Scamfluencers – Episode 200: “Matt Bergwal: Return to Sender”

Release Date: February 9, 2026
Hosts: Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode of Scamfluencers, hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi delve into the meteoric rise and combustive fall of Matt Bergwal, a privileged college tech prodigy turned cyber scam ringleader. Through the world of digital refund fraud and Telegram chat rooms, the co-hosts analyze why the lure of easy online money and fleeting status pushed an ambitious young man into orchestrating an $8 million scam—and how the consequences ultimately caught up with him.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Allure of Online Cool and the Tech Bro Fantasy

• Opening Reflection: The hosts discuss their own youthful attempts to fit in, setting up the episode’s core question—what drives people, especially young men, to bend the rules for acceptance and status?
  • “He wanted people to like him, and money was an easy shortcut. It’s the origin story for a lot of villains, but somehow this one includes several more Rolexes.” —Sarah Hagi [01:05]
• As Matt begins at the University of Miami, the podcast outlines how Miami’s tech-centric, crypto-glam environment represents both escape and aspiration for him.

2. Matt Bergwal’s Background & Early Tech Obsessions

• Matt’s upbringing in an affluent Connecticut suburb, natural aptitude for tech, and early entrepreneurial gestures.
• As a middle-schooler, he builds Minecraft and GTA servers (“I was like, I’ll figure out how to make a server for us.” —Matt Bergwal, [07:22]), gains notoriety in high school for minor hacking and social engineering exploits, and later begins flipping Instagram accounts.
• “...maybe a bit sus but pretty much legal.” —Scaachi Koul on his early business ventures [08:31]
• The episode notes how Matt’s ambition is amplified by online culture: crypto hype, start-up mythology, and the myth of the brash tech disruptor.

3. Personal Tragedy as Catalyst and Coping Mechanism

• The unexpected death of Matt’s father deeply affects him. He takes a gap year, overworks himself with two full-time jobs, and feels a compulsion to achieve greatness, further entrenching his workaholic and risk-taking tendencies.
  • “...capitalism might also be serving as Matt’s coping mechanism.” —Scaachi Koul [12:44]

4. Arrival in Miami: Fitting In at Any Cost

• Miami’s “crypto capital” atmosphere leads Matt to adopt a flashier persona. He attends networking events, claims dubious investments, and gains a reputation for excess among classmates.
• His NFT project “Skeletal Cats” is lampooned by the hosts (“It’s something you would doodle. It requires zero talent. I hate it. It’s stupid.” —Scaachi Koul [16:03]).

5. Andrew Zung and the Genesis of the UPS Now Scam

• Introduction of Andrew Zung, a teenage hacker who discovers a vulnerability in UPS’s backend and launches a Telegram-based refund scam ring called UPS Now.
  • Detailed explanation of fake tracking ID (FTID) refund scams: sending empty boxes, using disappearing ink, or manipulating internal databases.
  • “There are scammers who are doing it on purpose. They do it at scale, too.” —Sarah Hagi [18:50]

6. Matt Bergwal’s Role in Scaling the Operation

• Matt, under the alias “mxb,” becomes a customer, then buys UPS Now for $150,000 ([21:13-23:13]), taking over an operation with hundreds of customers and several employees while juggling school.
• Quickly overwhelmed by operational demands and mental health issues, Matt consults university counselors who flag symptoms of hypomania and grandiosity ([23:34]).
• Online, Matt remains brazen, boasting: “Our infrastructure is that of a legitimate company.” —Read in episode [24:36]

7. Downfall: Stress, Exposure & The Federal Sting

• Despite Matt’s attempts to stabilize the operation, mounting pressure and increasing risk force him to sell UPS Now at a loss, netting only about $21,000 ([29:51]).
  • “The reality of his new position isn’t quite as glamorous as he might have imagined.” —Sarah Hagi [21:13]
• Meanwhile, the FBI and Amazon begin investigating massive refund fraud rings. Operation Chargeback results in sweeping indictments ([31:42]).

8. Legal Reckoning and Aftermath

• Matt is indicted on federal mail fraud charges, pleads guilty, and—despite attempts to show remorse by overpaying restitution ($1.5M)—receives a one-year prison sentence ([37:01-37:37]).
  • Pressure from family and official bipolar diagnosis considered in sentencing, but the judge insists Matt must still face real consequences ([37:01]).
• Hosts reflect on how tech-enabled scams blur moral boundaries, the numbing ease of online crime for digital natives, and how, ironically, Matt’s first real brush with responsibility—customer management—proved almost harder than the scam itself ([40:02]).

9. Cultural Reflections and Episode Takeaways

• Scaachi and Sarah marvel at how digital crime’s abstraction can disinhibit otherwise privileged youth.
  • “If you’re just doing all of this on the computer, it’s easy to pretend it’s not really happening and that there won’t be a consequence.” —Scaachi Koul [39:26]
• They lament that Matt turned to outright criminality for validation he already had access to through legal privilege (“He was a well-off kid doing it for no reason, only because he wanted more stuff...” —Sarah Hagi [38:55])
• The episode ends on a wry note about the punishment: for digital-first scammers, perhaps the real prison is being offline ([41:03-41:23]).

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the allure of scamming for popularity:

  • “He wanted people to like him, and money was an easy shortcut.”
    —Sarah Hagi [01:05]

• Matt's origin story:

  • “I really started with a game called Minecraft. I was young and... I’ll figure out how to make a server for us.”
    —Matt Bergwal [07:22]

• NFT and crypto culture satire:

  • “It’s like what you would do on Microsoft Paint... It requires zero talent. It doesn’t matter, I hate it, it’s stupid.”
    —Scaachi Koul on Skeletal Cats NFT [16:03]

• Details of the scam’s mechanics:

  • “There are scammers who are doing it on purpose. They do it at scale, too... Some scammers write the address in dissolving ink so it vanishes in transit.”
    —Sarah Hagi [18:50]

• Overwhelmed by the scale of fraud:

  • “We are fighting a company with hundreds of employees whose sole purpose is to prevent the fraud we are doing.”
    —Matt, via chat, read by Scaachi Koul [28:21]

• On digital crime’s ease and detachment:

  • “If you’re just doing all of this on the computer, it’s easy to pretend it’s not really happening and that there won’t be a consequence.”
    —Scaachi Koul [39:26]

• Punishment as privilege:

  • “It's tragic that his version of prison is just, like, staying offline, literally.”
    —Sarah Hagi [41:03]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Matt's early tech experiments & family background: [06:00–11:00]
• Father’s death and workaholic coping: [11:00–13:00]
• Move to Miami and fitting in with “tech bro” culture: [13:00–17:00]
• Intro to refund scams and UPS Now: [17:00–21:00]
• Matt becomes a scam entrepreneur: [21:00–24:36]
• Mental health deterioration, attempts at help: [23:34–26:43]
• Collapse of the scam, sale of UPS Now: [28:21–29:51]
• Legal pursuit, Operation Chargeback: [31:24–34:40]
• Sentencing and reflection: [36:50–41:23]

Conclusion & Final Reflection

Scamfluencers uses the story of Matt Bergwal as both a cautionary tale and a snapshot of a moment in online culture, where status anxiety, digital opportunity, and blurred moral lines collided with spectacular, if predictable, results. Ultimately, the episode is a meditation on risk, the seductive nature of online scams, and the deep-rooted need for validation—even among society’s most privileged.

Recommended for listeners interested in true crime, the psychology of scammers, tech culture, and coming-of-age narratives in a digital world.