fully scammed. It was very stupid. But then the bigger scam that I've recently been a part of is where I met you.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like how we met, which is kind of amazing.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Cuz our origin story as friends is a scam. Scam.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh my gosh. It's really like sent us into like now we're like sister wives.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know. We've been through hell and back. We. So just to be as vague as.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So vague.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We signed on to do like an indie movie. A low budget indie movie.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes, we did. And with a great script. It was really fun, super funny.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Everything seemed on the up and up.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That was the hook.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. And it's how we all were. Were taken by this because we truly, like. There was so much good information surrounding this. It felt like everything was like written. The script was written well. The like pitch about the script was written well, like where it was like, oh, it's like these people and so. And so is involved and we have this set up and. And these people have said yes and blah, blah, blah. And we got there and was not.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

We were on an island.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We were on an island. First of all, we had to take

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

two planes to get to where we went.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I had to take a boat. Did you have to take the boat?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

We did take a boat. We flew out.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I was gonna say because I felt like I was mistreated because.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No, we took a ferry in. No, we. You were saying you were mistreated because you took the ferry. Get out of here.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I was like, you got the plane. Okay.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Only one person got a plane and

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

that was a celebrity. Yes. So that's completely unfair.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That was a whole thing too. It was a hierarchy. Okay, so let me try to like break this down in the simplest terms. We basically thought we were gonna shoot a movie. Scams timing is really important. So this was like a low budget movie with a really great script. And the reason that we all were free is because, like it's feature season, it's the summer. So it's not really like for actors, like, it's a little bit of a slower time. Like August is a slower time. Like the summer in general. Like there's movies, you go shoot a movie, you come back, whatever. And then there comes episodic and then there comes Pilot season. So we're like, kind of in a, you know, like a chill place where most people are like, I'll take a little random.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Sounded like a vacation.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, it was on an island. It was almost like a retreat sort of experience is how it was kind of pitched. Like, it's this sort of luxury cabin situation. And it sounded really appealing to all of us.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Be wary of islands. This was after Fyre Fest. We really should have questioned going to an island at all.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yes. An island you've never heard of. It's like, what are you doing?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Anyone asks you to go to an island, y', all, that's step number one. You need to start Googling.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Start Googling and also, like, talk to

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

your friends, which is what we should have done.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We should have done that.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But, yeah. So basically, this person who created this movie, Perfect scammer, they stole. So they wrote a script with someone else, and then they decided to make the script without the person that they wrote it with, which is illegal.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And remove their name from the script.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And remove their name from the script.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Steal the script. And then their family was, like, super rich, which, like, as a scammer, you need resources.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So this was the perfect setup.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Use what you have.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

This person had resources. Okay. So we get to this island and we start shooting, and things are just a little off.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But the person had gotten, like, a huge recommendation from a huge production company, or so we thought.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. And we later found out that that just wasn't true and that the person had said that this. This, you know, impressive production company was on board for it. We later discovered that they. The. The creator of the film had actually, like, just won a contest through that

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

company and was, like, cropping. Listen, with the days of Photoshop and everybody's got imovie on their phone.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know so many things were cropped and edited. I mean, I'm truly, like, I'm impressed to the level of, like, wow, you went all the way to every little thing we could possibly Google and made it look a certain way.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

If you get on Adobe Photoshop for a scam, listen, I'm proud of. Of you. I'm proud of you.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

But that, I think, was the. That was the craziest scam I've ever been a part of because I. I felt so swindled and so, like, I had no clue what was happening in my own life. Like, I went. I, like, took a step back, and I was like, how did this happen to me? Like, I feel like I should be smarter than this existential crisis.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, I was like, I should have a better, like, red flag thing, like, you know, coming up for me, where I'm like, oh, this seems bad. Like, I just didn't listen to any. Any of my feelings.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And that's like, what's a part of scams. Like, people think somet if you're in a scam that you're stupid or you're gullible, But a lot of times it's actually about what we call our despo meter. How desperate are you?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, my God.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. And if you're not that we were desperate, but if you were, like, willing to buy into something.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Sounds fun, right? No. Yeah. Actually, you're reminding me of another thing that happened to me when I was. I was like, 22 and I had just moved to New York and I had gone home to visit my family, and I came back through the airport. And you know how they have, like, those signs where it's like, never take a ride from someone? Yeah. I didn't see that or didn't know that was a.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Because I didn't see the sign. I was willing to take a ride from anywhere. Truly.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It was. It was the kind of thing where every second of it was terrifying. And I was going, don't do this, don't do this. And I kept doing everything that I was telling myself not to do. And this man comes up to me and he's like, taxi. And I was like, yeah. And then he just grabbed my suitcase and started walking ahead of me. And so I was like, oh. So I started following him. We passed. I mean, Truly, I'm like, I was so dumb and young and stupid.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, it was just like, wow, I can't rob me. I rob you now.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I was like, I'm going with you, Sarah. Like, it was Truly. I started following him. And then we walked past the taxi line where I was going. I should get Lauren.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

This is taken.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. Yeah. It could have easily ended really horribly.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

This is taken. Do you have a father who will neck chop for you until he died?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

He might. He might. It hasn't come to that, but I, like, follow this guy. We pass the taxi line. I get into his suv.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, okay.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And as he's putting my suitcase and I'm going, I should just take it and then say no. And then just. And I'm like, thinking all of this. I get in. I only had a razor phone because it was back then. And, like, I had no way to. Like, that's hot. Yeah. I mean, it was really cool. I had a pink. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I couldn't get a razor. I had one of the saddest flip flops. It looked like I sold drugs. I wanted a razor so bad.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It was love. Yeah. My dad, he did pay $200 for my hot pink razor. And I thank him every day. And just the whole ride home I was terrified. And I was trying to go on my maps on my razor, which was like going to like a website, like, to like MapQuest. And I didn't know where I was or what was happening. And the whole time and he starting to say stuff to me that was very scary to me. Like, he was like, challenging me and, like, wanting to, like, kind of make me say things that would offend him. It was like turning into this negative vibe where I was like, I feel like I shouldn't talk because I'm afraid I'm going to say the wrong thing. And eventually he did drop me in my house, but then he charged me, like way more than a cab, whatever charge. And I did have the cash, so I just gave it to him.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And then I. Yeah, that's paying for your life.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. I just ran into my apartment and cried. It was scary.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, look, I decided not to murder you. Yeah. And they're like, thank you so much, sir. How much money would you like?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, I was picturing like jumping out of the. The car and like, just be like, I don't need my bag. Like, have you ever been in a situation like that where you're like, trying like. Cause now we have Uber and stuff? And I feel like there are so many situations where you're in an Uber as a woman, where it's just like, this feels probably bad.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And that's when I. Yeah, the survival stills, they totally kick in. I'm trying to do whatever to make this man not try to murder me.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Which is sad that that's a requirement. It's like, what do I have in my bag of. Please don't murder me today.

Oh, my God.

I got some cash and then I got a photo of my family that loves. What can I tell this.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Do you carry like, protective things? Like, you know, like those like keychains that have like, like eye gougers and shit? Like, I don't have anything like that. I feel like I should.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I see those, but those are too direct combat for me. Like, I'm never gonna get close enough to an assailant to jab they eyes.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I have pepper spray, though, and I have Practice where you. You look away, you spray. You look away, you spray. Oh, good. Yeah. Cause if you look at them while you spray it as a downwind, next thing you know, you in the trunk. You know what I mean? And if I was in the trunk because I pepper sprayed myself, I'd just be like, well, damn, I deserve this.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's true. At that point, it's your fault. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, man. I'm glad that you made it out with your life.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Me too. Yeah. Yeah. Both situations, actually.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We had to escape that island on a little, tiny, little plane where I was like, I actually felt nervous about flying, and I usually don't, but I've never been on a plane that small. I was like, this feels.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I was having, like, Aaliyah flashbacks anytime I get on the spot.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, I know.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It's like.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And we're all actors. It's like, oh, this is a huge. Like, we'd all die at once, right? It could be a story.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

God, it wouldn't even run that long. Fucking Trump, man. We would have had murals and fucking candlelit shits and all types of stuff if Trump wasn't president. Nowadays you can't even be a sad story for that long.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know, I know. It all moves way too fast.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

God damn. Our candlelight visual be blown out and over after two hours. I'm like, move over, bitch. We got new people to talk about. Trump taught all the black people to

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

go back to Africa.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He's providing votes. Oh, God. We can't talk about. You did. But just know what?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I hate him more than anyone ever.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, God. I don't even mention him. It's sad that usually a president is a wealth of jokes, but we don't really get much out of him. Cause everyone's just so fucking sad.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know, I know. I would just like him to peacefully pass naturally.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, man. He's gonna live forever. When you evil, you be living a long time. That's true. I'm gonna switch over to being evil when I'm, like, 45. I'm gonna switch over to being evil because you be living. My aunt Charlene has outlived all of my grandparents. She is evil as fuck. I used to have to clean her house when I was a kid because she was dirty. She never gonna hear this. She don't understand po. But, like, she was evil as fuck. I remember her telling me something about putting a fork in an electrical socket.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, just like, telling you to do it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No, you know what it was? She was doing it. She was trying to fix an electrical socket with a fork. And I was like, aunt Charlene, like, that's a bad idea. You can get electric. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

But she survived it because she evil.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh my gosh. She's so evil.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, wow.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But I'm going to get like her because nice people be dying. Like when you be worrying about people and stressing and caring about people, that's when your blood pressure go up.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That is true. Okay, let's all care less.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes, caring is the cause of strokes. You heard it here first. Cameras live a long time. Scams.

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[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

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Oh, Laura, I have to talk to you about what's hot and fraud. Okay, so this is the second of the show where we really try to protect our listeners from scams that are current and happening. Because if it's not me calling, then I don't want you guys to participate. Okay, but if I try to scam you, please know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, yeah, go along with it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It's legitimate. Okay. But what's hiding fried this week is student loan debt relief.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, okay.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Which. So companies are luring people with false promises to pay down student loans with lower monthly payments and interest.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's a good scam.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes, it is an excellent scam because millennials have so much student loan debt that we're like, what do you want to. You want to consolidate? Y' all gonna do a bundle?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay. And it's such a topic right now, like how people have been so fucked by. By student loans.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So these companies, like, this is the perfect scam. Cause there's a need, there's a want, there's a desperation. The timing's perfect.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Wait, what was that term that you used? The despo.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, the despo meter. How desperate are you? Okay, and on a scale of desperate for student loans, everybody's pretty high. Everybody's looking at an 8 or 9. You know, we'll try some things. So basically this one woman, Lisa D. Says I was one of these people that fell for this. Four years later, the company I went through is under investigation. I recently called my student loan provider and spoke to them about my sit. Although they can't do anything, I did find out that this company got me for $17,000. Instead of paying my loans down, I now have more debt. Be careful. People I didn't know better at the time.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, my God. Wait, so are they just like, your loan is still with the original company that it's with, and then they're just like, we'll help you. And they're like, just give us $17,000. We'll pay it off. And then they're actually just keeping the money?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That is so sad.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I know. That's a scam that I just can't get behind because millennials are already in so much debt. You're just gonn.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No, it's really awful. I mean, I still have friends who are paying off their student loans, like, and they have barely cracked into them because, like, the interest is so high that over the years, it just keeps it, like, stays level.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I was doing that scam where when they called me because I definitely have student loans numbered in my phone, so I know when they call, I had the number say, yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Did I call from the same number every time? Yeah, I had.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Well, depending on what your loan is. But I had a small loan for books and for housing. Cause I had free tuition, which was so dumb, I could have just got a job. And my parents are like, don't get a job. I'm like, well, hello. These loans. They're like, you on tv. I'm like, but you said you was gonna pay for these. I don't care. Come pay for these. I know I sound super spoiled, but.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No, I know what you mean.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, but so I used to do that thing where you would just defer it. Like, they would call me and I'd be like, hey, guys, I'm an actor. I have zero money for y'. All. And they'd be like, okay, well, as long as you are not making anything. Like, they laughed once. They were like, okay, girl, we get it. You don't got no. And so as long as I didn't have any money. But then as soon as I started making money, ooh, they called real quick. It's on auto. Auto debit now. Every month, for sure. Yeah, they're getting theirs.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I had a friend who got all, like. She did her. Her tuition on student loans and then also was, like, fully shopping on credit cards all through college. So it, like, was a student loan. Like, her. Her debt has. Was so huge from college because she was, like, paying for everything on credit cards and then just had all of that debt, too. It'll pay off for, like, years to come.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I do not recommend it. Debt is a real stifling thing also. It's stifling if you have debt, I'm not gonna marry you.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, it's. I mean.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Cause we marry with debt. Then you already married.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know, but I've done it twice. I've been married twice. I think I'll just keep getting married forever.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Listen, I always talk about my first marriage and how I want it to be. And then my second marriage and my third. You know what I mean?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, look, it's good to be practical with that. Like you might have a first one that doesn't end up being the one.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But I'm hoping that mine are where my spouse dies. That way I don't have to feel bad for.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No. Yeah. That's the best way probably because then it's just like that ended naturally.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's what happened to my grandpa. My Grandma was married three times. He was married once for 20 years.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Then she died. Then he was married for 17 years to my grandma, then she died. Wow. Then he just. He recently passed away. But I was like. And he was married for five more years after that. I was like, yes, Paw paw. You had all these lives.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. It is like a whole new life.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. And it's very respectable. Cause he never got divided.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He said till death and he meant it. That's how I'm gonna be. So whoever wants to be my first

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

husband, just be ready to die.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I guess that sounds really. I mean it'll be of natural. Cause you're gonna die natural.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was meant to be.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But you're not happy. Cause you with me? Yes. But so this one really hurts me. Guys, if anybody's offering to consolidate your loans, please think twice about it or ask questions or Google or contact your actual agencies that you got the loans. See what reputable companies are doing it because you don't want to be in this situation where you just. And I get so much fucking mail about consolidate your day.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Blah, blah, blah. Like they're out there.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh yeah. And I feel like people will I. It's so easy to believe something when you like just receive company's information. It's like this seems real, right? Like it's that. I feel like that scam. I don't know if you've talked about it with like Apple calling you to like your. Your. They need your password, your Apple ID and your password. But it's like Apple would never call you to do that. But there are like older people who don't know that who just suddenly are like talking to them for an hour and like just them all of their information Yep.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And they say. They're like. Because you said you're with Apple, right?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes, this is me, Steve Jobs. I'm calling to verify your Apple id. They're like, okay, Steve, yeah, absolutely. Which. Those scams always particularly interest me because we've talked on the show not about that specific one, but about the fact that, like, a lot of times those scams, those people come with information that they shouldn't be offering up anyway. Like, they're always like, I have a confirmation number from the company. And it's like, if someone's calling you and they need information, they're gonna grill you to, first of all, see if you are who you say you are. Like, it's not gonna be like, hey, I have a confirmation number for you. Do. Do, Sarah. Right.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

They're gonna ask you for the confirmation.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

All right, congregation, it's time for my favorite segment of the show, Historic Hoodwings, guys. So I'm gonna regale Lauren with a story that I don't think she's heard before about a very popular scammer. And we'll just see what you think.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, great.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Okay, guys. So for more than a year, some of the most powerful women in entertainment, including Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy, Stacy Snyder, and

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Shade.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Whoa. And somebody who directed Homeland, have been impersonated by a cunning thief who targets insiders with promises of work and then bilks them out of thousands of dollars. For the past two and a half years, hundreds of unwitting victims around the world have been ensnared by a small but cunning criminal organization that Contours only are beginning to understand. So basically, we don't even know how many people these people have scammed. We don't have a name of who this person is, but we know that this is someone who mastered replicating other people's voices on the phone. Whoa.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So it's like, that's cool, actually. Right.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I feel like that's a talented scammer.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Right. I feel like this is someone whose dream was deferred. Like, they had perfect pitch. They can probably sing, because if you can do voices, chances are you can sing a little bit.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So I kind of feel like this person, you know, I'm with it. I'm with it. So the people being impersonated were like the who's who of Hollywood, like, everyone I just described, and that one director from Homeland who's not the who's who, because they would not say the person's name.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We're saying, who are they? Who is who?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So how it Works was this imposter uses a combination of deceit, charm, and intimidation to manipulate her marks. It is a woman. The victims travel to Indonesia on a promise of work. And once they're there, they're asked to hand over, like, relatively modest amounts of money at a time. Up to, like, $3,000 in some cases.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

But they travel all the way to Indonesia, like, thinking that there's a job.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, thinking that there's a job. So they think they're, like, on a production crew.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

For the amount of, like, prep that you're doing in your head, for that to be eventually scammed is crazy. Like, you're just. I mean, we actually could. Right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Literally.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

But, like, I'm going to Indonesia. I have a job there. I'm gonna go. And then you get there, and you just get robbed, basically.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And you gotta reimburse for. They're gonna. Oh, we'll reimburse you for your flight. That's number one. If anybody tells me they're gonna reimburse me for my travel, I'm like, I'm not going. Y' all better. Y' all better preimburse me for the travel. You better buy the flight. I won't be there. I will not.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Cause I like pre embers.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It's like, what the hell am I supposed to do? If I fly there, you don't reimburse me. I already did the flight. I can't be like, hey, guys, I need my money back. They're like, but we took you here. Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, we don't care.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

What airline is going to give you your money back. Nobody. Airlines hate everybody now anyway.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You have to pay to cancel a flight. That's a scam.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It truly is. And you buy a flight and they're like, okay, we have your money and we're going to keep that. But if you would like to cancel it or have more, like, we also need you to pay for this.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, it makes more sense to not show up for the flight than it

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

does to cancel it. Yeah. If you don't show up for a flight and then you show up within two hours of when the flight was supposed to take off, you can reschedule it.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, I didn't know that. Yes.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Okay, that's a good one. So it's like, if you miss the flight, like, don't sit at home, like, go to the airport, you know, panic, Throw a little, you know, water on your brow and make it work. Don't tell them you're in an accident. They don't know. So many accidents happen every Day don't mean that. You gotta be extreme.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, exactly. I left my keys in the door. That was an accident. I was in an accident. You know what I mean? Fix your thinking. Change your mind.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I feel like you are a scammer. I am.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I fully am. I don't deny it one bit.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You just suggested we throw water on our brow to look like we're panicking.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It helps.

Look, people like a good story, you know? So basically, once they would fly to Indonesia, which. Why, God. A designated Indonesian money man arrives on a moped to collect the funds.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, God.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Needless to say, the promised reimbursement never arrives. Don't trust nobody on a moped.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

They can get away so fast, you don't even have to see their face necessarily. They could have a helmet on, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

A helmet. It's the only kind of vehicle where we don't have to see your face. And then you can get through traffic and red lights and shit. Like, you're not in a vehicle. And also, if a man arrives on a moped to take your money, like, what?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Why is there a rush? First of all, why do you want my money so bad that you have to, like, and then speed off with it? I'm very stressed by that. Why are you meeting me right here to get it immediately?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, from the airport? Like, I can't even get to my hotel. I can't check in.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Can I relax for a second before I get robbed?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Can I get cucumber water? Can I get some holiday and cucumber water before I am robbed expeditiously by this man on a moped? Also, getting robbed by somebody on a moped is just embarrassing. It is. So needless to say, the reimbursements never arrived. Hundreds and thousands of dollars have been collectively stolen this way. So at the center of this organization is the impersonator. It's a woman. Sophisticated research skill with accents and deft psychological and emotional manipulation have earned her the begudging respect of her victims and trackers.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, yeah. Afterwards, you're like, I respect her.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, she. She cons. You're like, I mean, how could I not fall for that? That's how I want to be scammed. I don't wanna be scammed by somebody where it's like all the signs were there.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, I would like to be like, oh, no. She was talented. Yeah, right? So K2 Investigators. So it's like an international investigation, they believe is the talent of the operation. While relatively small, they think that it's operating in three continents, including the U.S. asia, and Europe. The victims come from all over and represent a wide swath of creative industries. Hairstylists, stuntmen, military advisors, photographers, cinematographers. So basically she's saying, hey, it's me, Kelly. I'm British. As you know, we're doing a project over here in Indonesia, and we would really love if you will come. We'll reimburse you for your travel.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I personally want to do it. I like how you.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Right.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I mean, also, if you're going to, like, lower on the food chain of, like, people working in the business where you're like, okay, I'm gonna scam the hairdresser as opposed to the director of a film or something, like. And then they're like, oh, it's a job. It's just like, jobs come out of nowhere through random people that, you know, like, it all just can happen that way where someone calls you and you get a job like that.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So, like, yeah, that's harder.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It's harder to fact check.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's the weird thing about Hollywood is, like, sometimes you'll get an email and you're like, this sounds wrong. And then you'll go, and it's real. I got an wants to do 20 minutes of improv for $5,000. And I was like, there's no way.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

This is.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No. I, like, emailed them. Like, I had them send me over their website all their information, all this stuff. I only gave them information that was like, not my personal information. And then the day came and I was like, okay, so what's the worst? I get killed if I go, or

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

you get no money or like, whatever. Like, they never send you a check. And did it work out?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, my God. They gave me the check there.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Wow.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It was like 15 minutes and they gave me a check. And I was like, cleared. Check cleared. And I was like, so that's the reason why in Hollywood, it's like, you fall for it. Is going to be adept to these scams. I'm like, okay, Indonesia.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yes.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And then I think Indonesia is a. Is like, a great place because what do you know about Indonesia?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I don't know much. It's super vague. I feel like I'd be like, sounds really cool. I've never thought about going there.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So if the moped man pulls up, you're giving him your cash?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I probably would. I mean, I feel like. I mean, I can't imagine fighting back in that moment.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm like, yeah. He said, we got to give him the cash.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Are you supposed to do they tell you to show up with cash? Like, what do these people have so much, much money on them?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I think because they talk about reimbursement and all that stuff, that maybe they have it on them. I don't know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Or maybe they're, like, told, like, it's easier to. To buy things with cash there. So just bring cash for all the stuff you're going to do while you're there. Right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, that might be what it is. Like, just bring cash. And Indonesia, the transfer is not the highest. So they're doing this to so many people. And I. I guess it's smart because, like you were saying, they're not going higher up to where people could actually spread the information. If you're just one hairstyle stylist, like, who are you gonna tell? Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And it just sounds. It sounds true. Like what? Yeah, there's no reason to not believe it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And so they have a transcription of her.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, wow.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Doing this. So basically they don't know who it is. No, they don't.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's so crazy.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So someone named Scott Johnson started tracking this woman because he was really impressed by her different vocal skill sets. Maybe wants to be here.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

But I love how everyone talking about her is just really impressed by her.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No one is like, let's arrest her. They're like, we just think she's an amazing act.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

She wants to really count it. I don't know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We just want to know more.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

We want to make her life a movie that actually isn't a scam. Like, the movies that she's saying are scams. Yeah, it's all for research. So they're saying nothing is 100%, but they're very, very sure that this one person is the guise of multiple people. And we're talking more voices, more Personas, more personalities, more accents than probably what they've calculated out of their little list. And the director from Homeland.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So have, like, people come out of the woodwork saying, like, this happened to me, or, like, how are they figuring out, figuring this out?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So what's happened, and that's why K2 got involved and it became international, is because different continents. Well, not different continents, but people on different continents were speaking up about the similar kind of scam. So they aren't sure, still 100% if it is the same woman, but they're pretty sure because they have, like, voice analysis and people who are, like, running the, like, checking her because they have recordings now of her voice. So they're checking. So that's like, the hot thing right now is like, is it one person? Is it multiple people?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It's like, basically. And it's like secretly 10 people, baby. Or it's just one. Or it's just one great guy. But everyone's obsessed, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And so they said this is someone who's exceptionally skilled with voice work, impersonation, accents, and a particular kind of psychology. They've talked about that a bunch. So they get people to go along with these job offers that just seem too good to be true. But she has this way about her that is convincing people. And I could. I could see that. Yeah, I could see that she was using burner phones to cover her tail tracks. So all these numbers are different. You can't call back, which is crazy. You get to Indonesia for your job, and you call like, hello, Hello, I'm here for hello.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know that would. That. That alone would be scary. Like, you arrive somewhere and then there's just, like, no real. Like, nothing's really happening. Then you get all your money taken from you. You're totally like, I don't know. That would be like a really. That would scare me from jobs in the future.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm. I'm gonna give her a name. Sharon. So it's Sharon.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Her name is Sharon.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So you get to Indonesia and you're like, hey, hey, Sharon, we gave the moped man our money. Hello. Hello, hello. He sped off, and now you're just cashless in a foreign country with no job and probably no hotel either.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So which. Oh, gosh, girl. So they would use fake burner phones, and they would also use GoDaddy accounts with fake email addresses. Wow.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, so they made, like, what, like fake websites or something?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. So they were constructing fake websites to be like, oh, here, Google us. Like, this is legit. Our production company.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I feel like so often when, like, something like this happens, it's almost like a way to teach people how to scam people. Because I'm like, oh, I wouldn't have thought of that. Okay, so there's that. I could do that if I was gonna do a scam. Like, you have a bunch of websites with all your different emails attached.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Patrick told us GoDaddy was a good company, and now I believe her.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It's always the strange. That was, like, one of the strangest, like, mass shots.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, why? Heard I don't understand.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

She races cars. And this is website. Y' all make websites?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, I get it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

NASCAR people need website. Okay, okay, okay. You know what? It didn't matter. I remembered that's all Goddy wanted.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's true.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's probably why they did. They were like, let's just do something random.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, it works.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And it worked. Cause we're like, why are they associated? But now my brain is questioning which. Advertisement it's one of the only things

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know about Danica Patrick is that she likes Godaddy.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Right. Literally. And she races cars, so good job, Godaddy. But yeah, so they were doing, like, fake GoDaddy accounts and things like that to just try to get people involved, and I thought that was great. So once they get to Indonesia and the moped man and leaves, then a local driver picks them up at the airport, sometimes accompanied by an interpreter. So they do get picked up.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes. And then both ask. Both ask for thousands of dollars upfront to be used for the victim's accommodation, plus an additional fee for their respective services.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So, okay, so someone shows up, and they also bring a translator. And both of those people are like, you have to give us money.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's so intimidating. Like, you're in a car with people, and suddenly they're like, just give us thousands of dollars.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, you got in the car. Yeah. Now you already in the car, so give us the money.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I mean, that was.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Doors are probably locked from the inside. Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

My pre Uber. Experience. Yeah, experience.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He was like, I'm giving you your life.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. You're in a car, you got a ride home.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So it's $120 however much I say, or else.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So they get in the car. Now, what I understand is the moped man already came for the cash, so.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. How did they have any money left? Maybe he only took a certain amount or.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I truly don't know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

They must be told, like, bring a certain amount of money with them, maybe. And then, like, it's just getting split

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

all over the place.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It doesn't feel as crazy, though, if, like, if you give the moped. If you're told to bring, like, $5,000 in cash and you give the moped man like, 2,000, you're like, okay, well, that's fine. Got that deal done. And then you get in the car and, like, we want the 3000. You're like, oh. So they just kind of divide it so that you go along with it a little longer.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, maybe because it's like, smaller amounts.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Because, like, 5,000 would sound so insane to, like, give that first guy. But then it's like, if you're giving him a little bit and then. A little bit.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, yeah. And that's what they're doing. It's like a very small con because this is where the con actually ends. So it's like you're in the car with the driver and the interpreter, and they're like, give us this money for the accommodation and also give us this money for the interpreter. Which I'm like, I ain't asked for no return. I got Google Translate. Hold on, let me put in. Have you seen 90 Day Fiance?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

These people have full relationships just through Google Translate. It literally just talks like a robot. And that's how they are with their lover.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Exactly. So help. Nobody asked for your interpreter. Okay. I would get on Google Translate and be, what the hell? In Indonesian, give me my money back. Where am I going? And say, but in Indonesia, just vigorously typing away.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So it's like, I didn't ask for this interpreter. Why I gotta pay this guy? I love people showing up and demanding to be paid that you didn't ask to be there.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, that's really stressful. I feel like I. I mean, I would give them everything. I.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It would work like, I'm so sorry. Yeah. So after they do this, the accomplices disappear. So basically they drop you off at the hotel and then you're like, okay, y' all checking us in or whatever, and they just leave.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

They're gone.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And that's it.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And they do this to all types of people. Wow.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So then you're just in your hotel realizing what just happened to you. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Your hotel that you still have to pay for because the thousands that you paid did not go to the hotel. Right, right. Which I was like, okay, Props to y'.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

All. God, that is.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That would be.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I honestly would feel so stupid by the time I was at the hotel. Like, it's just like, I. You just got robbed every which way.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I think I would too.

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[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

This is a whole new chapter for no more sad sack.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I want both of our sacks to be fun.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You two idiots are perfect for each other.

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[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

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[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So there's one guy who has kind of come back with his whole story. And he was a freelance documentary photographer who's 27 and he worked at conflict zones and several prestigious newspapers and magazine. He shot ad campaigns for corporate clients. Basically, like he's a legit photographer. So he said the first thing that he noticed was the sender's name when he got this email. And it was from Amy Pascal, who's the former chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Pascal, in quotes, wanted to know if he would be interested in traveling to Indonesia to pursue an exciting project. So Indonesia is this girl's jam.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. Like she's like, I know the airports, I know the terminals.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I got all my People there, I

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

got moped men, I got interpreters. Like, I've built a cousin. A thick web of lies in Indonesia. So this is where all her projects are happening. So after the call, he looked at the email again and he noticed the URL, pascalfilms.com didn't exist.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Okay.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Pascal claimed to have been very publicly embarrassed in the 2015 Sony hack. And that was when all her emails came out.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yes. That was so bad.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So what a. What a loop de loop here that

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

it's an interesting person to pick because you're like, okay, this person's kind of been dragged through the mud a little bit. And so it would make sense that maybe they started their own thing and now they're doing something different. They have their own website because it's like now they're not really associated with Sony anymore.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And then like, who do you think is shooting, like, weird projects in Indonesia? Definitely someone who was disgraced by the entire film industry.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Just go somewhere random and start over.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Right. So it's like you're thinking, if you know the industry, like, maybe she's starting over. She got some questions. When you think. I appreciate the amount of thought they put in. Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

They didn't just say it was like Jennifer Lawrence.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, yeah, Jennifer Lawrence were amazing. Making.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I'm making a Movie.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Silver Linings Playbook 3. In Indonesia, there was never a two don't ask questions show up. Shut up. Okay. So, yeah, so he picks somebody who's kind of disgraced and then he basically, the photographer's like, this email doesn't exist. Like this person, maybe, maybe something's fishy or off. But the woman said that the lack of online presence for her new company was because she was laying low because of the 2015 Sony. Sony hack.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's a good excuse.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It was excellent. Perfect. You had to have done some thinking about this.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You're ready for that question.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I too am impressed with this woman. So Pascal was familiar with details of his corporate clients, specifically personality quirks and of whom he'd worked with. Like, you only know these things if you've dealt with these people in very specific ways. So this, this gave her immediate credibility. So what he's saying is, is that when she was on the phone talking about, you know, other network execs, like, she. She's obviously met these people.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And so she knew how to con. So I've always thought that maybe this was like a secretary or someone who had been working in the film industry who realized that she could do this con because that's how like, good scammers start is like, they realize there's a flaw in the system, and then they exploit it. So I'm like, this woman had to have.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No, that worked. So true. Because if you're. Yeah. If you're, like, someone who's like, an assistant or whatever, like, so often they're on every phone call listening. And as, like, someone calling them, you don't necessarily know that, but they're taking notes and, like, making sure that.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That their boss has, like, all the information for when they have to call them back later or whatever. And so they get all the inside scoop of, like, how everything works, who all the people are, what all the names are, like, how people are talked about and, like, how people talk.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Exactly. So that's got to be what it is. Has to be.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, how are you just some random person doing that? And you have. I mean, you would. That would be so impossible to pull off.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You have to be.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It has to be someone from the inside.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It has to be. And maybe she was fired, or maybe she was fired from Sony when they cleared that house. Who knows? Maybe. This is Amy Pascal. I'mma put that in. I'm throwing that in the ring, too. But because, like, I think, like, she was probably her desk, like, damn, these hairstylists just be showing up to sit down. And they paying their own money, right? Stupid. Ooh, they stupid. And then the light bulb went off in her head. She was like, oh, I'm about to start doing this to other people.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I like that theater.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So she explained that he would stay in Indonesia for about a week, shooting images of landscapes, temples, iconic scenery for a storyboard. He would pay in advance for the airfare and the front costs for the driver, the translator and food and other sundries. And she would reimburse him for all these expenses. So before long, he was on a plane to Jakarta.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I mean, I believe it. Like, it's. It's actually a. The job sounds so legitimate, though, to be like, you're gonna go shoot these, like, things for a storyboard. Like, it's, like, not even making it sound like it's something bigger than it is. Like, it's. It's a very small. Yeah, like, it's a simple project. So that's why we can't pay you in advance. Like, it's just kind of a thing we're doing to, like, get the SAG Ultra low.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

But you're gonna get your money.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You'll get paid.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So 6 months and $65,000. Why is it so much? I Don't know that that's too much. The photographer who requested an anemone out of concern for his safety.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Also probably because, like, to protect his dumb

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

65.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's way too much money for the flight. I mean, like, you can't. I can't even think of, like, what would add up to be that much in that trip. Like, that's just an insane luxurious trip that you're taking.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Maybe he was like, put up in a really nice hotel and he thought the company was paying for it. Maybe. You know what? He was probably in that hotel, eating, getting dining in every day.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That might be what it is.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

He was like, bring on the brutes. Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

He's like, it's a work trip. I'm getting paid back.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, I'm getting reimbursed. Honey.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Need to be preimbursed. What have you learned?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Preimbursed. And then I was also, like, you were over there for. Please don't tell me you were over there for a week.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Cuz then what are you, like a king? Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Who spends that much money in one? I don't understand.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You're like a royal family member. Like, what are you, $65,000. The interpreter just keeps coming back.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, she's like, I got a lot to say. Just making him talk to random people.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

People got a lot to say around you. You want to know or not? You don't want to know what they saying about you. They talking about you over there. But you got to pay me first. Then I'm going to tell you.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

$1,000 a word.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, seriously, because that's $65,000 is an insane amount of money to be scammed out of.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

It sounds fun to spend that much in a week. Like, I can't imagine what I would be buying and what I'd be doing, but it sounds like a good time.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, I would love it. I would adore it. So basically, this similar type of scam is what this woman has been running on so many people and they don't have her name.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I can't believe she's still getting away with it. She's probably still conning people right now.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

There's no resolution to this. She actually is still out here in the world conning people. And to that I say, listen, Queen Sharon, if you can hear this, I

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

am proud of you, Sharon. Call in on a burner phone. We will not try to track you.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No, we won't.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Just want to know.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

We don't want you to get caught.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No, we just want to know how it's going, what your next plans are.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. Are you having moved up to CamOps and DP? No, they got a crazy union girl. Don't do that. Okay. Stick with the hairstylist because they are. They work non union for a long time. Shout out to my hair stylist. I'm sorry guys. I don't think I would change, show up and. And not be paid for travel.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I don't know. Yeah, I guess I think I might.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I was like, I mean she knows everyone in the industry.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Look, if I feel like that's where it would start to get fishy. Like if you involve like an agent or something, you'd think they're able to like check this and make sure it's real. But they might not be able to

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

because that happened to us like very large. Who told us that this was a good idea? Idea.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. No one questioned it.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

At all. So yeah, it could happen.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Except for my lawyer who was like, this is why you don't do low budget projects. I was like, get your ass out here. You're just saying that. Cuz who wasn't gonna make that much money? Exactly. You're gonna get $5. That's why you need to be selling your own movies every week. Come on. So. So I can get commission. Yeah. No, but so I think the industry thing is the thing that's most jarring to me is like she's calling people and she's probably like, yeah, I'm working on this project with Ted. You know Ted from Sony? You know the one with the breath. Don'. Throwing it up.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Super casual. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And everybody's like, yeah, we all know Ted got halitosis. Oh, he be eating them Listerine strips all day. We be like, ted, go to the doctor. Damn Ted. And she's like, yeah. So anyway, Ted involved.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So show up with $65,000. It's gonna be a four day trip.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Be prepared to give some to a man on a moped.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, yeah. He will speed away. You will never see him again. And that money does not go anywhere.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So it's not actually for anything that's a part of the trip.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You'll never know where it went.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

There's just moped money that you gotta give up. Don't ask. We reimbursing you, so why do you care?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, it's fine. It'll come back.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Gotta watch.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

She's good. She's good.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

She's excellent. And she's still out here.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I love her.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. Oh. So here's some fun details about this when she was doing the New York or the Pascal accent, which I guess Amy Pascal's accent is a mix of New York and Midwestern.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Wow. That's like, a really nuanced dialect that

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

she's working with, with a slight lisp.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh. Oh, that's hard to balance all those things.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Now I know why they're impressed with,

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

like, have you seen that? Maybe it's that woman. Have you seen that YouTube video of that woman who does all the accents? She just likes. She just says. Actually, she says, hi, my name is Amy. I actually think that's what she says in the video. She says the same sentence over and over, but, like, where she changes where she's from.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Wait, can we find. Oh, my God. Yeah. What if it's her? Oh, my God. Did you. Are we finding that?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I'm not sure if that's what she says, but I feel like it is. It's like, woman does, like, tons of accents. I don't know how you would find

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

it, but I think anybody who can do multiple accents, we have to keep an eye on. Like, the government should just, like, have. Amy.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Amy Walker.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, Amy.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Oh, Amy. Are we figuring out this has 11 million views? I think we might be on to something.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

What if she was hiding in plain sight?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's how you got out, scammer. Yes, hello.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

My name is Amy Walker.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm 25 years old. Regional. That's more. More money. That was a. More money. My name is Amy Walker and I was born in Dr. Ireland. Oh. Oh, my God. This is her.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Hi.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Hang on.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

I'm Amy Walker.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm 25 and I was born in Sydney.

Oh, my God. She should have been arrested immediately as soon as they put her video. If you got this many talents, there's no way in hell you using them for good.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So impressive. Oh, my gosh.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, she's definitely Amy Walker.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I know.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I don't know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Name Amy. What can I say?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Say if you seek Amy tonight. Y' all know that one. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. No, the accents. That's when you have incredible skills like that. Like, we can't not admire.

Oh, yeah.

You as a Scarlet. So now it's time for our last segment, Scammer of the Week, where we honor just one prestigious, amazing charlatan, you know what I mean? Who's just been excelling at chicanery. This week we have a Georgetown woman who conned a dive instructor out of nearly $2 million by pretending the money was for legitimate fees for his Cayman status application.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

2 million 2 million. What application? Like, what are you possibly getting yourself into that could cost $2 million to get, like, certified?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So he was trying to be a citizen? No, no, no. So he's trying to be, like, a legit operator, I guess, of, like, scuba diving in the cave.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That shouldn't cost $2 million. That's insane.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

This sounds like a Richard Branson title.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And how did he even have 2 million? How did this happen?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Well, she was recently jailed for 10 years. Douglas presented herself as a legitimate operator working for the government and indicated that much of the money would be returned at the end of his process. Guys, this is a number one scam tactic. Anybody who's telling you they gonna give you your money back, when the government

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

takes your money, they don't give it back.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

They don't.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's basically just a fact.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

The government's the biggest scam organization that we all participate in.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

We're paying our taxes. It's a scam.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

We don't know where it goes. They're like, to the roads. Which road? Like, when they fix shit. We don't know. Like, sometimes I just want to get out and talk to construction workers, like, what y' all doing this week? This Y'. All. Y' all doing? How much you getting a month? Everybody, let's talk, like, because we don't know what the government's doing with our

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

money, but they're not giving it back. That's true. If I give the government $2 million, I'm not getting $2 million.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Absolutely not.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And why do y' all need it? Why do y' all need to hold my money? Y'.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

All.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Now, taxes are that we give them money, and they do give us money back.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, but maybe a little. But it's not going to be. You're not going to get 2 million. No.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Nobody's getting a $2 million refund check, unfortunately. So red flag anyone telling you that they're going to give you money back. And also, my mom always said, growing up, like, never borrow or no, never lend out more money than you're willing to never see again.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I totally agree with that. I totally agree with that.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So if someone asks me for a loan, I have to think about how much they want because I'm like, I have to be okay with, like, never getting this money back.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. And I've. I've lent money to friends before and have gone like, okay. And they. They've paid me back, actually, every time. But it's that thing of I might never see it again so that the Amount that I give has to just be a gift until further notice. And then if they pay it back, that's great, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It can't be so much money that I'm looking at you every time I see you going like, h, oh, so you got Starbucks. Oh, so you got money for Starbucks? You can't pay. Oh, you got money for a double frat, but you can't pay me back.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I would take $5 at a time, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You can send me $5 at a time. Yeah. I'd be looking at everything they do. I'd be like, oh, okay, so you got gas in your car.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Where you going?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

To get my money?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You going to the bank? No. Okay, okay. I'm just saying you can't.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And you shouldn't ask for money if you can't handle being looked at that way. Like with every purchase you make, like, it is like, that's how it's gonna go.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

If I ask for money, it was. Which I, I have, I have parents who I ask for money. Which are the best people to loan from because, like, they don't bother you. But, but if I have ever, if I had ever borrowed someone's money, I would never have the audacity to try to like, spend it. Any money in front of them. No. Every time I was, I'd be in tattered clothes. You have so many clothes. Like, where are these rags coming from? I just played a part of things

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

are not going well. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Where did you get these tattered rags?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

And why do you only wear them

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

when we hang out? Cause I've seen her Instagram.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Instagram.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I just feel like I see your Instagram story. You're wearing normal clothes everywhere else, but then when I see you, you're dressed like an 18th century beggar. Like, what is this? Like, I'm gonna play the part until I got the money, you know what I mean? We ain't gonna go nowhere to spend money every time we go out. It's gonna be a hike, right? It's gonna be one of those cheap ass Tinder dates that everybody likes to do. Like, oh, let's go for a hike or a walk. I ain't going to fucking woods with you.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You don't do that on Tinder. Wanna go on a hike?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Okay. Get it.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I don't like that they have sex.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It's hinge. When they want to go for hikes, everybody think they so deep cuz they like tacos office. And I don't want to go on

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

a hike on a first date where I'M out of breath. I can barely get it. Like, get a conversation going. That's like, too. And also, like, not fun.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

No. Not fun at all.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Not relaxing.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, I'm going up into the. I don't know.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah. You're going to kill me at the top of this canyon.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Great.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No, that sound like a perfect recipe.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm just bringing the murder to you. Like, that's not even fun.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

A stranger is going to take me to the top of a canyon. That's a no.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah, but it sounds fun. Just like long walks on the beach. You know how hard it is to walk in sand.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, I don't want to do that.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I did a 5k on the sand and I was like, fuck this. Good for you. Yeah, that's a brag.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's a humble brag.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

On the sand.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You know, it's harder because it's on the sand.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. Am I making that clear?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Strong calves.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So back to Douglas. So I'm, you know me, I am all for women scamming men, but this poor guy. This was very sad. Some hilarious quotes from this was, okay, he was a diver, but he was hardly able to get a breath. He was drowned by her ocean of lies.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Oh, okay.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

A very creative reporter who's a poet, who wrote this. So basically, she just kept calling him, pretending to impersonate the government, saying that she needed more fees from the government. Everybody gives the government their money.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

She must have been in debt from this, though. Like, I mean, unless he was a millionaire.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

If you got millions to spare like this, then, like, how.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

How are you getting scammed? Actually, I feel like if you have millions, you have, like, the best people ever helping you do everything.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Like, you start to have so much money managing it. That's how Rihanna got scammed.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

His own brother. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Because like my mom always said, never be too big to sign your own checks.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Right. Because they're not paying attention on the ins and outs. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

So now you have somebody whose whole job is to manage your money, which.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

That's dangerous.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

That's. Nobody but a con artist wants to manage other people's money. Nobody else gets passionate about other people. People shit like scammers. Right.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Because they're getting something out of it. Yeah, it's a good point.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yeah. So I'm like, maybe I could see how maybe this money just kind of like, oh. But Nathaniel Rob was the victim here. And actually, at the end of this scam, he says that he's a broken man with just $19.75 in his bank. Account after a relentless five year con.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, but at what point do you go, I don't need to be a scuba instructor. That's bad. Like, you are down to your last $20.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Rob borrowed from friends. Oh, no, from businesses. He borrowed from his own dive business, which was probably thriving in the U.S. he sold a family home in the U.S. to help meet Douglas's demands.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

So, okay, so he wasn't a millionaire who was just not paying attention. He was using every resource he could possibly tap into. Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

To try to make this work. Now I'm thinking, I'm like, okay, so you, you're going broke for this. You're selling homes, you're buying from friends, you're buying against your own business. But then the Cayman Islands are a real diving hotspot.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And maybe he was about to have a luxury diving company where, you know, all the Kim Kardashians would be floating in the ocean with a silicone booty, diving and seeing tropical fish.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I mean, don't you think you have to be a sociopath to, like, pull, like, to scam somebody for five years and take $2 million from them when you kind of know they don't have it? Yeah. That's like you so, so unfeeling.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And also, like, you really, truly have to be a sociopath, because I think I would emotionally get exhausted by having to talk to this person all the

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

time and him being like, okay, I'm gonna fight.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Refinance my house.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Okay, maybe. Oh, God.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, Refinance the house.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, okay, talk to you soon. Just let me know when that's done. Send me that money.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

What was that about? Your daughter's kidney on the black market. Okay, let me know when it goes.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

You're being happy that you have new ideas, new ways to get money.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Very clever.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Talk to you soon. Hang up. Like you have to not give a shit.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I would get so annoyed having to constantly like, oh, my God.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Sorry, y'.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

All.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

It's work. Hello, Nathan. Okay, so. So. So your family got robbed now. Okay, well, how you going to get the money? Because the government of the Cayman Islands, they said they need it, they need

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

a million dollars tomorrow. Have you. I read this book called the Psychopath Test, which is, like, all about psychopaths and sociopaths and, like, how. How they can manipulate everyone in their lives. It's actually really, really good read. But one of the things that I thought was really interesting about it was they said, like, the, like, there was a person in it who was like, I feel so bad for, for the sociopath because they're, you know, and because of like, their life, it's so sad. And like, all the ways that they're, like, so mean, they don't realize. And the person writing the book was like, you basically can never feel sad for that person because they feel nothing about you. So, like, the scammers are getting away with this. They don't give a fuck. They don't care. They feel nothing about that. I mean, you have to be a sociopath because you, you'd have to guilt, like, if you had no guilt. You don't like, missing a part of your brain that like, tells you to feel bad and you're just like, oh, I can just manipulate these idiots into giving me whatever I want. And like, how. Yeah, I mean, their lives are really carefree because they don't care.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yo, I'm low key envious. I'm low key envious because they're gonna live longer.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, they are.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

They are, I think evil sociopaths. Same thing. Yeah. 45. I have to become a complete sociopath.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I want to live for a long time.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Just turn off that part of your brain.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Caring about people kills you guys. Ok? But yeah, so this poor guy, he ends up with like 19. I'm like, who is Nathan's wife? Like, who are his family members?

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Like, why are they all going along with it? Like, at what point isn't your wife, like, begging you to stop doing this? Like, I would be so mad at my husband if he was just like, okay, I'm gonna borrow money from everyone we know and I'm gonna put our business on the line and, like, we're gonna lose everything. Okay, I have $19.75. So he was like, he knew exactly how much it was, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I mean, well, look, when your bank account get that low, you know, exactly. Oh, yes. In it. Listen, when I was in college, I used to know if a penny was deducted totally.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I wrote down the gas station.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Yes.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

No. And like those gas stations, they're like, it's 35 cents for the charge to use your debit card. I'd be like, I'm gonna go across the street, right?

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

I'm like, it's an ATM right there for my bank. So actually, I'm gonna save my 35. Thank you.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

I used to write down every penny that I spent when I was living in New York because I was, like, so broke, and it was like I. I wanted to make sure I never overdrafted. So it was like, if I bought a bottle of water. I wrote down, begrudgingly wrote down my $1 that I spent on the bottle of water. I mean, I kept track of it all.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

You're so responsible. Oh my gosh. Well, Lauren, it was so good to have. This was so fun. Thank you for having me. Anything you want to plug any podcasts you wanna.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Yeah, I wanna plug my. I have too many podcasts. I have raised by tv. I have wild horses. I have with special guests, Lauren Lapkas. I have three of them. They're all on Stitcher Premium. Some of them are on Apple podcasts. They're all different things. So go check them out and you know, whatever one strikes your your interest.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Most people can't get enough. No, I mean so many platforms.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Too many. Too many platforms. So find the one that you like and listen to that one. Thanks.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

And as always, guys, you can find us at scamgodesspod on Instagram, scamgodesspod Gmail. If you've been scammed, reach out to us. Let us know about it. We want to hear. We'll share it on the show if it's interesting and then always. Lacey Mosley on social media, you can find me at divalacy D I V A L A C I on all platforms.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Including Venmo.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Including Venmo.

[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

Don't throw her a dollar.

[Podcast Host (Lacey Mosley)]

Why not? All right, congregation, we'll see you next week. Scam Goddess

this has been an Earwolf production in association with Team Coco. Scam Goddess stars and is hosted by me, Lacey Moseley, AKA Scam Goddess. Our producer is Jessica Cisneros and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is conducted by Kate Doyle. Stay scheming.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

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[Podcast Guest (Lauren Lapkus)]

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