
In this week’s Fraud Friday, Laci is joined by the legendary Paula Poundstone (Science Court, Inside Out) to discuss Susan Meachen, an independent romance novelist who faked her death in 2020 and miraculously resurrected in 2022. Plus, a Florida woman has been arrested after a 4-year-long romance scam that resulted in the defrauding of an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. Stay Schemin’! (Originally Released 02/13/2023) Follow on Instagram: Scam Goddess Pod: @scamgoddesspod Laci Mosley: @divalaci Paula Poundstone: @paulapoundstone Research by Kaelyn Brandt SOURCES: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/health/fake-death-romance-novelist-meachen.html https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/book-author-exposed-fake-suicide-facebook-group-1234655830/?fbclid=IwAR0T1Z8YBSGjkOmKkE2bqww-XVhj2142WqdD97YlxSd0QWLr_eCm8LSaJKc https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/susan-meachen-author-fake-death-b2265223.html?r=21062 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/susan-m...
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Lacey Mosley
Neighborhood. And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go
Paula Poundstone
to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
Lacey Mosley
Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird.
Paula Poundstone
What is this, your first date? Oh, no.
Lacey Mosley
We help people customize and save on
Paula Poundstone
car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.
Lacey Mosley
We're married.
Paula Poundstone
Me to a human, him to a bird.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a quote@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.
Paula Poundstone
Liberty, Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
Lacey Mosley
You know what they say. Early bird gets the ultimate vacation home. Book early and save over $120 with VRBO because early gets you closer to the action, whether it's waves lapping at the shore or snoozing in a hammock that overlooks. Well, whatever you want it to. So you can all enjoy the payoff come summer with Verbo's early booking deals. Rise and shine. Average savings, 140. Select homes only. 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 vault. 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, rob fraud, Scam, Car robbery and fraud Scam Goddess. What's poppin, Congregation? It's ya girl, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. Back with another installment of the podcast, Scam Goddess. All about robbers, con artists, people who practice scam. Sometimes we love em, sometimes we hate them. And parasocial girlies out there, we're my Blues Clues. Girlies. Yes, I'm very. Yes, I'm very excited. I love you guys. And welcome new people. All right. No, I'm extremely excited. Y' all don't even understand. We have a legend. Okay, I don't even know how we scammed her and got her time like this, but shout out. Shout out to the team. Okay, today we have an amazing standup comedian and authoress on the show. She is a regular panelist on NPR's News Comedy Quiz show. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Which I've done quite a few times. This is the Queen Victoria of stand up. You can listen to her podcast. Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone. And you can check out her standup comedy tour in a city near you, honey. Because she be out here in these streets, honey. Back in the day, she would get on the ground and do all the mics everywhere. And that's just my own personal. I'll be stalking Paula, but you can check out her stand up comedy tour. Go to paulapoundstone.com for more information. Congregation, please welcome Paula Poundstone to the show.
Paula Poundstone
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Lacey Mosley
Thank you for being here. Queen. I'm so, so. I'm really, truly elated to have you on the show. This is really dope.
Paula Poundstone
You know, I realized as I'm watching you talk into the microphone, like, she doesn't need me. I can see that you sort of imagine the audience that you're talking to. There's a very close feeling I feel, between you and the audience who is not in the room. So I feel like I'm interrupting a little bit.
Lacey Mosley
No, interrupt all you want and it's not interrupting. You're gonna make me cry. Oh, my God. I put in just a teens bit of like the stocking that done about you over the years.
Paula Poundstone
I did used to ride the Greyhound all around the country.
Lacey Mosley
Yes.
Paula Poundstone
You could buy a thing called an AmeriPass for 30 days. You'd go anywhere you wanted. You know, it was like a blank ticket book so you could write anywhere you wanted for 30 days. And I used to live on the Greyhound bus back in the day.
Lacey Mosley
You was really torn and I mean, your SNL stand up episode with Robin Williams, like, I just. You're. You're the goat. So I'm just. I'm so excited to have you here. We always ask our guests on this show, like, what is your relationship with scams? Like, do you love him? Do you hate them? Have it anymore? I mean, I can't imagine being on a Greyhound bus. You know, that was back when the Greyhound wasn't as sketch.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, it was somewhat. I mean, I haven't. I don't know that I've ridden a Greyhound in a while. Okay, I'm gonna tell you a gross. I'm gonna tell you a really gross Greyhound bus story, okay? It was not a scam so much. It was harassment. So I was, I think, 19 years old. I was very shy.
Lacey Mosley
You were young.
Paula Poundstone
I still am, but I was really shy then. So, you know, when you're on a Greyhound bus, you don't own both the seats, right? You have the seat that you paid for. Somebody wants to come sit down beside you. You move your junk and they sit down beside you. So this guy sits down beside me and I'm the kind of person, I can talk to the other passengers a little bit.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, you're better than me. Small talk like, I'll literally die. I hate talking about the weather. Like, it kills me.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, you say, you know, hello, where you going? Right.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Paula Poundstone
Some people you engage with more than others. I forget what it was about this guy that kind of suggested to me, may. I don't really want to chat, you know, And I was reading and writing and looking out the window and sleeping. So anyways, he sits down beside me, and he's wearing overalls. Now, at that time, that was, like, a fashion.
Lacey Mosley
But that was a statement piece. Yeah. It was giving.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. So at some point, I think he recognizes like, how sort of. I don't know, whatever. He slips his hands inside.
Lacey Mosley
Hands. Multiple hands.
Paula Poundstone
Both hands inside his overalls.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Paula Poundstone
Right.
Lacey Mosley
And that's a deep dive because overalls means you got pants up to your neck. Yeah. So you gotta go in from the neck.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. But the top part is just a bib, so you can go in the sides. Right. Okay. I don't think I need to describe to you what he was doing at that point. And I'm so, like, shocked and. And embarrassed. And I'm like, I have. And there is no way in hell I'm gonna tell somebody that he's doing this, because I'll feel too embarrassed to say the words. I'm 19. I was a baby. So I do at some point say, like, that I needed to get out. And I walk up to the driver because I know he'd freak out if he knew that. So I walk up to the driver, and I lean my head down to the driver, and I say, where's our next stop? And the driver, because I whispered my question, he whispers his answer. So, okay, he caught the bomb. So he has no idea what exchange we just had, and he assumes that
Lacey Mosley
it's about him diddling his man's car.
Paula Poundstone
Exactly.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Paula Poundstone
So when I go back, he's moved.
Lacey Mosley
I love that. It was pretty.
Paula Poundstone
You know, thinking back on it, I'm like, all right. That was. I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but that was pretty damn clever.
Lacey Mosley
He didn't have the awareness not to realize that he shouldn't be, you know.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, he did.
Lacey Mosley
Slapping the wag.
Paula Poundstone
He was trying to get under my skin, you know, he was just doing something to get attention and to get. You know. And to him, it was gonna be more glorious if, you know, I was forced to. So I just. Whatever. And that was. He was still on the bus, and I still saw him every time there was a stop where people.
Lacey Mosley
Where were you going? How long was this trip?
Paula Poundstone
I can't remember anymore. It was.
Lacey Mosley
It must have been a long trip if they were all abs.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was. It was. Anyways, that was my. So what? But my relationship with Scam. That was just my relationship with Gross. My relations and my relationship.
Lacey Mosley
And now I'm wondering about the overalls. Like, he was like, I'm a wear these. This neck pants. So people can't really tell.
Paula Poundstone
I don't know if it was like, yeah, part of his.
Lacey Mosley
It had swarm. Because if somebody walks over and they're like, sir, what are you doing with your genitalia? He could like slide his hand up the neck pants and be like, I'm scratching my chest. You know, he's like, it's the pants. He can move around more than if you in pants that hit at the waist. And then everyone can.
Paula Poundstone
There's a practical use. In the old days, you heard it here first.
Lacey Mosley
Neck pants overalls are for public masturbators.
Paula Poundstone
Like on a. People still do on a farm sometimes, don't they? Every now and then you'll see a.
Lacey Mosley
I Wonder if Old MacDonald really fucked it up for farmers. Like, what if farmers dress like hipsters in Brooklyn and they're like, we actually give fashion. And all the girls think we wear straw hats and wear overalls because of one bad marketing campaign.
Paula Poundstone
Well, you know, they haven't really been able to force a gingham on the rest of the world. You know, gingham.
Lacey Mosley
The little.
Paula Poundstone
The white and red. Yeah, that really. The picnic table fits right? Exactly. Except for smaller usually.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, we bring it back out for my birthday. 4th of July C. That's the 4th of July. We don't need to celebrate America. We celebrate meme. Is your birthday really the 4th of July? I'm 4th of July C. That's all
Paula Poundstone
I'm gonna celebrate from now on in. Because I don't care that much about the fourth of July.
Lacey Mosley
No, I mean, what is it even really? But wait, so you were saying your relationship.
Paula Poundstone
Okay, so I have been scammed before.
Lacey Mosley
Ooh, tell me. Cause I've been scammed a lot. Even recently. So we. There's no shame.
Paula Poundstone
I was. And you do feel ashamed, by the way, when it happens.
Lacey Mosley
Yes.
Paula Poundstone
Isn't that weird?
Lacey Mosley
And that's what we're trying to get rid of. Cause we want people to share the ways that they've been scammed so that
Paula Poundstone
other people are scared. There's so many ways now that, you know, they get new every day. It's a thing? Yeah. Might have been 18 years old. I was working a restaurant in Boston, and this woman comes in with a kid and she does this con thing where. And the kid's like 2 years old, and it's very distracting. Kids banging on. I wasn't a part of this. I just saw it happen. She takes out a 20. She tells the cashier she needs two tens. When the cashier gives her the two tens, she now takes out a dime and says, now I need two nickels for this dime. The cashier goes to do that, she takes the two twenties, she hides em away. I mean, the two tens. Excuse me, hides em away and lays out two ones. And when the cashier looks up again after doing the two nickels, she says, what did you give me these two ones for? Now, you know, in restaurants, the woman on the cash register gets stuck for that, you know?
Lacey Mosley
Exactly.
Paula Poundstone
So you know, it's bad thing.
Lacey Mosley
I worked in restaurants. I know. Yes. If your drawer's short, then, like, you gotta just fill it out. And you normally will even fill out your drawer if it's short without telling management because you don't wanna lose your job. So be like, I gotta.
Paula Poundstone
And, you know, we're making, you know, something slightly over nothing per hour. And so now. All right, so I saw this happen. So now I'm on my way to work one morning, and I stop off at the Dunkin Donuts on Boylston. As I'm waiting in line, the same woman is in front of me. And I didn't recognize it right away, but then I see her do this same thing. So, you know, she goes, two ones. Two, whatever. What'd she give me these two ones for? And I stood right there and watched her. And I had this idea in my head. I'm from a small suburban town in Massachusetts. I had this idea in my head that the minute she was foiled, she would somehow run away.
Lacey Mosley
Yes, that's what happened.
Paula Poundstone
Well, didn't happen this time. I said, she didn't give you two ones, she gave you two tens. And the woman turned and went off on me. And she said she was gonna drag me outside and beat the crap out of me. What's funny is, it's not like I can't run or, you know, all of a sudden I was just frozen. Cause I just thought, that's exactly what's gonna happen now. And so the.
Lacey Mosley
So you thought when you told that, oh, this is a scam, she was gonna just run out the door. But she was like, I'm gonna beat Your ass.
Paula Poundstone
Right. Suddenly I was Impala. She was about the woman from Dunkin Donuts grabs me over the counter. Cause she thought I was gonna be dragged outside too. So she grabs my arm and she says, no, you're not gonna do that. Now I only have one arm to defend myself.
Lacey Mosley
Listen, America runs on Dunkin'. They like. They're like the waffle House of coffee. Everybody at Dunkin knows how to fight. Just like how everybody at Spirit Airlines knows how to fight. They teach that in training. They actually do before all flight attendants teach you how to do a basic self defense. And like you have to restrain people sometimes in the air. But it's like you have to do
Paula Poundstone
it with office supplies. You have to do it with duct tape. I can't even. I can't even duct tape.
Lacey Mosley
So she grabbed you to help you. But then she was trying to help,
Paula Poundstone
but instead of left me with just one arm. It's not like I would have hit anybody anyways. But I was deflecting her blows with one arm. And she finally.
Lacey Mosley
So she did hit you. She's just shot over and over again.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. And then she went to the door. She finally kept saying, we're gonna call the police. And I'm thinking to myself, go ahead, go ahead, call the police now. She made it to the door and I'm like, huh. I think I started to cry then, which just is not humiliating enough. And then she ran back and kicked me and she ran out again.
Lacey Mosley
Not one more for the road.
Paula Poundstone
And you know what I said afterwards? I said, could I get a jelly donut and. And a chocolate honey glazed, please? And then I sat down at a counter.
Lacey Mosley
Did they make you pay for it?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, they did.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, that's fucked up. That should have been for free now. Damn, you done helped them with a scam. They gonna charge you. Yeah, that's when you gotta start fighting the Dunkin lady.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, that was. I should have come back with you
Lacey Mosley
gotta dunk the Duncan.
Paula Poundstone
So there. I was not personally scammed. I was abused. But I did recognize the scam and
Lacey Mosley
stop it there now, Paula. I hate to do this. I hate to do this, Paula, but I'm low key a little bit on that lady's side. Are you just. Cause Duncan is a big company and she's scamming them. Like she's not hurting nobody with a scam.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, no, but it was this. It was this.
Lacey Mosley
Like you were nicer to the bus pedal.
Paula Poundstone
This is in the old days when they made them wear these kind of pink sack dresses. With. With aprons, okay?
Lacey Mosley
That woman
Paula Poundstone
was stuck from them.
Lacey Mosley
You're thinking from a service perspective, which I do, too. Which is why I over tip for everything, because I worked in service for so many years. Is that, like, that woman's drawer was going to be short. She might have been out of a job. So I understand where you're coming from. I take it back. You was like, homegirl's drawer is going to be short.
Paula Poundstone
I was fighting for justice.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, yeah, you was trying to help homegirl who worked there, okay? For her little bit of money an hour and not to lose her job. So I absolutely understand. Damn, though, she messed you up now, how you gonna hold me, though? And then I'm getting squabbled on and then you gonna charge me for the jelly donut now? She messed up there. She messed up there.
Paula Poundstone
She didn't return the favor, that's for sure.
Lacey Mosley
See, and that's why I don't help corporations. Cause she still stood in the gap for the corporation. Because, sis, I helped you not have a short drawer and you over here holding me back while somebody is pummeling me. And so you were doing it for the community and that. Mm, no, no, she messed up. Cause she should have gave you that free jelly donut. It should have been free. And your coffee.
Paula Poundstone
I'll tell you something. I'm going back Dunkin Donuts.
Lacey Mosley
If one sponsor the show. Two. Y' all owe Paula Poundstone. Y' all owe Paula Poundstone a jelly donut and a coffee at the very least, okay?
Paula Poundstone
Cause y' all play jelly donut and chocolate honey glazed.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, chocolate honey glazed. Get it right.
Paula Poundstone
I can make that.
Lacey Mosley
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Paula Poundstone
Oh, that was fast. Whoa.
Lacey Mosley
Whoo. I hear.
Paula Poundstone
I'm thinking I'm gonna kick back, relax, breathe for a. I got whiplash from that break.
Lacey Mosley
You get to breathe, father. You don't get to breathe. It's time for what's hot and fraud.
Paula Poundstone
Let's do it.
Lacey Mosley
Yes. So this is where we warn our listeners about scams popping on the streets. But more often than not, we get a letter from you all out there. As always, touch on your friends, family, and enemies and sc. Scamgoddesspodmail.com just make sure your scam is retired. Cause we don't wanna. What? Yes. Fuck up your bag. And somebody really understood that today. I just need a fake name from you, Paula. Like, it could be. We don't care about gender here, so any name.
Paula Poundstone
Angelina.
Lacey Mosley
Angelina. Ooh, Yes, I like Angelina. So Angelina says, skip to the bottom for your flowers. This is a long one. So we're just diving right on it. Angelina, you've been listening to the podcast because you know how it goes. All right, so I picked this. It's a little complicated, but there's still like, a little bit of a scam that can still be run. So I just wanted to let y' all know about it. Right, so it says you. Angelina says you might have actually come across this scam before, but there used to be a widely utilized review buying system that anyone selling something on Amazon could use to artificially boost reviews on their products. It wouldn't be advertised directly on Amazon, but rather through a variety of a thousand percent shady websites across webs like AmyZ Review Trader. And it's like AMZ Review Trader, if y' all want to know. Elite Deal Club. I love to review Snag Shout and many of these names. Snag Shout feels pornographic for me for some reason. Snag Shout and many other mostly defunct sites. Now, essentially all that you had to do was find an item on one of these websites that you wanted and then request a discount code, as well as give them a link to your public Amazon profile so that they could see your review history. You leave a lot of reviews, which I will say I appreciate reviews. I don't do reviews often, but when I go on Amazon or any other popular website and give cue ball head Jeff Bezos my money, which I shouldn't be doing. I try not to.
Paula Poundstone
I understand him.
Lacey Mosley
I try not to. I try not to order from Amazon because a lot of times if you go on Amazon, the price is higher than if you actually click on who's selling it. And then go to the real website where they sell it from. So you can find something on Amazon. Cause it's quick. And then go to the real website and get it cheaper.
Paula Poundstone
But my neighbors and I. Cause he owns Whole Foods. My neighbors and I went in on a strawberry last summer.
Lacey Mosley
That's how it's strawberry.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And how did y' all eat that y' all cut it up situation?
Paula Poundstone
You know, it's strawberry ceremony strawberry. We called it the Strawberry Festival. It's very expensive.
Lacey Mosley
It's very expensive.
Paula Poundstone
And what more does he need, honestly? Right.
Lacey Mosley
Also, like the workers, like, if I know people are peeing in Powerade bottles, I'm like, I don't wanna do two day shipping so that y' all can be stressed out.
Paula Poundstone
I feel like that too. Yeah, absolutely.
Lacey Mosley
Y. But Amazon does have all the things. All the things. So if you're a reviewer on Amazon, I do appreciate you because sometimes they be posting pictures. They'll post a picture in the outfit. They'll post a picture of the table once they've built it. And it gives you like a little bit of scale to how big it is in their apartment.
Paula Poundstone
Well, that's helpful. I worry about the review things because I feel like people can just. Wouldn't you just get your friends to say good things about something?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Or they trick people by sending the product to people's houses who didn't order it and then making reviews. They do that too. So there's a lot of different little scams that people on Amazon do to get their rating up. Cause if your Amazon review rating is higher, you pop up in the feed higher. Which means you get more legitimate orders than other companies for the same product. So there's reasons why they're doing this and giving these discounts. So Angelina says the discounts were anywhere between 10% and 100% off for free. Okay, Yes, I said free, Angelina. You can't.
Paula Poundstone
What company is giving 100% off discounts?
Lacey Mosley
But think about it. You give 100% off and then people give reviews. You get 10 reviews. Right? You sacrifice the profit for 10 products. That boosts your algorithm. And then you get probably way more people buying it legitimately because they saw it from the reviews.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, okay.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. And Amazon makes it to where the company can't really falsify reviews. That much. So they need people to do like quote, unquote, legitimate reviews. So they said, Angelina says, and they had everything you could want if you got to that request button before someone else did. The deal was that they would give you this discount and then you would leave your honest in quotes review for the product you received. Hence why they wanted to see your public profile so that they knew they would at least get something in return for giving you the discount. This, of course, was the corporate scam being run to artificially initiate, or, excuse me, inflate product ratings on Amazon so that they had a higher chance to get people outside of the scam country. Yeah. To spend real money. They even tried to make it look legitimate by requiring you to put a disclaimer in your review that you received it at a discount. But it was still an honest review. So they were like, tell the girls a little bit that we lying, like just a skosh. So here's where my own semi scam comes in.
Paula Poundstone
This is so over my head. I can't even tell you.
Lacey Mosley
Really.
Paula Poundstone
I'm hanging on your every word because I'm like, you know, I do this thing where I go into stores and I'll pick up a product that I would like to have and I have enough money in my pocket to purchase it and I bring it to the cash register. I don't do self checkout and I say, hi, how are you? And then the person chats with me. I purchased my thing, I leave. I don't for the most part shop online and do all this stuff.
Lacey Mosley
Paula, you're not doing online robbery. You gotta get into online robbery.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I have.
Lacey Mosley
Big market.
Paula Poundstone
I know in Florida they've had some bank robberies where at the drive up window where they use the tube.
Lacey Mosley
Drive through bank robberies.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. They put the gun.
Lacey Mosley
I have not heard about drive through bank robberies.
Paula Poundstone
They put the gun in the tube.
Lacey Mosley
No.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And then how does that work?
Paula Poundstone
And there's actually been some shootings as well where the cashier, the banker, you
Lacey Mosley
know, used the gun.
Paula Poundstone
Shot themselves. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
No.
Paula Poundstone
Well, because they followed instructions on the note.
Lacey Mosley
I'm not gonna listen to that kind of note. You send me a note, talk about shoot me. I'm not. And then you send a gun. I'm not sending a gun. I'm shooting out the window.
Paula Poundstone
What are you talking about? In those banks? Yeah, it's a Florida sending a gun. That's all.
Lacey Mosley
That's Florida. It's a Florida crime that gives me very Florida. So Angelina says, here's where my own semi scam comes in. When I started doing these kinds of reviews on Amazon, I had already been using an app that lets you scan your receipts to accrue points that can be reduced, deemed as gift cards, to actual stores like Target, Walmart, itunes, et cetera. Not too long after, I started to notice that because it was processed like any other regular order, Amazon would still include a paper receipt for these products I was getting, even though no charge had actually been made to my card. So he's uploading. Angelina's uploading receipts that are no charge, but it's still a receipt. And obviously they're using algorithms and machines, so they can't tell that it's no charge. So Angelina's still getting.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, because you have to have a receipt for it.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. To get the points. I love this. So since the receipt scanning apps are just aggregating my data and selling it for massive profit, I decided to start scamming them right back and upload these $0 receipts from Amazon. Got it. I was making out like a damn bandit. Laci Angelina says I was getting things like French presses, memory foam pillows, Bluetooth speakers, phone screen protectors, ceramic kitchen knives, foam rollers, and much more on a regular basis and flipping those receipts into gift cards and stacking the profit. Okay.
Paula Poundstone
Wow.
Lacey Mosley
You realize the hole in the system, that's what scammers do.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And you were saying that earlier, like, how scams have evolved. They have, like, scammers are always like, oh, okay, we got computers now. Okay, let's scam on the computer. Oh, okay. Y' all got wifi. We scamming on the WI fi. You know, like, anything. They're gonna figure out a way.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. So it used to just be door to door scammers. You just, you know, you used to
Lacey Mosley
have to walk in the heat.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Little Fuller Brush man kind of stuff where, you know, you thought it was boar hair, but it turned out it was made with another kind of hair. And that was the big scam.
Lacey Mosley
That was honest living. When you had a scam, door to door, when you had to do.
Paula Poundstone
You're too young to have ever seen a Fuller Brush man.
Lacey Mosley
Hello. I'm here to rob you. Hello. Is your mama home?
Paula Poundstone
Those were the days.
Lacey Mosley
I'm trying to rob her.
Paula Poundstone
So much easier.
Lacey Mosley
Truly. I remember the Avon ladies used to come to my grandmama house all the time, and we bought products. We. She. I didn't have no.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, Avon. Yeah, yeah, Avon calling.
Lacey Mosley
So it got to the point where I would start giving things to friends and family, or even as raffle prizes to the staff that I supervised as morale boosters. However, this all came crashing down in 2016 when a guy named Tommy Noonan. Damn, Angela, you gonna name Tommy like that?
Paula Poundstone
Who's Tommy Noonan?
Lacey Mosley
He created review meta and to the great shock and surprise of nobody, found that those reviews were almost always biased. For a while, nothing really changed. But eventually this whole review meta thing picked up of steam across Reddit, Twitter and other social media. And we're gonna get into social media later. Cause social media is out in the scammers heavy these days. So Amazon had to essentially ban the product discount review in quotes from their platform. So around that same time, the receipt apps also stopped accepting receipts that had a total of $0. So my bag was all the way fucked up. I'm so sorry, Angelina. Cause you were really scamming good. This is a good scam.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Oh, fair.
Lacey Mosley
Ethical, Fair. Technically legal. I'm into it.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. What does Barb McQuaid say? Lawful but awful. She sometimes says that sometimes, but I'm
Lacey Mosley
not even gonna say awful. But I like the rhyme. Lawful but awful. I'm gonna steal.
Paula Poundstone
That you can do, but you're not.
Lacey Mosley
That's mine. Y' all remember that? Different. I said it. Remember that? Different. Remember how I said that? See, I'm gaslighting y'. All. Y' all remember how I said that? We all do.
Paula Poundstone
Absolutely. That was yours.
Lacey Mosley
So it. Yes, Paula. Oh, see, I love you. I love you. So Angelina says I'm out of the game now. But the last I heard is that you have to fully buy the product on your own, give a favorable review, and then the company will send you a full or partial reimbursement. Take a look at the reviews on Amazon for any item you're interested in that isn't from a major or well known brand. And it won't take you long to see if the reviews are clearly fake and or paid for if they sell you.
Paula Poundstone
Okay, if I buy something and I don't like it and I write like, boy, this, you know, this water bottle, you know, it smells, it's not good, right? Then they're not gonna send me the.
Lacey Mosley
Exactly.
Paula Poundstone
Therefore it's still not an honest review. I knew the review thing wasn't.
Lacey Mosley
But that's why it's biased. Because if you get something for free, everything. I always say, if it's free, it's for me. So if it's free, I'm looking at it more favorably automatically because I didn't expend any Resources to get it. So I'm like, oh, yeah, this water bottle smells like paint chips, but the water cold.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. So you would still do the.
Lacey Mosley
It made Dasani taste like smart water.
Paula Poundstone
But who would want an additional product that you didn't like anyways? I guess that's part of that.
Lacey Mosley
Some people like stuff and free stuff. A lot of people like free stuff.
Paula Poundstone
That's a big problem.
Lacey Mosley
Cause that's why companies get away with, like, they'll give you gifts at the holidays, and it'll be like a branded lunchbox or something. I'm like, I don't want no branded lunchbox. Just give me the money you paid for this damn lunchbox. Give me a bonus. I don't want this.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, man, I feel awful because a minute ago, I don't know if you saw me on my phone, but I was ordering you a Paula Poundstone. Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone lunchbox.
Lacey Mosley
Wait, but I want that, though. But I want that. That's a flex. Cause it'll be like, you know Paula Poundstone. I'm like, yes, honey. Yes, I do. That's a flex.
Paula Poundstone
That and a dime and one dime.
Lacey Mosley
And then you'd be like, I actually sent you $25, so I'm gonna need you to send that back.
Paula Poundstone
Yes. So they used to say that and a dime will get you a cup of coffee. But nowadays it's that and $10 will
Lacey Mosley
get you a cup of coffee. So P.S. angelina says it's allegedly. Allegedly. I also heard whispers that reviewmeda itself is a scam. But you didn't hear that from me. We didn't hear that from you, Angelina. We didn't hear that from you.
Paula Poundstone
She's the one who originally said, lawful but awful. But she certainly did not say that. What was it meant? Meta. Meta Review.
Lacey Mosley
Review. Meta review.
Paula Poundstone
Meta review. Meta. Yeah, it's for.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. So I will say, y' all the reason I wanted to read this one. I know it's a little complicated. Is that. It sounds like a little on Ambulance.
Paula Poundstone
This is like Monopoly rules. Cause I don't think I've ever played Monopoly with somebody.
Lacey Mosley
I'm black. We don't read the rules. We make our own rules.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
We make our own rules for Uno. We make our own rules for Monopoly. And all Muslims are the right ones.
Paula Poundstone
The rule to Uno is if you have a kid, you can never stop playing it. That's the rule to Uno.
Lacey Mosley
Uno.
Paula Poundstone
It's a game that goes on forever.
Lacey Mosley
But Monopoly goes on forever, too. And Monopoly was created by a Woman Stolen by Men was about the awfulness of capitalism. And that's why nobody ever gets through a game of Monopoly without fighting each other. I have a scar for my cousin Jermonica stabbing me during Monopoly.
Paula Poundstone
Who did?
Lacey Mosley
My cousin Jermonica.
Paula Poundstone
Jermonica.
Lacey Mosley
I love you, Jermonica.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I'm sure it was an accident. Jermonica.
Lacey Mosley
Listen, Monopoly's treacherous capitalism.
Paula Poundstone
Which playing piece did she stab you with? Was it the dog? The thimble? Was it in the old days?
Lacey Mosley
Which one's sharpest? I feel like you could probably get something off with the car.
Paula Poundstone
There used to be a cannon. Could have been the cannon.
Lacey Mosley
I never had the cannon. I was always the car. I wanted to be the car. Yeah, but that was my sex.
Paula Poundstone
But there's no sharp edges there, so it had to. Germonica. What a great name.
Lacey Mosley
Yes, truly. And she's a great person. You can still be a cool person and do like one little stabbing.
Paula Poundstone
Yes. Well, you know what? It was right when she landed on boardwalk. She just went off. I've never seen her like that before. Never seen Jarmonica like that before.
Lacey Mosley
Because when you buy up all the properties, honey, the girls will be mad at you. And that's just the rules of the game. I'm not mad at it. Robbery. Hello, it's me. A Black girl who has 4C kinky curly hair and has always had that kind of hair since before TikTok started helping us figure out what to do with it. Which is why I love companies like Basque and Lather because they're all about creating products specifically for textured hair instead of forcing your hair to fit somebody else's routine, which please let me tell you this. I've. I've been in way too many a cvs, crying and lathering everything on trying to figure out what works. They're stimulating scalp and hair balm is made with 100% natural ingredients to nourish, reduce breakage and add shine without all that heavy, like greasy feelings. And the hydrating hair mist keeps your hair soft and it makes detangling so much easier with the aloe vera and the avocado oil. And me personally, this helps so much with frizz and redefining my curls. Oh, and did I mention that it's black owned and family operated? Yes. Explore viral bestsellers and products of healthier hair of all types from Bask and Lather. Go to Bask Lather Company and use code SGODDESS for 20% off. That's 20% off at baskandlather co.com code S Goddess Chime is changing the way people bank. With fee free banking built for you, no overdraft and monthly thousands of fee free ATMs and members can benefit from up to $1,150 in annual rewards. With a Chime card you get 5% cash back in a category of your choice like gas, hello groceries and savings that grow faster. With a 3.75% APY that's nine times higher than the national average. Chime is not just smarter banking. It is the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free free today head to chime.com goddess that's chime.com goddess it only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fine tech not a bank. Banking Services for Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated annual percentage yield and cash back for Chime prime only. No minimum balance required. For more information on APY rates go to chime.com disclosers oh, are you stuck in the dinner room? Making the same meals every week, Hellofresh brings bold flavors from around the world right to your doorstep. With Hellofresh, savoring new flavors from around the world isn't just delicious, it's simple and wholesome. Choose from more than 80 global recipes every month, including Vietnamese, Moroccan, Caribbean and more. Hellofresh makes cooking effortless so you can always look forward to a homemade meal because nothing hits like a home cooking. I know that's right. Ugh. You know, chicken can be so basic, but they have like a pecan chicken crusted chicken that is so good and so flavorful and so juicy and I really feel like I'm giving Le Cordon Bleu as a millennial and the world is burning around me. And every time I get on the news they saying more bad stuff happened, like I don't have the energy anymore. And hellofresh bringing me my food to my door has made eating and eating well honey so much easier. Go to hellofresh.com goddess10fm now to get 10 free meals. Free meals applied as a discount on the first box. New subs varies by plan and fraud.
Paula Poundstone
Whoa. That was a great break. Okay, we're back.
Lacey Mosley
I'm gonna let that be the intro, Paula. Cause that was amazing. And now we're back and it's time for historic Hoodwinks. This is where we talk about a crime caper, group of criminals, maybe a lone wolf and maybe we like him, maybe we hate him. I do wanna do a content warning at the top of this. There are mentions in of suicide and self harm. So just so you know, if you know, that might be a problem, which we understand. So today we're talking about Susan Meechen, an independent romance novelist who was thought to have died in 2020 to the grief of her large fan community. But in 2022, the romance novel world was once again shocked when she miraculously came back from the dead.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, man. Now you're probably too young to have ever seen Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte.
Lacey Mosley
No, was.
Paula Poundstone
Was a scary movie back then with Bette Davis, Joseph Cotton and I'll think of the other actors later. But okay, so Bette Davis thinks that she's killed someone. But she didn't. As it turns out. She didn't really. But she thought she did. And the guy is part of a torments her. And she had like rolled him off into a lake or something. And he comes back and he walks up the stairs and he's got like muddy shoes and leaves stuck to himself. That's that this she miraculously. She dug herself out of the grave and miraculously reappeared.
Lacey Mosley
Yes.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
To life.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I'm on her side right now. Cause I know when you fake die probably sells more books. They're like, this is the last book we're gonna get. Yeah.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I don't think that. I mean, clearly there's like a mental health problem there somewhere.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Faith dying is really a sign. It's a red flag that something's wrong when you're like, I'm gonna fake my death. You should probably look into your life and see why you wanna do that. So. Susan, 47, is an author of 14 romance novels and the head of a large online fan community on Facebook called the Ward in reference to a psychiatric ward. Well, there. Well, all right. She told us up top. Yeah. Okay. And then we looking at her picture and it's giving. It's giving mental illness. And listen, I have mental illness. Okay. So that's no shade. I have my own mental illnesses. Okay. I have anxiety, depression. So I understand mental illness. And she's giving that photo. It's giving mental. And that's okay.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Is it?
Lacey Mosley
Now that's her brand.
Paula Poundstone
Did she let that photo circulate? Is that the one?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, it looks like a photo she meant to share with people.
Paula Poundstone
Wow.
Lacey Mosley
Cause look, it's got. Even got the portrait mode kind of fuzzy background.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I think it her in the forefront and her face is kind of like, giving, like. Hmm.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. It's not a happy face.
Lacey Mosley
No, it's not a happy face.
Paula Poundstone
Although if she were smiling, it would be. I mean, it's just. It could be. You know, you can't draw too many conclusions.
Lacey Mosley
It's not. I mean, her haircut is giving great clips.
Paula Poundstone
It's not the Mona Lisa.
Lacey Mosley
No, but. Yeah, but honestly, is it the Mona Lisa? Maybe the opposite.
Paula Poundstone
You think, like, there's like a little. No, no.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know. It's an unhappy. She looks at me anyway. I move. Y' all hear that on mic? I'm moving.
Paula Poundstone
That's not the Mona Lisa. That's. Oh, American Heritage. The one by Grant Wood with the farmer with the overalls, by the way, with the neck pants.
Lacey Mosley
The neck pants?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. That's the one where no matter where you stand, he's looking at you.
Lacey Mosley
Still looking at me.
Paula Poundstone
All right, so she was a romance novelist, which, by the way, I take issue with right off the bat. But she was a romance novelist.
Lacey Mosley
Wait, why do you take issue.
Paula Poundstone
I just, I. I used to work in a bookstore when I was young. And it's just a genre.
Lacey Mosley
It's a very horned up genre.
Paula Poundstone
There's just something about it that's just stupid. The covers are all the same. It's all, you know, it's all like
Lacey Mosley
an overly buff man with super long hair that's blowing in the wind.
Paula Poundstone
Well, actually, that's relatively new in my life. In the old days, it wasn't so much the man, it was, you know, off. Always like a buxom woman. Although I don't, you know, given that it's largely women that were purchasing those books, I don't know why they wanted to read this story of a large breasted woman, but because, listen, large breasted
Lacey Mosley
women be having adventures, and I want to know where them titties are going and I want to go with them. Okay. I want to be their bra, their brassiere, and go on the adventures as well.
Paula Poundstone
I just, you know, they're so, so much like, I'm the slowest reader in the world. I'm a very slow. Like, sometimes I fantasize about going to college. I'm like, it wouldn't work. I wouldn't be able to get through one book. Like, I'd always be, well, you would.
Lacey Mosley
I'm a slow reader. And I went to college. I did run a lot of scams in college where I pretended to be a poor at risk youth on scholarship. I was on scholarship, but it was academic. But I would come in and sweatpants. And I'd be like, please, can y' all give me the answers to this exam? Cause I got the whole family on my back and we trying to save the community center. And that was not my life at all. I grew up in the suburbs and my family is affluent. But I was like, I knew that everyone just assumed cause I'm dark skinned black, that I was running track and needed to get the community center.
Paula Poundstone
What was the upside of that if they did give you the answers?
Lacey Mosley
They gave me the answers. It's a lack of past business courses that I had no business passing like operations.
Paula Poundstone
So.
Lacey Mosley
And then what? And then I got my degree and
Paula Poundstone
now you and George Santos have a.
Lacey Mosley
I wasn't as good as George Santos. He lied for so much fun and very extravagantly. We just did an episode about him not too long ago. He's a fun one. Y' all see him in drag, pretend that he wasn't in drag. We didn't have that in the episode. But that was very fun. He was like, that's not me. Who is that? And we're like, girl, we know that's you. And then other drag performers were like, girl, you stole my wig. They came in and were. It was amazing. So in September 2020, it was announced in a Facebook post made to the ward that was the Facebook group that our girl Susan managed, that Susan had taken her own life in part due to the bullying that she received from fellow authors. So she was like, the other authoresses are dragging me and it's time for me to hop off the planet.
Paula Poundstone
So was there any evidence of this bullying, by the way?
Lacey Mosley
I mean, it doesn't seem like it. Yes.
Paula Poundstone
I mean, because I don't. I can't imagine like some great author, Dostoevsky or you know, Mark Twain.
Lacey Mosley
Somebody take, oh, Mark Twain before Quentin, like Mark Twain ran. So Quentin Tarantino could fly with just putting as many n words in a book as possible.
Paula Poundstone
I can't imagine taking the time to diss this.
Lacey Mosley
People have their communities and sometimes they're niche. So maybe in the niche writer world amidst the other.
Paula Poundstone
So the other authors that are writing stuffs like breasts of rage.
Lacey Mosley
And they were also like, fuck Susan. Susan Meechan and her trash ass romance books.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, Long beach longing, that kind of thing.
Lacey Mosley
She said they made love in the ocean. Everybody knows that you can't really have sex in water. Like, you know, we don't know. But she said they were dragging me in, so I had to leave. So it concludes, author Susan Meechan left this World behind Tuesday night for bigger and better things. Please leave us alone. We have no desire in this messed up industry. Please leave us alone. Normally, I guess this is before the time where everyone would say, please respect our privacy. It was just, please leave us alone. Cause now they'd be like, please respect our privacy during this difficult time. Now it's like.
Paula Poundstone
And by the way, has anyone ever.
Lacey Mosley
No, no, no. And you know they're not going to,
Paula Poundstone
but it's a good thing to say.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, it is. It's like, maybe some people will respect your privacy. Cause you said so. Like they were gonna leave a comment. They were like, oh, they said, respect our privacy. Yeah. Delete, delete. Backup. Backspace, backspace, backspace. But a lot of people are not gonna respect your privacy. But I love please leave us alone. And I wanna bring that back. Everybody just start saying, please leave us alone.
Paula Poundstone
So wait, this was after the death?
Lacey Mosley
Yes. This is when she, quote, unquote died. But on January 2, 2023, Susan came back to life. Just like Jesus. Amen. And once again set the romance novel communication aflame. Yes. So what really happened? In a post on the still active the Ward Facebook group, newly resurrected Susan said, this is her words. I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it's right or not. There's going to be a Susan.
Paula Poundstone
Let me help you. It's not. I wish you'd called me first. I could have helped.
Lacey Mosley
Why you ain't called Paula Powell?
Paula Poundstone
Susan? It's not. Don't do it. It's stupid.
Lacey Mosley
Hey, hey, hey. Do you think it would be. It's me, Susan. You know, from the romance books.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, my God.
Lacey Mosley
So, so sexual.
Paula Poundstone
I loved fucking.
Lacey Mosley
The biggest titties.
Paula Poundstone
That was such a good one.
Lacey Mosley
The biggest titties you've ever seen. Going on the biggest adventures you ever wanted. Oh, Susan.
Paula Poundstone
So good to talk to you.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. So I retired the titties by saying that I had died. What can I tell the girls? That I'm back to life? Do you think? No.
Paula Poundstone
I wish you'd called me before. You said you were. Cause you're not dead. This is not.
Lacey Mosley
What are you, the third damn, I'm not dead. Cause we on the phone.
Paula Poundstone
You're the third ghost.
Lacey Mosley
Okay. I thought I was dead, though. What if I tell everybody I thought I was dead? You think that'll work?
Paula Poundstone
It's not gonna work. I think you need witness protection at this point.
Lacey Mosley
You need to do a Facebook. I'm gonna do a Facebook post.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Bad idea.
Lacey Mosley
That's the best way to come back into the earth is Facebook.
Paula Poundstone
Susan, don't. Susan, don't do it.
Lacey Mosley
You agree?
Paula Poundstone
How about write under another name?
Lacey Mosley
Let me read you the rest of the letter that I'm saying to Facebook. So there's gonna be tons of questions. Yes, Susan, there will be. And a lot of people leaving the group, I guess now, not Susan. Why you trying to retain your audience? Talking about a lot of people leaving the group. Yeah, Susan. Yeah, but my family did what they thought was best for me, and I can't fault them for it. So now you blaming your family, saying that they killed you off. Okay, my family ain't never tried to kill me off without my knowledge. Yeah, I feel like that would be a group chat discussion.
Paula Poundstone
At least she's not a big responsibility taker.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, she ain't taking none. So. So she says I almost died again at my own hand, and they had to go through all that hell again. It says, returning to the ward, which is the Facebook group, doesn't mean much, but I am in a good place now, and I am hoping to write again. Let the fun begin. That is the last part of this quote. Let the fun begin.
Paula Poundstone
And a lot of us don't begin having fun until Susan tells us to. She's pretty much the keeper of the fun. She is. Yeah. She opens the gate for the.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, I won't lie, though. Like, if I was in a Facebook
Paula Poundstone
group, for some reason, I thought about doing this, right? Scam goddess. Didn't she mention.
Lacey Mosley
You think that would get my numbers up?
Paula Poundstone
She mentioned depression and anxiety earlier, and then she had me on, and I may have shoved her over this. Scam goddess.
Lacey Mosley
Pauly, you gotta announce it, though.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So it could be real.
Paula Poundstone
And then a couple weeks later, and
Lacey Mosley
there's nothing fun about this in the real sense of it, but someone pretending to do it and then coming back with the insane explanation that gives no explanation that puts the responsibility. Not to any specific family member, just to her family in general. And then she's like, and I'm back, y'. All. So let's turn up. They tried to kill your favorite bitch. But I'm back. Like, Susan, you got audacity, and I love that for you.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So in response to the news, fellow author Samantha A. Cole confronted Susan in the comments of her post asking whether her death had been a hoax. Now, Samantha, you already know her death is a hoax because the death happened. And then she came back and was like, jk, so it's a hoax. So this Is what Samantha says looks like a dm. She said, what is going on? Question mark, question mark. And Susan says, nothing. I simply want my life back. My family was in a bad place and did what they thought was best for me. So she blamed it on her family. And she says she want her life back. AKA like, she's not dead no more. They.
Paula Poundstone
What is it that they did? They.
Lacey Mosley
They said she was dead.
Paula Poundstone
Right. But.
Lacey Mosley
But did they? Did they or did she?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I think she was like, I
Lacey Mosley
want my life back.
Paula Poundstone
I think Susan's blaming grandma, and it's
Lacey Mosley
like, girl, now listen. Did I kill off some already dead family members in college so I could get later deadlines on essays? Absolutely. We all did. But this is different.
Paula Poundstone
I didn't go to college. I didn't realize that was an important part of it.
Lacey Mosley
It is. It's a fundamental part to get essay deadlines. So far, I'm really. Sometimes they make you produce the, like, obituary.
Paula Poundstone
Really?
Lacey Mosley
Mm. Set up the date.
Paula Poundstone
Your college education is sounding a little bit like George Santos college education. Okay.
Lacey Mosley
I actually went.
Paula Poundstone
How were you in the volleyball team? Good.
Lacey Mosley
I actually went, though. And I only pretended to be on the track team once. Okay, so I'm different.
Paula Poundstone
How did you pretend to be on the track team?
Lacey Mosley
Just wore sweats.
Paula Poundstone
Ye. That's not what that necessarily indicates. Squits.
Lacey Mosley
I never said I was on the track team. I just showed up looking how they look and also being black. So their biases were what happened. You know, I was using racism to my own benefit. You know, that's not my fault.
Paula Poundstone
No.
Lacey Mosley
That I had big thighs and wore sweats. So when Samantha asked Susan whether it was even her daughter that had posted, Susan replied, I do not have a daughter and son. I'm not worried about the book world letting me back in. I was never really in. So she was like, the girls never liked me. So I'm not worried about the book world. So get out of here. Book lady trying to chastise me. Cause I lied about having a son and a daughter and about dying. Like, calm down.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, she is definitely saying that fetch is not a thing.
Lacey Mosley
She has audacity, and, you know, scammers usually do. So. Susan had previously taken to the ward. That's a Facebook group. To post about her personal struggles and grievances in a community often permeated with drama. I did not know this much drama in the book world. I'm about to dip a toe. So she complained about colleagues whom she claimed have to, but who never offered help in return. She Was like, I was putting all the girls on. I was bringing them all to the Penguin. I was doing all this, and they weren't helping me back. So as she continued to publish novels and become further engrossed in the romance space, Susan became more frustrated with both the industry and the negative feedback she felt she received from other authors. In one post made in September 2020, Susan wrote every day. It got to the point, I'd rather be dead than to deal with the industry and the people who swear that they're free. Okay. I didn't know the writers industry was this deep.
Paula Poundstone
No, I'm not sure it is. I think. Yeah, I'm not sure it is.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, it may. I'm working on a book right now. I might be an authoress, y'. All. We'll see. But maybe it is this deep.
Paula Poundstone
So are you gonna go on the book?
Lacey Mosley
You've written a book?
Paula Poundstone
I've written a couple of books, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
You've written books.
Paula Poundstone
And it's very hard to do. Are you finding that it's hard to do writing a book? It's very hard. I used to.
Lacey Mosley
Did you get bullied by the writing community? I did.
Paula Poundstone
I got horribly bullied. Horribly bullied by the writing community. No, I don't. I don't. I mean, I don't know any other writers to, like, sit around and talk about writing, you know, But I mean,
Lacey Mosley
just, like, you're a niche. There are, like, little cult, like, communities. I do improv. Ucb. We have our own cult. I'm sure there are cults within the pottery community and everywhere, you know? Well, I know next door is a cult for people who own houses.
Paula Poundstone
I mean, I don't know about the pottery community, but the improv community are actually working together, whereas writing is generally done alone. It's a very. Yes, it's a very isolating kind of activity. And I can't imagine reaching out to other writers for, like, socialization because they should probably be writing.
Lacey Mosley
Well, then that kind of makes sense, though, to her point. If, like, you're doing this alone and then you're reaching out for socialization, it's probably gonna come from shade. Like, you're a John Grisham girlie, and the rest of the girlies are, you know, you write, go on, girl. And they write in sexcapades in Germany. Like, you're gonna be like, oh, they're lower than me, you know?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Her titties jumped tittly as she ran into his arms. And you're writing like, oh, you don't
Paula Poundstone
have any trouble writing at all that sentence. Oh, my God. Do you have a pen? Write that down. Her titties jump.
Lacey Mosley
Tittly. Yes. That's how they jump.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I don't think painting a picture titt
Paula Poundstone
had not really been a word until now, but tiddly.
Lacey Mosley
And here we are.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So in public posts, she also alluded that her previous struggles with mental illness as she had recently been diagnosed.
Paula Poundstone
Previous. Previous struggles. She's right in the middle of it.
Lacey Mosley
Previous, current and previous.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Thank you.
Lacey Mosley
And she says she was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that her past. Like, she talked about her past suicide attempts. So online friends, including a few who would later be accused of bullying, reached out to Susan as her posts grew worse. So Susan was kind of laid the foundation, writer wise, as, like, hey, y', all, shit is going bad. It's going left. And, like, kind of built up to this fake, you know, unaliving. So according to one friend, she was becoming pretty chaotic. It just seemed like every problem that surfaced with her, she was in the middle of it, and it turned to where she was the victim of all of it. So all of a sudden, all of her problems, she's like, everybody doing everything to me, and I'm being hurt.
Paula Poundstone
You know what? She is this close to being Republican president.
Lacey Mosley
Right.
Paula Poundstone
Cause that's a big thing in the Republican world. Right.
Lacey Mosley
It's like, black people happen to me. It's like, what does that mean? It's all, trans people are happening to me. Y'. All. They happening to me. That's J.K. rowling. Wait, see, she's in the writer community, so maybe because J.K. rowling really acts like trans people happen to her. And I don't even know understand that phrase, but that's.
Paula Poundstone
I know, exactly.
Lacey Mosley
That's how she lived.
Paula Poundstone
I don't know. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I don't get such a disappointment. It's like, how you gonna write a whole book series? And then it gets grounded into these movies that are huge, and it's all about somebody who doesn't fit in and whose parents don't want them. And then you're like, I hate the demographic that this actually resonates with the most. Like, what? And at the time that she wrote those books, we didn't know she was harboring all these feelings about people that she don't know. Yeah, that's the other thing is, like, girl, I know a lot of trans people who are in my life. I know a lot of non binary people, and they. They are wonderful. You talk about this shit and it's so apparent that you don't even know any of these people. And like, why are you preoccupied with people that you don't know, waking up every day talking about people that you don't even know? Like, girl, it's giving weird. Like, find something else to do in your spare time, sis. Cause what is this? So at home, Susan's family grew concerned as she entered periods of mania or psychosis during which she would talk like a character from her book, like she was the individual that she was writing. And in an interview with the New York Times, Susan herself said, I would log on and get in and at some point in the day, my two worlds would collide and it would be hard to differentiate between the book world and the real world. It was like they would sandwich together. So she getting off Facebook and completely losing her touch in reality. None of this sounds legit to me.
Paula Poundstone
No, I can't imagine that. The. In the. I cannot imagine.
Lacey Mosley
And also, like, you're having delusions about the books that you wrote. Only the books that you. Yeah, only the books that you wrote. Nothing else.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I just started having delusions and
Lacey Mosley
dropping my T shirt brand everywhere. It's so wild. I'm like, bye. Scam got his T shirts. Oh, no. What happened to me? That was a mental moment.
Paula Poundstone
Like, girl, you didn't even hear yourself say that.
Lacey Mosley
No, I didn't.
Paula Poundstone
You were like, I saw you go into like almost a trance.
Lacey Mosley
Scam got his potmail dot com. Ooh, wait, where am I? Like, it's. I don't know.
Paula Poundstone
Wow.
Lacey Mosley
I do.
Paula Poundstone
I was here for that.
Lacey Mosley
Something happening here. Because obviously she. She's made choices that are choices that most of us wouldn't necessarily make unless we were in some sort of crisis. But at the same time, you just going between your book characters, it feels like a plug. Especially because it does feel like a plug. In all these moments you felt the need to go on Facebook.
Paula Poundstone
Well, precisely. Yeah, it does. It feels.
Lacey Mosley
It's a little weird.
Paula Poundstone
It does.
Lacey Mosley
So both Susan and her husband Troy became concerned that her addiction to the book world was causing her bipolar depression symptoms to become worse.
Paula Poundstone
And her addiction to the book world, meaning the world within her, to her Facebook group. Oh, to the face. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Which was her book world. Yes. So it was allegedly Troy that instructed their 22 year old daughter to write the initial Facebook death announcement after a final incident when she found Susan semi conscious after overdosing on one of her medications. Troy has since said, this is her husband. She could not stop it on her own. And even to this day, I'll take 100% blame, the accolades, whatever you wanna call it. Now, how you gonna say you're gonna take blame and then say the accolades? He was like, I will take 100% blame, take all of the praise for what I did. That was valiant. Hello. Y'.
Paula Poundstone
All.
Lacey Mosley
Loved it.
Paula Poundstone
However people respond, he's taking responsibility, which is something.
Lacey Mosley
That's when they say they're gonna take responsibility.
Paula Poundstone
He did. Wait, who's Troy?
Lacey Mosley
Troy is her husband. This is a bad thing. Faking your death is a bad thing, Especially if you have a fan base and you're faking your death to people who obviously care enough to log into Facebook and talk to you every day.
Paula Poundstone
On the other hand. Okay, so. All right, so, all right.
Lacey Mosley
So this person, and that's Troy up
Paula Poundstone
there, as far as they know, that Susan is dead. Right? And so they all grieve and they all, you know, for those who are religious, you know, they pray like, oh, bring Susan back. I wish this never happened.
Lacey Mosley
And then Susan brings Susan back. Is that what they praying for when they pray?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, Susan brings Susan. Oh, bring Susan. What a loss.
Lacey Mosley
Jesus. Susan back down.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. If only Susan. I would do anything if Susan were back. And then Susan comes back and shouldn't they just be patting themselves on the back?
Lacey Mosley
Shouldn't they be like, yeah, that's so weird. If someone passes away and then they came back to life. Like, you think you'd be like, oh, I'm relieved. But you're kind of mad that you had to. This grief journey. Sure. Not the. Yeah, yeah. I wonder if people were mad when Jesus came back at the tomb. They was like, for real, Jesus? Yeah, for real. You gonna play with us like that?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Okay. Who knows? But when we.
Paula Poundstone
His whole Facebook group was very put off.
Lacey Mosley
All the disciples in their 12 man Facebook group were like, really? He gonna come back like this? Like, he ain't even telling none of us. Yeah. So we're looking at Troy right now, and they're hugged up. Here's Susan again. She's giving us a.
Paula Poundstone
Okay, that's a happier face on Susan.
Lacey Mosley
She's in the same.
Paula Poundstone
It looks like Susan only has one shirt. That's a.
Lacey Mosley
We all need a Troy.
Paula Poundstone
I wear the same.
Lacey Mosley
Cause Troy seems like he's very down for Susan. He came out and took all the blame for Susan. Was like, it was me. All the blame. I fake killed her. And accolades.
Paula Poundstone
Yes.
Lacey Mosley
I fake killed her. So. However. Though Susan's death in quotes was meant to keep her offline and it didn't stop her from going right back, apparently. So shortly after Susan's comeback post, Samantha revealed that Susan had created a burner Facebook profile in the. What's that? So a burner is, like, where you don't put your real photo, your real name, so you can lurk and, like, posts or watch stories or whatever, and nobody knows it's you because it's not your real account. So that's a burner. So a lot of people will have, like, finstas, which is, like, a fake Instagram account where they can look at people's stories or, like, posts or post their own stuff without other people knowing that it's them, if they're, like, a notable person or whatever. So she made a fake Facebook so that she could lurk, probably so she could get on the ward, the Facebook page and see, like, which, honestly, I'm not mad at that, because I've been thinking, like, you know, funerals are for the living. So if there's a funeral, it's like all of us having this cathartic moment to say goodbye to this person that we love, but the person isn't there. And so we're saying all these nice things, but the person can't hear it. I'm like, can I have a funeral before I die? So I can just hear, like, how cute and lovely I was and how much everybody loved me. Like, I'd just be in the. In the casket. Like,
Paula Poundstone
so creepy. What was that noise? What was that noise?
Lacey Mosley
Nothing, nothing, nothing. Um, like, people walk past the cast, and I'm like, oh, my bad, my bad. So shortly after Susan's comeback post, Samantha revealed that Susan had created a burner Facebook page. Wait a minute.
Paula Poundstone
Samantha again?
Lacey Mosley
So Samantha was the other author who was pissed about this whole Susan situation and had DMed her and was like, girl, like, so are you alive or not? Like, what's going on? All that stuff, right? So Samantha didn't let go. She's mad. She's a hater, and love this for her. She. She was like, I found her burner account. It's under the name tnc.
Paula Poundstone
And how would someone find a burner account? This is all totally new to me.
Lacey Mosley
Cause Samantha was on her ass. Samantha was checking the facts, the dates. Like, Samantha figured it out, right?
Paula Poundstone
But I still don't see how she would find her burner account if you just make up an account with somebody else's name.
Lacey Mosley
Well, she's a writer. And the thing about being a writer is that if you have enough writing out, published and you write in a certain cadence or you write a certain way, it's pretty easy to figure out, like, oh, this sounds exactly like this person who's allegedly left the planet.
Paula Poundstone
That's why Shakespeare could never have a successful burner account, because people kept finding him because everything he posted was to be.
Lacey Mosley
And we don't even. It was all in iambic pedamer.
Paula Poundstone
People are like, oh, that's Bill again.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, Shakespeare was basically just a he. You know, he had one style of rap, and we knew what he was gonna give us. Okay, iambic pantam is rap in iambic pentame.
Paula Poundstone
Cause I don't know.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, people rap in different cadences, and they stay that way. Every single dababy song is the exact same cadence. And that's why he sucks also. Cause he sucks as a human. Anyways, now you know.
Paula Poundstone
Okay, okay. Is Bitch don't kill my vibe. Is that.
Lacey Mosley
No, that's Kendrick Lamar.
Paula Poundstone
Bitch don't kill my Vibe.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, I like that. Yeah, get your. Still. So he's all right for now. But so, fun fact, in addition to running into TN Steel's account, and TN Steel is the fake Facebook account that Susan made, Susan was also active on TikTok the entire two years under her actual name, Susan Meechen now a locked account. So she was like, I'm gonna get out here and do these dances and not even worry about people knowing if I'm alive. Can you imagine Susan hitting a whoa On TikTok or making a cooking video? And they're like, susan, we got your. Now you over here chopping onions on TikTok. What happened?
Paula Poundstone
She was wearing that same pink shirt. People are like, that's her. That's her.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, wait, she got it on right there at the top at the TikTok. Oh, we gotta post this. The screenshot of this TikTok. Susan retired this pink shirt because girl, now she uses a lot of, like, filters and stuff, so you can't really see her face. But there's a recent post.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, I don't see her face.
Lacey Mosley
That has her face in the middle. Susan, my girl. So Tia's profile stated that she wanted to be an author, wife, office manager, and an all around goofier from Georgia. Okay. That's what her fake Facebook profile said. Susan's Amazon bio states that she's a wife, a mom, a meme, and a friend who lives in southeastern corner of Tennessee with her husband of 24 years. They're two cats and four snakes. Two cats and four snakes. All right. We live in a wild. These are interesting pets. So soon after Susan's death, in quotes, Connie Ortiz, her virtual assistant, posted to the ward that her family's health issues made it to difficult to continue to be an admin to the group and asked if anyone wanted to take over her duties under this post. T.N. steele commented, I'll take it, Connie Ortiz. I will overhaul it and I hope that that pleases you. And Susan, who is definitely dead and not me, from a fake account right now at the end. But so she volunteered to take over her own account from her burner. So I'm sure that that also led Samantha to be like, oh, so you volunteering to take over the account?
Paula Poundstone
Why is there an account for someone who's dead?
Lacey Mosley
Cause the girls are still reading the books and they wanna talk about the books. And Susan wanted to read their comments. And when you die, people stop saying mean things about you once you're dead. Unless you're evil like Hitler. We got hits for him all day. Like, you know, he a piece of shit. We hate him to this day. Nobody will ever wear that mustache. Cause they know what it means. Like, well, that's not true.
Paula Poundstone
There's a whole group of people that's decided that he's.
Lacey Mosley
People who still love him, but. But for the majority of us, we don't like that motherfucker. Fuck him. But for the most part, if you die, even if you were kind of shitty in life, people will still talk nice about you or talk nice about your work. So I'm sure she got off on reading people talk about her books and stuff because they're not gonna really say anything mean. For real? For real.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Unless they're gonna get a free book.
Lacey Mosley
Right? Right. So then they would say even nicer stuff. So with that, steel gained control of the group and Susan gained a front row seat to the grieving and infighting that occurred on the.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, it was gross.
Lacey Mosley
Including the harassment of her former friend Samantha. So Samantha was like, something ain't right. Shit is fishy. And the girls in the ward were like, she's dead. How dare you. Fuck you, Samantha.
Paula Poundstone
Oh. So Samantha guessed that she was not dead.
Lacey Mosley
Samantha was talking shit and everyone is like jumping on her about it. So Susan loved that. So the fallout of the announcement, Susan's fake death had additional ramifications outside of upsetting her fans. In initial announcement post, it was implied that the alleged bullying from her father, fellow authors in the war drove her to take her life. Remember, she was like, the girls are being mean to me. So I faked my dad. Y' all know, y' all know how you do. So some of Susan's fan base took those accusations and pointed fingers, inciting further conflict with an already grieving community. Samantha had been one of the authors arbitrarily accused of bullying Susan and was repeatedly harassed in the intermittent two years as a result. Following Susan's death, two fundraisers claimed to benefit the American foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Suicide Prevention were shared to the ward. Though it's unconfirmed who created them and where they came from and where the money actually went. So it kind of seems like Susan came in as the fake admin with her TN steal and was like, hey y', all, it's so sad that Susan had died. Cause we all loved her and she was so sexy and that pink shirt was really killing it. And it was okay that she wore it every day. And also, can y' all donate to these funds? That is definitely going to the funds. And then nobody.
Paula Poundstone
Did they make any money.
Lacey Mosley
People donated. Oh. Samantha had been one of the authors who was accused of bullying Susan. Right. Following Susan's death, two fundraisers claiming to benefit they. We don't know where the money went. So a group of best selling authors even dedicated an anthology of paranormal bully romance titled Bully King Anthology to Susan. So this is like Susan said, the bullies killed your favorite bitch and then they wrote a book like. And this is dedicated to. Because the bullies had killed her. Yeah. And it's rumored but unconfirmed that the proceeds were given to her family. So they really were trying to honor Susan's life even though she was alive. So the summary of the book reads, fall in love with the jaded lead root for the drop dead sexy anti hero. You know, she got titties. Drop dead sexy and run from or to dangerous creatures of the night. No. Paranormal bully romance novels are a subgenre of romance novels where characters pursue romantic relationships through bullying, while paranormal elements play a role in the characters lives as.
Paula Poundstone
See, this is my point. How many fans of this shit could there be? I would say that this group has seven people in it. There's just no fucking paranoid.
Lacey Mosley
You don't read books about ghosts that bully you and then you have ghost sex.
Paula Poundstone
I know it's ghost sex, bullying.
Lacey Mosley
It's Casper, but he's mean and he
Paula Poundstone
fucks with what was his. I can't remember. He had a cousin that was more, you know, up to.
Lacey Mosley
No. Casper had a cousin.
Paula Poundstone
He did. He had a cousin that was sort of up to no Good sometimes.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, listen, people loved Wednesday Addams. Wasn't she supposed to be a ghost? So editors also popped up, offering to edit Susan's unreleased novel for her family for free. So now she's getting free editing out of this. Her final novel was successfully published. And Love to Last a Lifetime is now available for $2.99 on Kindle. If y' all want to get into.
Paula Poundstone
Okay. Successfully published, by the way, has a different meaning now than it used to. You can get something published. It doesn't mean you can go to
Lacey Mosley
FedEx and get something published.
Paula Poundstone
Precisely. Yeah. I think Susan. I'm not feeling that with Susan. We're getting top of the line.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, it's not giving that. But in February 2021, someone claiming to be Susan's daughter posted Susan's account, like, posted to her account, complaining that none of her books had been purchased for several months. They were like, nobody is buying my dead mama book. And y' all know that she had a tragic life and a tragic death. So buy her book. And as such, would soon be unavailable for purchase unless sales increase. So, oh, boy. Someone pretending to be her daughter was like, if y' all don't start buying my dead mama book, it's gonna be dead to the world. Cause we gonna take it offline.
Paula Poundstone
That's right. The shit you don't want, you're not gonna have it anymore.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, you better start wanting the shit you don't want.
Paula Poundstone
That's right.
Lacey Mosley
Why y' all don't want the shit y' all don't want? Y' all better get it right now before you can't get it anymore, even though you don't want it.
Paula Poundstone
Although there is a. There's a certain technique to that.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, there is, like, scarcity creates demand, definitely and still does. There's so many diamonds in the world, y' all. Like, they're just inching them out when they stole them, you know, so that they seem valuable.
Paula Poundstone
I got some right here in my pocket.
Lacey Mosley
Loose diamonds. Paula. You just show up with loose diamonds everywhere you go.
Paula Poundstone
There was a comic years ago that used to do. She would go in and make a deal with clubs where she would do Monday nights. And she would take the door, and they would get the bar sales. And her big hook was, it's for women only. Which I don't even know if that's legal, by the way, but she was for women only. Only women can come in now. Prior to that, I don't know that that many people wanted to see her one way or the other. But by excluding. Excluding a group. By. In a very public, deliberate way, excluding a group. She made tons doing that.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, I bet. And listen, men already hate women. A lot of cisgendered men hate women. So, I mean, just, you know, in general. So she just made, like, the best advertisement campaign. Cause then they're gonna come on and complain, like, see, this is why we hate women. Look at this.
Paula Poundstone
Look at this.
Lacey Mosley
Women's only event. Oh.
Paula Poundstone
Oh. And they did. Men made a big fuss about it, like, so it's very much like the daughter. The shit you don't want. You are not gonna be able to
Lacey Mosley
have it if you don't buy it right now.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, exactly.
Lacey Mosley
Even though you don't want it. And I've seen that. Yes.
Paula Poundstone
I'm not gonna let you vacuum this room if you don't.
Lacey Mosley
And I love this. So it's unknown if sales did increase after the post, but one of her Amazon Kindle store ratings jumped from. It was like 200,000, like, almost 300,000. And then it jumped to 82,000. Around 82,000. So it jumped pretty highly.
Paula Poundstone
Right? That was a big jump.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. So somebody went at least looked at the book.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So since Susan's resurrection. Amen. Many have called for her to be investigated and prosecuted for fraud, claiming that she faked her death for book sales and to solicit cast donations. Two police officers even visited her home to discuss the allegations. And still others have reported her to the FBI Cyber Crimes Unit. So. And that's the thing. Like, she came back to the group chat and said, let the games begin. We gonna have fun. And some people were like, oh, you're back. We love you. And other people were like, we're reporting you to the FBI.
Paula Poundstone
I didn't know that would be illegal, but I guess it might be, right.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. They have to be in the eye, especially if they can trace back those GoFundMes to her for her fake death to charity.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So Susan has since said, I'm sorry for their mourning, but from a legal standpoint, I did nothing. Morally, I might have done something wrong, but legally, there's nothing wrong. I love that this is not awful. Lawful, but awful.
Paula Poundstone
You remember your expression? Yes, Lawful, but awful. Created it right here on this show.
Lacey Mosley
Yes. She was like, look, I didn't. I'm so sorry. To all of those who might have been offended by me faking my own death. Like, the fakest, worst apology, anytime, an apology has an if in it.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I'm so sorry if you were offended. Clearly People were offended. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing this public apology. You wouldn't open your front facing camera. If people weren we talking about if. Why you gaslighting us in your apology? Don't put if in your apology.
Paula Poundstone
Wait, did you just say you wouldn't open your front face.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Your front facing camera and get on here and record yourself. Talk about some. If. If nobody's. If nobody's mad. You wouldn't be apologizing, so there's no if about it.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, if. If someone was.
Lacey Mosley
But if is how people protect themselves. So it's like, I'm so sorry for their morning. Like, what do you. What do you mean? You faked your death to your fans directly?
Paula Poundstone
Like, yeah, she could have faked something less. She could have faked, like, just a really bad rap.
Lacey Mosley
What about a coma? Like a cute little coma. Cause people come out of those all the time. Give us a soap opera moment.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And just be like.
Paula Poundstone
And then everybody would be. They would be sad still. No, they would feel that they brought her back.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. And that would be more satisfying if she just woke up one day and was like, I'm back, y'. All.
Paula Poundstone
Or just. I think. Yeah, a lesser cause. Definitely being.
Lacey Mosley
So.
Paula Poundstone
She could have faked a nap.
Lacey Mosley
So final.
Paula Poundstone
She could have just faked a nap and people, you know. Cause a nap is, you know, trying out, being away from people for a while. Yeah, that's good. She could have faked a vacation.
Lacey Mosley
Right. Something. So for now, she is taking a break from writing to deal with the fake Susans that have popped up impersonating her on social media and the additional fallout from coming back from the dead. I do believe there probably are some fake Susans, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the fake Susans were real Susan pretending to be fake Susan because she is a perpetual victim. So she's trying to find more victims.
Paula Poundstone
Is a promotional, right?
Lacey Mosley
Oh, promotional.
Paula Poundstone
Cause we're talking about Susan.
Lacey Mosley
She blamed her husband. Although I will say, Susan, you married, right? Because your husband stood beside you. He said, I'm gonna stand beside her. She did. I'm gonna stand beside the coffin. He probably went to the funeral home, took some selfies, posted them. Like, he's giving a real faithful spouse. He said, I was the one who faked her death, everybody. So all the accolades.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, all the accolades.
Lacey Mosley
All the accolades. And if y' all mad, y' all can be mad at me. But also all the accolades. If y' all love.
Paula Poundstone
He's really taking the take. Yeah. Taking the bullet. For her.
Lacey Mosley
Right? But also the flowers. He's like the bullet. But also the flowers. But mostly flowers. Flowers with little bullets in them. Let's talk about it. So all 14 of her titles remain available for purchase on Amazon, Kindle. And Susan is a whole criminal. And I'm gonna read these book titles. Cause they are very funny. Here we go. Romance novel books. Losing him and finding you. Stolen Moments. Ooh, that mean you a side hoe. Chance Encounters. Oh, you like to have sex at work. Chance encounters 2. Letting go. Y' all can't have sex at work. No more than install cameras. Losing Hope. Book one in the Finding Me Duet. Finding Faith. So you already lost hope. Now you find faith. Book two in the Finding Me Duet. Never anything about neck pants in there.
Paula Poundstone
Is there anything about neck pants? Exactly.
Lacey Mosley
Neck pants. Jerking it on the greyhound.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Neckpants are the greyhound.
Lacey Mosley
That's a very romantic Smoky Mountain love.
Paula Poundstone
Remember Tennessee?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Oh, yes, Paula. That's what I was about to say. Susan lived in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. See, you know. Cause you drove across these Smoky Mountains.
Paula Poundstone
Absolutely.
Lacey Mosley
Special delivery. I'm guessing the delivery was Penis. My crush. That's when you're stalking somebody, but you're making it cute. Calling it a crush. His wicked way. Ooh, that sounds like he was toxic. But sexy. And then love to last a lifetime. Which was her posthumous public or.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, that was the one after she.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, after she died.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Yeah. Not that long ago.
Lacey Mosley
And then I love the title, Last a Lifetime, but it's. Her lifetime had ended.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. That's deep. Yeah, that's true.
Paula Poundstone
So now her husband doesn't have to do her anymore because she had love to last a lifetime. But that lifetime's over. That's why. That's why he helped.
Lacey Mosley
Sex in the grave.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Sex in the Sacred Cemetery. My posthumous book.
Paula Poundstone
Making it at the mortuary.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, making it at the mortuary. No, no, not the necro. Not the necrophilias. Oh, man. Susan. I don't know how to feel about you. Paula. Final thoughts on Susan.
Paula Poundstone
Susan.
Lacey Mosley
Cause she didn't call you. And she should have.
Paula Poundstone
No, she should have. Before she started the whole stupid thing. All right, Susan, I tell you, you know, you've really transgressed, first of all. But I. For me. And I can't speak for everybody. I can't speak for the ward, and I can't speak for the writers community, but for me, you could redeem yourself by writing a book wherein you explain that women's breasts don't heave. It's a big thing.
Lacey Mosley
That's a cornerstone of her work.
Paula Poundstone
That's a big thing. In romance novels, there's always heaving breasts. Breasts don't heave. They got you.
Lacey Mosley
Breasts have never heaved, man. I've been heaving all the time. I'm heaving all the way in here. I heave to the seat.
Paula Poundstone
No, that's because you don't take care of yourself. That's what that is.
Lacey Mosley
Even right now, y'.
Paula Poundstone
All.
Lacey Mosley
Can you hear it? Y' all hear my titties? That was my titties. That wasn't.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, no, no, that's not a sexual thing. That's a. That's a.
Lacey Mosley
Your lungs. I'm out of breath. I need a.
Paula Poundstone
Lungs are more. Cardio should be. So, yeah, they don't heave. And I. I'm sure a lot of guys feel like. So somehow they didn't, you know, or women feel like they didn't give their partner what they needed or wanted because their breasts didn't heave. They have to know. Breasts don't heave.
Lacey Mosley
I love that.
Paula Poundstone
Just hang out.
Lacey Mosley
Your piece of advice is not about her faking her death. It's just about the heaving breasts.
Paula Poundstone
No, I'm telling you, I would be willing to put the whole scam aside if she will just clear up. If she'll take, you know, if she'll take.
Lacey Mosley
Retract the heaps.
Paula Poundstone
Right. If she'll make this one step towards honesty on behalf of the entire romance novel writing community.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, losing him and finding you. That title alone, I'm like, I don't know, I might have to read that and see if I find myself by the end.
Paula Poundstone
Losing him and finding you.
Lacey Mosley
They say everywhere you go, there you are. But I don't know, maybe I need to read this book and figure out where I am at.
Paula Poundstone
No, you gotta get a GPS for that. You got.
Lacey Mosley
Got it.
Paula Poundstone
Got it.
Lacey Mosley
It's Ways Before Finding Yourself.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
That's the book I write. Well. Susan, I'm over here. I'm over here. Susan. I guess I'm glad you're back. Alive. We'll see what happens. But you do have another book for you. You could just write about how you lied about being dead and the girls would read it. So some more book. What about Losing me and finding me Again? Or I died, but really I didn't.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Back from the grave.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
To save. I don't know, Susan.
Paula Poundstone
Take another shovelful. That's.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. I mean, listen, ain't nobody ever opened up the door at the funeral home and hopped out you know?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
As a mausoleum.
Paula Poundstone
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Ta da.
Lacey Mosley
That could be ashes to ashy. I put lotion on and I'm back to life, you know, like work on it. These are working titles. You. You got it, Susan. All right. The saddest part of the show. Swear I have to let Paula Pound song go.
Paula Poundstone
Let's take another break.
Lacey Mosley
Okay, we're back. But before we do that, scammer of the week. So we're just gonna talk about a charlatan who maybe or maybe not as worthy of our praise. I love that it's a Florida woman because I know Polly, you have some interest in the Florida scam community. So a Florida woman has been arrested after a four year long romance scam. Keeping on the romance theme that resulted in defense an 87 year old Holocaust survivor. Yeah, if you went through the Holocaust. And I met a lot of Holocaust survivors because they used to like. I don't wanna call it a tour. Cause that feels weird. But they would go to schools and like we would meet them and they would tell us stories and stuff from like their days and you know.
Paula Poundstone
Public speaking.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, public speaking. There we go. It's not a tour. I'm making it sound like they Jack Harlow. Like they on stage. Like put your hands up. Have you heard of the. No, it's not that. But it was really dope because you got to get stories from elders who really experienced these tragic events. And it was really cool to meet them. But how you gonna take advantage of somebody who already went through so much? Come on now, scam an investment banker who's 87, not a Holocaust survivor. Like God damn. So Peaches star Jo. Well, your name is Peaches. All you could do was have a life of crime. Oh, look at Peaches. Her mugshot. She looked like she was this looked like if we cropped out one bridesmaid from a photo. You know those weddings where they have several different things they make you pay for? Like you gotta go on a bachelorette trip. You gotta have a matching swimsuit that y' all get off Etsy. And then y' all go to the wedding and they make you wear an A line dress that don't work for your body type. It's given. Like they cropped her face. One of those photos. She looks beat though. Like she got the blush on the lip, the brow.
Paula Poundstone
No, but there's crime behind Peach's eyes.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, Peaches.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
I mean her name is Peaches. Her family set her up for crime. That's a crime legacy.
Paula Poundstone
Name yeah, see, you're too young. But there used to be a band. Or is it Duo? Peaches and Herb.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, I know about Peaches and Herb. Yeah, Yeah, I know about them.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, Peaches.
Paula Poundstone
This peach is. Yeah, this peach is really. I'm telling you, there's crime behind those eyes.
Lacey Mosley
It is.
Paula Poundstone
And I don't think those eyes. Those eyebrows are real.
Lacey Mosley
No, they're definitely not. Those eyebrows came from Sephora. And that's okay. I get mine there too, sometimes. But Peaches got a good beat and it's giving a little bit. I'm not mad at Peaches so far. So, Peaches. Her name is Peaches Sturgill, which she didn't have a chance. 36. She began her scam in 2017 when she met her victim in an online dating site. She eventually asked him for funds to pay for her lawyer, who she claims was refusing to release the funds for an injury settlement. So she was basically like, I got a big settlement.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Peaches slipped on some juice and fell. And the girls aren't trying to give me my coins until I pay them or whatever. So can you, a Holocaust survivor, give me coins? Mm, mm, mm. So the victim gave her the money, but there were no funds to be received from any injury settlement. And I've said this a billion times. I'll say it again, if anybody's like, hey, I got a lot of money, but I need money from you. Stop right there. Full stop.
Paula Poundstone
Right?
Lacey Mosley
You a heiress, or you got funds coming in, or you got a settlement, but you need money from me. It's not giving. You have Lenny, right? That's not how money work. Mm, mm. No, thank you. Yeah, just stop right there. Walk away. Scream. You know, that makes people uncomfortable. Just do a scream, you know. Have you ever screamed, like in Chill Company? Like you're just chilling with somebody and y' all talking and you just like, ah, like try it. It's very unnerving. And then maybe they'll leave.
Paula Poundstone
I don't think they give up. You know, Peaches looks like more of a pomegranate to me. Do you get that? Yeah, just more of a pomegranate. Yeah. There's crime behind those.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, for sure. You open that up, it's gonna be hella work. Pomegranates are the hardest working fruit in the game. Like, I didn't sign up for a job when I'm eating fruit. And when you open a pomegranate, you gotta munch on all the seeds, spit em out. That's a lot of Work.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. That's why that palm juice is so expensive. Because thousands of people worked on that and 8 ounce.
Lacey Mosley
Mm to get it all out of them tiny little seeds. But it. It does bust, though. It do be busting. So shout out to Pomp. Sponsor the show. So over the following four years, Peaches forged documents and impersonated a bank employee in order to extract from her victim more than more. Fancy trips, Rolex watches, and luxury purchases. I mean, were they going together? It just kind of sound like they was going together. This man was 87. And peaches, she know how to do her makeup and keep it cute. It sounds like he got a baddie. And baddies cost money. No, baddies cost money. I lost my wallet for a whole weekend and didn't even notice because my boob was paying for everything. Baddies are expensive, you know? What are you gonna do?
Paula Poundstone
Did you get it back?
Lacey Mosley
Your wallet? I did.
Paula Poundstone
Wow. I like that.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. And didn't have to pay for nothing. And I didn't even have to say I lost my wallet. I lost my wallet and didn't notice. Cause I never had to reach for it. Amen.
Paula Poundstone
Wow. I don't. I don't have a wallet. I just.
Lacey Mosley
You're just out here on vibes, Paula.
Paula Poundstone
No, I just put my money in my pocket. I don't have a wallet.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, you just tell them you're Queen Victoria of comedy, and they're like, oh, you don't have to pay for this. Except for Dunkin Donuts.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, no, I pay.
Lacey Mosley
Where Y' all caught her up in an altercation. Y', all. They owe you money. I'm gonna get you that settlement, but first you gotta help me pay my lawyer.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, yeah, I'll do that. Where do I sign?
Lacey Mosley
So in total, Peaches manipulated her big into writing 62 checks totaling over $2.8 million.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, gee, Moniques. Okay, there's something wrong. Okay, well, clearly the victim had been through a lot, and therefore maybe not.
Lacey Mosley
I wanna say Peaches, even though there's definitely no life behind her eyes, she feels like a fun time. I feel like if I went to dinner with Peaches, she would keep me laughing and on my toes. So I don't know, Maybe she's worth 2.8.
Paula Poundstone
You're putting a lot of backstory into Peaches. Look at Peaches that you don't think is there.
Lacey Mosley
Okay, Peaches just got a fresh blowout. Okay. Okay. Her hair is shiny. Okay. She not using three in one shampoo. She definitely got one on one shampoo and conditioner. Okay, I like Peaches. This is a long one, guys, but we're at the end. So eventually he lost his life savings and had to give up his apartment. At the same time, Peaches bought a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat, and numerous cars, including a Corvette and a Chevy Suburban. A Chevy Suburban gives me like Peaches had a man on.
Paula Poundstone
Yeah, Peaches wasn't coming across for the 87 year old.
Lacey Mosley
She might have driven the Corvette, but I feel like the Chevy was for whoever was giving Peaches that D. Whoever Peaches was getting the banana from was getting that Chevy.
Paula Poundstone
I just heard a story that on. I think it was. I think it was on NPR maybe that sometimes mismanagement of money is often a precursor, an early sign of dementia.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah.
Paula Poundstone
And my guess is that 87 year old man, after everything this poor guy's been through, that that is what this
Lacey Mosley
is, you know, and that's why scammers target elderly people. We say it all the time on the show. Call your grandma, call your grandpa, otherwise you're not gonna get no inheritance. Cause whoever calling them gonna get it. Okay, I'm about to call Meemaw and see how she doing and see what's going on on the porch. But Peaches has been charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a max sentence of 20 years. So if you do it on Western Union, if you do it on Zell, honey, if they catch you, they're gonna give you the charges. That's like the mail. I told y', all, don't mail your scams. Cause the postal unit will show up and they'll put you in that car with no doors and you go into jail.
Paula Poundstone
Okay, you know what? I think Peaches has it coming. I do.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, what if he had fun? He87. These are the last years of his life. Peaches sounds like a thrill. I don't know. I feel like let Peaches out. You know,
Paula Poundstone
Let Peaches out. That's gonna be. That T shirt is gonna fly off the shelves.
Lacey Mosley
Let Peaches back on the trees, honey. I want her in the street.
Paula Poundstone
You can get a scam goddess T shirt. And also it comes with a Let Peaches out T shirt.
Lacey Mosley
Let Peaches out. Yes, it comes with a fresh peach. We can't guarantee how fresh it is though. This is America. But we always ask at the end of the show, where would you like to be found? Anything you wanna put plug any socials here?
Paula Poundstone
We've been talking about death. And you said, where would you like to be Found. Oh, please.
Lacey Mosley
You and Nathan Kress both went here. He was like, the La Brea Tar pits. I was like, not your body, bro.
Paula Poundstone
No, that's what I thought you meant.
Lacey Mosley
Like.
Paula Poundstone
Oh, tell me it's not gonna be, like, hovering over the toilet or something. Okay.
Lacey Mosley
No. I would hope your ghost doesn't have to haunt a toilet. That feels like a bad ghost job. Yeah, okay.
Paula Poundstone
No, no, no.
Lacey Mosley
I'm trying to haunt a mansion.
Paula Poundstone
Where would I like to be? I have a podcast called Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone, and I tour theaters around the country all the time. And you can find out where@paulowpoundstone.com, click on the tour page and you can see if I'm gonna be near you either to come to see my show or to get away.
Lacey Mosley
They're coming to see also only the hottest people at Paula Poundstone show, so you better be sexy when you go to the door. Is that creating enough scarcity?
Paula Poundstone
Yeah. That's good, right? Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
We don't let people that are non sexies not allowed. No. All right, y', all, as always, you can find me at D I V A L A C I D valacy on all platforms. Y' all watch the George Lopez show. I'll be popping up on there a lot. Um, the new season of iCarly. I don't know when that's coming out, but we just wrapped it, so y' all will see soon. And if you want to see the photos of our beautiful queen Susan in her pink shirt in all different locations, Scam Goddess Pod on all platforms. Scam Goddess pod on the Instagram. You know, that's where I post all the photos. And if you want to talk to me, scamgottispod on Twitter. Congregation, send me those emails and snitch on your friends and your family. Tell us your scams. As long as they're retired. Or if they're not and you wanna put us on, we love some tea. Scamgottispodmail.com Congregation, stay resurrecting. Okay, let's all come back on the third day. Amen. Scam goddess. Hey, I'm Paul Scheer. I'm June Diane Rayfield. And I'm Jason Manzoukas. And we're the hosts of how did this Get Made? A comedy podcast where we deconstruct, make fun of, and celebrate the best worst movies ever made. Have you ever seen a movie that's so bad that it's actually good? That's what we're talking about from Blockbuster franchises and made for TV romances to bonkers 80s action flicks and obscure sci fi musicals. We cover it all you can find. How did this get made? Wherever you get your podcasts and don't forget to follow the show so you never miss miss an episode. Idiot. You've never been one to settle, stand down or stand still. You're a lifelong learner, energized by excellence. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. You've got competition to outrun, momentum to build on, and your own high standards to meet. Stop now. Not a chance. At Capella University, we help you catch what you're chasing because you've always had the drive. Now go earn the degree. Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella. Edu to learn.
Fraud Friday Classic Episode
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Paula Poundstone
Main Theme: The wild caper—and community fallout—of romance novelist Susan Meechen, who faked her own death and returned to life on Facebook, plus discussions of scam culture, Amazon review cons, and listener letters.
This classic Fraud Friday on Scam Goddess delivers a hilarious and sharp-witted deep dive into one of the weirdest scams in recent literary history: the resurrection of indie romance author Susan Meechen. Host Laci Mosley and comedy legend Paula Poundstone riff about fraud in everyday life—from petty personal schemes to modern internet cons—while dissecting Meechen’s bizarre fake-death saga, reader scambaiting, and the ever-evolving landscape of digital deception. The episode also features riotous personal stories from Paula and listener scam confessions.
[02:55–15:15]
[18:53–35:00]
[36:24–78:39]
[79:35–87:40]
This episode is a rollercoaster blending riotous life anecdotes, savvy fraud analysis, and a wild case study in “dying for attention.” If you want to laugh at audacious cons—old-school and new—learn how emotional and digital manipulation overlap, or just hear comedy legends riff about heaving breasts in pulp fiction, this is a must-listen.
“Stay resurrecting, and as always, stay schemin’!” –Laci Mosley [End]