S22 Ep7: Scam the Scammer

Summary

Episode Summary: Something Was Wrong | S22 E7: Scam the Scammer

Release Date: December 5, 2024

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Introduction

In the seventh episode of the 22nd season of Something Was Wrong, titled "Scam the Scammer", host Tiffany Reese delves deep into the manipulative actions of Megan Stoner, a figure embroiled in a series of scams and criminal activities. This episode unpacks the community's response to Stoner's deceit, the emotional toll on her victims, and the relentless pursuit of justice by those determined to hold her accountable.

Background on Megan Stoner and Previous Episodes

Megan Stoner emerged in the Indianapolis community not just as a political figure but as someone whose actions led to significant trauma and financial loss for many. In prior episodes, listeners were introduced to Alyssa, an Indianapolis community member who first became aware of Stoner's questionable behavior. Alyssa had posted free items for those in need on Facebook, only to find Stoner removing these items from her porch, revealing her ulterior motives. This act led Alyssa to report Stoner to the Buy Nothing Facebook group admin, marking the beginning of a longer investigation into Stoner's activities.

The Scam Awareness Facebook Group

Years after the initial incident, Alyssa discovered the Megan Stoner Scam Awareness Facebook group, a community of alleged victims and concerned locals. This group became a hub for sharing experiences and strategies to combat Stoner's ongoing fraudulent activities. As Megan faced legal charges, including an OWI and nine felony counts, her continued alleged misconduct, even after being released on bond, highlighted the severity of her deceitful behavior.

The Story of Tom

A pivotal moment in the episode revolves around Tom, a victim who had loaned Stoner money and shared his card information with her. Unaware of her rental scams, Tom experienced significant financial strain as Stoner provided inconsistent excuses about her legal troubles. Over time, Tom's growing suspicions led him to the Scam Awareness group, where he learned the extent of Stoner's manipulations. Discovering that someone he admired had scammed him deeply affected Tom, transforming his relationship with Stoner from admiration to betrayal.

[05:09] Alyssa: "She had a warrant for the OWI case and around that time she had her court date coming up for the felony charges out of Hamilton county... She was staying in and out of Airbnbs, changing them up every night."

Alyssa's Investigation and Attempts to Approach Stoner

Driven by a sense of justice and personal connection to Tom's plight, Alyssa took matters into her own hands. Posing as a reporter named Valerie, she reached out to Stoner, aiming to gather incriminating information by befriending her. Alyssa recounted:

[09:13] Alyssa: "It's important to note when listening to most of the calls we're including this season with Megan to keep in mind that the goal... was to gather more evidence by getting her to accidentally slip up and share important information."

Alyssa's strategy involved gaining Stoner's trust by expressing interest in buying the life rights to her story, hoping Stoner would inadvertently reveal critical details about her scams and legal issues.

The Failed Arrest Attempt

A significant part of Alyssa's efforts culminated in a risky plan to confront and arrest Stoner. On a tense August night in 2023, Alyssa, accompanied by Vero (the group admin), orchestrated a meeting with Stoner at a local Airbnb. The plan was to have Stoner meet them, and with Vero's help, alert the authorities to apprehend her.

[23:26] Megan Stoner: "I'm like, I'm down for it. Let's go. I'll go pick you up. We'll do this."

However, the operation faced unforeseen challenges. Despite initially locating Stoner, a miscommunication and a non-extraditable warrant led to her abrupt release by the police. Stoner's dismissive reaction post-release only fueled Alyssa's determination.

[30:01] Alyssa: "And then I see somebody message in the group chat, and they're like, they just said non extraditable warrant on the scanner... they let her go."

Continued Efforts and New Strategies by the Group

Undeterred by the failed attempt, Alyssa and her allies ramped up their efforts. They spearheaded innovative sting operations, including creating fake social media accounts to lure Stoner into interactions where she might reveal incriminating information. One notable strategy involved Amanda, who leveraged her graphic design skills to craft a believable business entity, True Renewal Bloomington, aimed at attracting Stoner's interest.

[41:13] Amanda: "I have a graphic design background, so I made an Instagram account. I made it in 20 minutes. I called it True Renewal Bloomington... we thought Megan loves to present herself as an expert on things."

This approach paid off when Stoner, under financial strain, took the bait and engaged with the fake business, setting the stage for another round of attempted arrest.

Emotional and Community Impact

Throughout the episode, the emotional weight of the community's struggle against Stoner is palpable. Victims like Tom feel betrayed and vulnerable, while members like Alyssa grapple with the risks of their vigilantism. The episode underscores the challenges faced by those seeking justice outside formal legal channels, highlighting themes of trust, betrayal, and resilience.

[16:12] Alyssa: "I feel like they just are watching your every move, and you just keep giving them ammo to do so. Okay. That's my best advice to you, is don't give them so much ammo."

Conclusion and Ongoing Mission for Justice

Something Was Wrong concludes with an unwavering commitment from Alyssa and her group to continue their pursuit of Megan Stoner. Despite setbacks, their mission to expose Stoner's crimes and prevent further victimization remains resolute. The episode serves as a testament to community-driven justice and the lengths individuals will go to protect and support one another against prevalent deceit.

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Notable Quotes

• Alyssa: "No one deserves to be treated like this. No one deserves to put trust in someone and then have someone completely ruin that trust." [05:09]

• Megan Stoner: "My life for weeks now, and I'm just... I'm so tired of hiding in seclusion." [14:31]

• Alyssa: "I will not stop until you are behind bars and you pay for your crimes." [30:01]

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Final Thoughts

"Scam the Scammer" offers a gripping narrative of deceit, community response, and the quest for justice. Through detailed storytelling and emotional testimonies, the episode sheds light on the complexities of dealing with fraudulent individuals and the power of collective action in combating such threats.

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Transcript

[Tiffany Reese]

Wondery subscribers can listen to Something Was Wrong early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Audible's best of 2024 picks are here. Discover the year's top audiobooks and originals in all your favorite genres, from memories and sci fi to mysteries and thrillers. Audible's curated list in every category is the best way to hear 2024's best in audio. Enter Like a stunning new full cast production of George Orwell's 1984 heartfelt memoirs like Supreme Court Justice Conti Brown Jackson's lovely one, or the year's best fiction like the Woman by Kristin Hannah Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Go to audible.comsww and discover all the years best waiting for you. Something Was Wrong is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about the drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help when you need it, so your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. This podcast is intended for mature audiences and discusses topics that may be upsetting. For a full content warning, sources and resources, please visit the Episode Notes Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of myself, Broken Cycle Media, or Wondery. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice. Megan Stoner's responses to these allegations are addressed within this season. I'm Tiffany Reese and this is Something was wrong.

[Megan Stoner]

You.

[Alyssa]

They can know me. You don't know me well.

[Tiffany Reese]

Last episode we heard from Indianapolis community member Alyssa, who first became aware of Stoner's shady behavior when Alyssa had posted some free items for people in need on Facebook. Alyssa reported Stoner to the Buy Nothing Facebook group admin after Stoner took items off Alyssa's porch that were intended for others in need. Years later, Alyssa came across the Megan Stoner Scam Awareness Facebook group, which primarily consisted of alleged victims of Megan Stoner and concerned locals. After Stoner had been charged with the OWI and nine felony counts, she was released on bond. As a surprise to probably no one, Stoner continued to commit alleged crimes and target alleged new victims like Tom during the time she was running Feral outside. Now as we heard in the last few episodes from Tom, when he loaned Stoner money originally and shared his card info with her, he did not know about the rental scams. Stoner had told him that she was in jail at times she wasn't in jail and that her being in jail was due to a civil case against her by a moving company, which was also inaccurate. After months of Stoner giving Tom the runaround about paying him back, he began digging around more online and asking questions about Stoner's self proclaimed haters. Eventually, a member of the Megan Stoner Scam awareness Facebook group, Mike Neal, connected with Tom and filled him in on what the group had gathered about Megan Stoner's alleged crimes. Tom was in shock when he learned this news, but even more than that, he was heartbroken to learn that he had been taken advantage of by someone whom he considered to be a friend and someone he admired in politics. When the Facebook scam awareness group learned about Tom and that Stoner had continued on her merry little scammy way, they were determined more than ever to bring Megan Stoner to justice. Fast forward to summer of 2023 and Stoner was due to return to court to face her pending charges. Here's Alyssa.

[Alyssa]

She had a warrant for the OWI case and around that time she had her court date coming up for the felony charges out of Hamilton county, the rental scams, and she didn't want to go to that felony court date because she knew she had a warrant. I think she thought, well, if I show up to this court date, they're going to arrest me because I have pending charges there. That she also did not show up to court for. So that's when she didn't show up to court in Hamilton county and they put out a warrant for her arrest there. Also, she was on the run, so she wasn't at home. She was staying in and out of Airbnbs, changing them up every night. It really seems crazy now, but at the time I was just like, this girl has done so much wrong. It's time for someone to bring justice to this situation and the people that she's hurt. But in between that time when the warrant came out for the OWI and she hadn't yet had a warrant for the felony charges is when I started texting her. The goal was maybe I can get her to come meet me somewhere. I think we all thought it was kind of far fetched. We'll see where it goes from here, but I'll try anyway. So I started texting her and she Starts divulging all of this information to me about Tom. She's like, can you please message my friend Tom? He's not listening to me. I did some bad things, but I need. I'm trying to pay him back. I want to pay him back the money I owe him. Because I think at this point, he was really understanding the gravity of what she had done to him and how much money she had taken from him under false pretenses. I reached out to somebody else in the group that was an admin, and I was like, hey, I've been talking to Megan, and I really think someone needs to get a hold of this person. So that's when I found out that, like, Tom had been talking to someone in the group already and that he had begun grasping the fact that she had scammed him really bad. I think he was probably her most prolific victim out of the pool of people that she had scammed. I had reached out to him, and I was talking to him, and he started to share some of the things that she had done. And at that point, it was always kind of like a joke to me. Maybe she'll come and meet me, maybe she won't. But then when I realized, like, what she had done, that's when I, like, hit it into high gear. And I was like, you know what? No. No one deserves to be treated like this. No one deserves to put trust in someone and then have someone completely ruin that trust. And that's what she had done with him. And it was scary. And so at that point, I started texting her. And shortly after that is when she met me for the first time, and I actually saw her in person. So I got her number from someone in the group, and I just said, like, hey. I think I said my name was Valerie. I'm a reporter for such and such. I think I even, like, googled the place, the company. I minded my P's and Q's there. I was very straightforward, like, this is who I work for. This is what I want to do. I want to buy the life rights to your story. I think you have a really crazy story to tell. I think your voice should be heard. So I really tried to play to that. Megan Stoner, diabolical mind. She was like, oh, this is great. Someone wants to, like, tell a story all about me. We talked for a couple days, and a few times. She had said, can you reach out to my friend Tom? He's not listening. I think she was terrified that he was going to go and file charges against her at the time. And I was like, I don't think it's appropriate for me to reach out to one of your victims. She was like, okay, can you send me $20 for food tonight? And I'm like, I suppose I can do that. And so when she provided me her cash app, it was not her cash app. It was someone else's. And at that time, it was kind of like, she's starting to take the bait, like, she wants money from me. And so what I had done, I was like, why don't you let me give you some money so that you can get your Airbnb or whatever? And she's like, well, you know, I have a warrant, so I'm not meeting anyone. She was pretty adamant about that. But the next day, she called me on the phone and I recorded it, and she was like, my mom gave my dog away. Her dog Coco was all over her Twitter, like, this dog was her bestie, and her mom had given her dog away. And so she called me. She's like, my mom hates me. She told me she doesn't want to see me again. As not great as it was on my part, I was like, you know what? Like, let's play into this. And I'm like, I can't believe your mom would do that. I tried to get a little closer with her.

[Tiffany Reese]

It's important to note when listening to most of the calls we're including this season with Megan to keep in mind that the goal of the person speaking to Megan, I'd guess 90% of the time, was to gather more evidence by getting her to accidentally slip up and share important information. And this is certainly the approach Alyssa took to try and get info from Stoner by claiming to be a journalist and by offering a sympathetic ear in order to get more information. The goal was to scam the scammer into telling on themselves. And thankfully for all of us, she almost always takes the bait. The following call took place a few days before Stoner was due to report back to court for her pending charges.

[Alyssa]

Okay, so. And then what about everything else you like? You have to pay the lawyers for everything else then, too, right?

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah, I mean, I don't really care about anything else other than that one case right now or the Hamilton County.

[Alyssa]

I feel like that's the big one. You know what I mean? The other ones are kind of small. They're not a huge deal.

[Megan Stoner]

Right.

[Alyssa]

Stuff that can get thrown out really easily. But the Hamilton county case is kind of a big one.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah. The prosecutor is not going easy because of all the media attention.

[Alyssa]

Yeah. It blew up online, obviously.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah. And he knows that. And I can't do a year in jail. I'm sorry.

[Alyssa]

That's the plea deal. A year in jail?

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah.

[Alyssa]

Fuck.

[Megan Stoner]

When I talked to my attorney, that was Tuesday, and then he said on Thursday that he was still waiting to hear back.

[Alyssa]

So you don't know for sure that they're going to offer that, or is that what your lawyer asked for?

[Megan Stoner]

No, they've offered that. My attorney went back and asked them, like, if I could just do, like, 30 years on house arrest, holy shit. I would be willing to avoid jail.

[Alyssa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, at least when you're on house arrest, you can work. Yeah. You can go out places you're not really just confined to your house. Like, a lot of people think, yeah.

[Megan Stoner]

My dad was on house arrest and got through it. I mean, it's not that terrible. It's better than jail.

[Alyssa]

And now they've got your mom just completely flipped and turned on you. Yeah. That's like the one person, you know, you can always trust. You know what I mean? Like, it's your mom. I'm like that with my dad. Like, we're really close, and so I can't really imagine what it would be like if he just turned on me when I needed him the most, you know? Did your mom tell you she was getting rid of Cocoa before she did it, or did she just tell you, like, I got rid of Coco?

[Megan Stoner]

She just told me.

[Alyssa]

I'm so sorry.

[Megan Stoner]

These people. I'm sorry. These people are vicious.

[Alyssa]

They are vicious. I will say that. I can see it. Like, I. Well, I could see it all. I can't now. Obviously. I got booted from the crew, but.

[Megan Stoner]

Why did you get booted?

[Alyssa]

Because I threw a fit. Because it doesn't. I mean, it's not a huge deal, but, like, I don't like everything that was being said in there, and I kind of got a little offended by some things. And then once everyone saw that my name was on any kind of paperwork, they started blowing me and I went off and told them all to stop. And that's when I got booted from the group. Like, I woke up the next morning and it was like, none of the posts were. I can't even, like, see the group. I couldn't even search it if I wanted to. Now it's gone.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah. That's crazy that they're cutting on their own.

[Alyssa]

They are. They're kicking people out of the group left and right. I'm not the only One. And the one person I do know that's in the group I'm not really friends with. It's just kind of like secondhand information, so I really don't know. Shit. I can see the Twitter account, obviously.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah.

[Alyssa]

But I don't know, I just feel. I feel like I. I don't know what to say to you right now because it's just crazy to me. I never thought that would happen with your mom. Like, I kind of figured she was, like, the one person that was there for you no matter what.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah.

[Alyssa]

I would just give her some time. Like, try to talk to her again if you can, at some point. You know, I. I just wonder who's talking to her. That's my.

[Megan Stoner]

Yep.

[Alyssa]

And she won't tell you. I don't. I don't know. I just think that's really weird for her to give up your dog and then tell you to go into prison. Like, something drastic had to have happened.

[Megan Stoner]

I think they've convinced her that I'm a bad person. I don't know.

[Alyssa]

She knows everything, though. She knows what happened. She knows the charges you have. They've. Nothing's changed from yesterday till today. Nothing has changed.

[Megan Stoner]

I. They've just convinced her, apparently, that I'm a terrible person.

[Vero]

I don't know.

[Megan Stoner]

Like.

[Alyssa]

Maybe she'll come around. Maybe something will happen, you know? I don't know.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah, I don't know either, because this whole thing is fucking insane.

[Alyssa]

So are you going to go to court on Thursday?

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah, of course. We're working out something on Tuesday for Elwood. We're going to pay the warrant at the bench, so it's not going to be squashed. But we're going to pay the bail there.

[Alyssa]

Yeah. Right. And then I'll just let you go.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah, that's hopefully the plan.

[Alyssa]

And then Thursday you have court in Hamilton county, which is a big one, obviously. Is that it? Is that the only court cases you have this week? Just Tuesday and Thursday? Yeah, just Tuesday and Thursday. Like, it's no big deal. Sorry.

[Megan Stoner]

Right. My life for weeks now, and I'm just. And I'm tired of hiding in seclusion. That's the other thing. Like, I'm so tired of this.

[Alyssa]

That's the part I think I would have the hardest time with, is just being alone. Like, you can't tell anybody where you are. You can't have anybody come visit you because you don't know what's gonna happen.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah. You just have to be by yourself. And I guess this is where you really put your Mental. Your mental ability to test of how strong can I say?

[Alyssa]

Yeah, well, I will say. I'll give you credit. Like, you're still here, you know?

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah.

[Alyssa]

I don't know how well you've pushed through. I know it's not been easy, and I know you haven't been in the best mental state, and that's had to have been so hard. But, like, you're here, and, I mean.

[Megan Stoner]

I guess you've been in the group. I mean, what are your thoughts? Like, how do I get this stopped? Because my attorney wants to do a press conference, and I don't know if that's a good idea.

[Alyssa]

He wants to what?

[Megan Stoner]

One of my attorneys thought about doing a press conference.

[Alyssa]

Oh, a press conference for you. The group's not gonna stop. They will not stop. There are, like, 1500 people in that group. They will not stop. They'll make another one. You know, if one gets taken down, they'll make another. It will not stop. They're all crazy at this point. Point. They're not gonna stop until I assume you're in jail or, like you said, on house arrest. Maybe then it will subside if they have nothing to talk about. And, girl, if you stop tweeting, they wouldn't have anything to talk about either.

[Megan Stoner]

I know. I'm trying to stop.

[Alyssa]

I think that doesn't help your case. Like, they have something. Every time you tweet, they have something to talk about, it's posted in the group. I feel like they just are watching your every move, and you just keep giving them ammo to do so. Okay. That's my best advice to you, is don't give them so much ammo. I hope that this plea deal works out for you and that you don't have to go sit in a jail cell. You know, that's. That's going to be really rough.

[Megan Stoner]

You're telling me. I emailed 30 attorneys last night.

[Alyssa]

30.

[Megan Stoner]

Not kidding either. I was up all night emailing attorneys.

[Alyssa]

Why?

[Megan Stoner]

Because clearly my attorney. I mean, okay, so I have my attorney named Brett, who's already on the case. He got me down. Well, here's the thing. The public defender I had had me at 10 years in prison. Whoa. And Brent. And one week got me down to a year. So, like, do you see the progress? Like, that's progress.

[Alyssa]

Yeah. And so you want to find another one that can maybe get it down more than that.

[Megan Stoner]

Yeah. And, I mean, I don't like attorney hopping any more than anyone else does.

[Amanda]

But you know what?

[Vero]

I don't have a choice.

[Megan Stoner]

It's my life. So there's this guy named Bob who's supposed to be the best. The best. He's very cocky and he was a former prosecutor in Hamilton County. He's the one taking over the Elwood case. Okay. He's really good, but he didn't realize how much meat. Like I told him there was a lot of like eyes on the situation. I had a lot of media attention and I tried to tell him this. He didn't listen to me. Everyone that knows my mental state is really worried. So anyway, I hire Bob, who's supposed to be, you know, the best. The best. And Bob goes, well, this is going to be interesting because he goes, I don't know how far I'm going to actually get in town case. So I don't know what's gonna happen. Nothing, nothing is clear at all. I just know that I emailed a bunch of law firms and I'm hoping someone gets back with me.

[Alyssa]

Are you gonna be able to pay someone else?

[Megan Stoner]

I mean, I'll figure it out. Yeah, I mean the good thing is if they keep me out of jail, I can give them all the money they want because I get my financial aid next week. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like going to jail wasn't really what I wanted.

[Alyssa]

So if you sign the plea deal, do you have to go to jail Thursday?

[Megan Stoner]

I think so.

[Alyssa]

That's like really soon. That's like four days. That's like.

[Megan Stoner]

I know.

[Alyssa]

What time is court Thursday? Like in the morning or in the afternoon?

[Megan Stoner]

10.

[Alyssa]

Fuck, that's early.

[Megan Stoner]

Okay, I have like four court dates Thursday.

[Alyssa]

What?

[Megan Stoner]

I've got that one in the morning for the mechanic that I'm suing, which has nothing to do with anything. This 8:30 and then I have bill revocation hearing at 10:30. Plea trial negotiations at 10:30. And then at 1:15, I guess they're amending my charges.

[Alyssa]

What does that mean?

[Megan Stoner]

I have no idea. I've not got any info on that at all.

[Alyssa]

So the lawyers don't even know what that means.

[Megan Stoner]

Brent has not told me. He might have told me, but I. I've been in the fly of emotion so I wouldn't know.

[Alyssa]

Yeah, I don't know if that means less or more.

[Megan Stoner]

Bob said it usually means more usually, but I don't know. At this point no one knows anything. It's feels like a hodgy podge problem.

[Alyssa]

Well, I worry that if they file more charges, like if they're more serious, if they'll take a plea deal off the Table.

[Megan Stoner]

I doubt that they've always had one on the table, no matter how sucky they were.

[Alyssa]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I wish there was more I could say. Like, I, I'm hoping that it's just helping you being able to talk to somebody, period.

[Megan Stoner]

It is. And I'm just praying that this doesn't bite me in the ass because my attorney's gonna kill me. I mean, my attorney, like, don't talk to anyone. Like, just turn your phone off. I'm like, that's not easy, though. Or practical. I don't know how else to live. I mean, already living without human connection on the outside. I mean, I can't interact with anybody. I can't tell anyone my name. I literally live like I'm a hermit right now. I mean, this is literally what it must feel like to look like a refugee. Like, this is ridiculous. I mean, this is ridiculous. This is not how someone in America.

[Alyssa]

Should have to live.

[Megan Stoner]

Like, this is terrible.

[Alyssa]

I don't know. I feel like life sucks sometimes.

[Megan Stoner]

Majorly. And I mean, I don't know, I'm just, I'm tired and I'm worn down and I just am like, I don't know what else to do.

[Alyssa]

I don't know. You just pray for the best. I guess. That's all you really can do. At this point. It sounds like there's not much more you can do besides try to make amends with your mom before you have to go to jail. If you have to go to jail, I mean, that's going to be important. You're going to need somebody. And then, like, if you do get house arrest. Where are you going to house arrest? Who? You're going to need your mom. Yeah.

[Vero]

Yeah.

[Alyssa]

That's where you're going to want to do house arrest time.

[Megan Stoner]

I'm about to meet it with a witch. I think I'm going to do that. I, I, I've been wondering about doing a witch. Having a witch.

[Tiffany Reese]

Witch.

[Megan Stoner]

Meeting with a witch and doing a spell.

[Alyssa]

What?

[Megan Stoner]

I know, I know. That's what my life has come to.

[Alyssa]

Good God. Well, I don't know if a witch with a spell is going to help much, but.

[Tiffany Reese]

Etsy knows these aren't the sounds of holiday gifting.

[Alyssa]

Oh.

[Tiffany Reese]

Or ah. Okay, thank you. Well, they're not the sounds you're hoping for. You want squeals of delight like this.

[Alyssa]

Ooh.

[Tiffany Reese]

And spontaneously written songs of joy. I am so happy.

[Alyssa]

Oh, yeah.

[Tiffany Reese]

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[Amanda]

Goals, and stick to a plan.

[Tiffany Reese]

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[Alyssa]

We only texted for, like, a week before she finally agreed to meet me at a coffee shop down the street from whatever Airbnb she was staying at. So she gives me the location of the Airbnb. There was a woman that started the Facebook group. We all just called her Vero. I had been in talks with her and I was like, look, Megan wants to meet me. And she's really adamant, like, this girl needs to go to jail. So I contacted Vero and I was like, hey, Megan agreed to meet me. And she's like, I'll come pick you up. Like, tell me where, tell me when. We could do it tonight.

[Megan Stoner]

I'm like, I'm down for it. Let's go. I'll go pick you up. We'll do this.

[Amanda]

Next thing I know, we're heading down.

[Megan Stoner]

To Indianapolis to where she was hiding at. And I told Alyssa, I'll drop you off and then I'll go ahead and move to another location, but secretly text 911.

[Alyssa]

So I looked at my boyfriend at the time and I was like, I'm gonna go out for a little bit. It's like 9:00 at night. He's like, where are you going? And I was like, well, listen, Megan has agreed to meet me, and I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna have her meet me, and then we're gonna call the cops and have them arrest her. And he was like, alyssa, you're out of your fucking mind. And I was like, no, I'm not. And he's like, so let me get this straight. You're leaving in a car with someone you don't know? You don't even know their full name? You've never met them? Like, check. He's like, and you're going down to Indianapolis on a Friday night after dark in a not great part of town? I'm like, check. And he's like, and you're gonna go provide some vigilante justice and get this girl arrested? I'm like, check. You're like, how Much more crazy could I sound. I remember right before I walked out the door, when Vero pulled up at my house, he was like, take a picture of the license plate and send it to me. Right before I had left, Megan said she would meet me. And then I remember getting a message from her right as I was about to walk out the door. And she's like, I don't really think this is a good idea. And so I hop in the car with Vero and I'm like, I think she's backing out. I think she's getting nervous. She knows she has a warrant. She's like, well, here's what we're going to do. So we stopped by an ATM and she pulls out $300 in cash. And she's like, send Megan a picture of that and tell her like, I'm in Indy with my sister. We just had dinner. Do you want to meet up? I think I sent her a picture of a hundred dollar bill because I remember her saying, like, well, I thought you were going to give me 300. And I was like, I will. I was like, how about I meet you? I'll have my sister drop me off with you and I'll send her to go to the ATM to get the rest of the money out because we really want to help you. And she's like, okay. We got down to Indy and we had a pretty good idea through the bingo chat of the Airbnb she was at, because the amount of money she was asking for that night, there was like two Airbnbs available within the range of where we knew she was. Because also, there's a whole other side of this. There was a woman that was giving her rides. We can call her Stacy. So we had a pretty good idea of the area that Megan was in because Stacy had dropped her off at a gas station or a coffee shop or somewhere near the area. So when Vero and I were on our way down there, some of the girls in the group had done a deep dive on Airbnb and found an Airbnb we really thought she was staying at. We pull up at this Airbnb, and it's like a garage in the backyard of this house. And Vero pulls up and I hop out of the car and I go and try and look in the window of this place. And I'm on the phone with Megan. While I'm doing this, she's like, well, just go up kind of by the door, like you're going to knock and see if you can hear her talking. And while I'm doing that. Megan's like, well, you know what? Like, you can just meet me at this church. And the church is literally right around the corner from where Vero and I are. And I'm like, maybe she really is at this Airbnb right here. So. So we wait a few minutes to see if she walks out or if she's, like, gonna Uber or whatever to go over to this church. It was probably a mile away, and she doesn't come out. I was like, all right, let's just go. Let's go park somewhere near the church where we can see. And the next thing you know, we park, and I look ahead, and I was like, oh, my God, Vera. That's her right there. Both of our hearts dropped because I really didn't think she was gonna meet me. I really figured she was gonna get sketched out. But I think that enticing $300 was enough to make her, like, come out of whatever hidey hole she was in. I get out of the car, and I walk over to her, and she had started to walk away at that point. She had, like, gotten up and was walking down the street, and I yelled for. And I was like, megan. She's like, oh, Alyssa. Like, hey, I told you I was coming. And she was like, oh, great. Where's your sister? I was like, my sister's running to the ATM to get the rest of your money. And she's like, okay. I was like, do you want to just sit over here? And she's like, yeah. So let me also tell you that we're not in a good part of Indianapolis. Like, there are some parts there that you don't want to be in after dark when you're a young woman. And that's where we were. And I was even a little scared. I'm like, this is crazy. So Vero calls 911 and tells them, like, hey, there is a girl here. She has a warrant. She's sitting on the corner of wherever we were. And this is all while I'm, like, sitting there with Megan. So she messages me, and she's like, okay, I called the cops. Well, it's like, Friday night. Shit is popping off downtown. They have major crimes that they're taking care of. And here we are with this girl that just has a warrant. So it's like 15 minutes, and I'm sitting here, and the group is, like, going off in my pocket. Like, I can hear my phone going off. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is insane. And Megan's getting really Sketched out at this point. And she's like, where's your sister? I feel like this is a setup. I'm like, if it was a setup, don't you think we would have just had the cops with us when I got here? That seems a little crazy. I'm sitting right here with you. Everything is fine. And then she looks over at me and looks at my phone. She's like, let me see the messages from your sister. And I, like, have my phone in my hand pointed down because it was going off from the group. And I'm like, oh, my God, what am I going to do? I remember holding the power button and sliding it while it was upside down. I turned my phone. I was like, oh, my God, my phone died. A normal person would have been like, okay, fuck this, I'm leaving. This is not okay. She said, stay with me for a few more minutes. And like, every car that pulls up, every headlight that she sees, she's standing up and sitting down and freaking out. And I'm like, it's okay, Just calm down. And so at this point, however, she stands up and she kind of like walks towards the corner. She's pacing. And a car pulls up at the intersection across from where we are, like, on the. There's a busy street we were next to. Then there was a side street, and a car pulls up on the side street. And I remember her looking at that car. And then she just takes off. I mean, this girl is like, running down the sidewalk. And she's not a little girl. She's booking ass down the sidewalk. And I look over and I was like, oh, my God, it's a cop. So I, like, ran up. I was like, she's right there. I was like, that's the girl that's got a warrant. She's right there. And so he goes the wrong way on a one way, flips his lights on and stops her. And I go and I book it to Vero's car because she's like half a block away. And I go to try to get in the car, and she's like, driving off without me. Like, she's so excited. I'm trying to open up the door, it's locked. And Vero's like, literally driving away, like, dragging me with the car. And I'm like, bitch, open the door. Like, let me get in. This is insane. We got her. We're looting and hollering in the car. We looked for her for like a month, and we finally found her. And I'm like, this is Everything. I was so freaking happy. And so we do like a lap around, and when we come around, they have Megan and they're putting her in the back of the cop car. And there's like three cops there at this point. And we turn on the scanner and we start driving back and like, everybody in the bingo group is freaking out. Like, fuck yes. We're so excited.

[Amanda]

It took maybe about half an hour for them to come and get her. And when they threw her in the.

[Megan Stoner]

Squad car, I'm like, yes, we finally fucking did it.

[Alyssa]

And then I see somebody message in the group chat, and they're like, they just said non extraditable warrant on the scanner. So we're all listening to the scanner, we're waiting come to find out, because it was just a bench warrant, it was not a felony. The warrant hadn't been issued for the felony charge yet. The charge was non extraditable. So they basically just let her go. After all of that, they let her go. And then not only did they let her go, but she calls me about five minutes later and she's like, they let me go. And I was like, what do you mean they let you go? She's like, yeah, they said that I just need to appear in court at my earliest convenience. And they let me go. So all your hard work was for nothing. And I'm like, are you fucking kidding me? And I remember screaming at her on the phone at that point. And I was like, listen, I don't care what it takes. I don't care what I have to do. I don't care the extent that I have to go. I will not stop until you are behind bars and you pay for your crimes. I will not stop and tell the people that you have so wrongfully harmed and scammed and manipulated get justice. That moment for me was really solidified. Like, hearing her be so snarky on the phone with me to tell me, like, they just let me go. And I remember at that point thinking, like, I really won't stop. It became my mission at that point. And I remember going home that night and I came in and my boyfriend was snoring in bed. Everybody's asleep. It's like after midnight. And I'm like, well, you weren't too worried about me, obviously, because you didn't even wait up to see if I got home. But I was so defeated. I stayed up for a little while, we talked in the group chat, and everybody was just like, this sucks. And my involvement in all of this really has come from, like, a sidebar standpoint, because she stole some stuff off my porch. But she didn't technically scam me. She didn't hurt me, but she hurt people that I love. After you've had a conversation with Tom and you realize how truly vulnerable he was in some moments and how much she took advantage of those vulnerable moments, and him as a person that he's just so kind. It was people like that in moments like that. I'm getting cold chills right now. Like, that's what made it all worth it for me, helping people file paperwork at the courthouse, filing for FOIA requests. Like, I became a true investigator during this and learned how to file paperwork with the courthouse. It just became something where I was like, this just is so wrong, and nobody's doing anything about it. Why is no one doing anything about this? Why is this continuing to happen? So after that phone call with her, I made it my life's mission that this girl was going to pay for her crime. She was going to go to jail. And shortly after that is when they issued the warrant on the felony charges. And at that point, it is extraditable. If you're in another state, if you're in another county, if you're eight hours away, they don't care. You're going to jail. It was just because she missed court. So she had court for the felony charges. Shortly after that first time that we tried to get her arrested, she didn't show up for court for those charges. The fraud, the corrupt business influence, the theft. When you don't show up for court, they're going to issue a warrant. And so at that point, because the other charges in Elwood were misdemeanors, there's a difference between a bench warrant and a warrant for felony charges. So with a bench warrant, they're not actively seeking you. They might go to your house one time, maybe two times. They just want you to show up to court. And most people do because it's a misdemeanor. Like, who in their right mind would run from a misdemeanor? The worst you're ever gonna get is either like a slap on the wrist or like a short probation charge. You know, it's like nothing. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair, done well. Kitchen sink install, done well. Deck upgrades, done well. Electrical upgrade, done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years.

[Amanda]

So we know the difference between done and done well.

[Alyssa]

Hire high quality Certified [e-mail] Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mint Mobile, we like to do.

[Vero]

The opposite of what big wireless does.

[Alyssa]

They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. So naturally when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we.

[Vero]

Decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you.

[Alyssa]

That's right. We're cutting the price of mint unlimited.

[Vero]

From $30 a month to just $15 a month.

[Alyssa]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month New customers on first three month plan only taxes and fees Extra Speed slower above 40 gigabytes C Details.

[Tiffany Reese]

After the failed sting to get Stoner arrested by Alyssa and Vero on August 12, 2023 on August 17, Stoner was called to appear for a pretrial hearing and a motion to revoke Stoner's bail, meaning Stoner was likely heading back to jail due to her failure to comply with the courts instructions. Because of this, her counsel then filed a motion to have her warrant vacated so she would not need to return to jail while awaiting her trials. The hearing for this took place Aug. 23 and court documents show her attorney submitted the motion to vacate the warrant the following day, August 24, 2023, Stoner was again supposed to attend court hearings and failed to appear. Because of this, the judge issued an additional warrant for Megan Stoner's arrest, so she now had two warrants and had failed to appear for several court hearings. And the longer Stoner failed to report to the court, the more locals in the Scam Awareness Facebook group became motivated to find out where Stoner was hiding out.

[Amanda]

I'm Amanda. I got involved with the Megan story kind of in a weird way. When I was involved with College Republicans in 2016, I became friends with the chair of Indiana College Republicans and was added to a group chat. And in that group chat it was on group me. If you've ever done like political stuff, when you phone bank all day, you just find dumb things to make fun of. Like people pick up a call weird. And there was a particular volunteer that they would kind of poke fun at too sometimes named Megan Stoner. And I thought it was mean that they would make fun of her sometimes. But that's how I became familiar with her. She friended me on Facebook. She would request donations for years from me. I ended up unfriending her. And then I reconnected with Justin. We hadn't talked in a couple years. He told me, do you remember that Girl that they would talk about in the group chat sometimes that I met him in, I kind of remembered her. And he was like, well, apparently she, like, ran this rental scam. There's a lot of people who get involved in political things that they're kind of full of themselves. They post on social media like they're a bigger deal than they are. They have them in every state. We had them in Minnesota. That's what I assumed she was. So when I find out that she has apparently run this rental scam where she was showing people a house that didn't belong to her, I was like, that's unbelievable. I don't believe that. He told me that. I guess that would have been around December of 2022. She was arrested in April of 2023. And the only reason I was involved in the story is because Justin was fielding so many phone calls from people. I wasn't the only person she friended on Facebook and would try and reach out to. She friended pretty much everyone in the country, I would say, that was involved with college Republicans or young Republicans around 2016 to 2018, maybe even back to 2014. She friended so many people. So all of my friends from that time knew of her. All of our friends that we had not talked to in years. Some of them were trying to call Justin because Justin's the one who knew the most about her. And so I was like, just do a Twitter space because you can't have people calling you all day. And as you've learned by now, it takes six hours to tell the full Megan story, and you still leave things out. It's so much there. He did them, and I was just there letting people up on the stage. And from that point, I was kind of seen as someone who was more involved in the story, but I really wasn't. That's the only reason I was involved, is because of him. I've never met her. I'm from Minnesota. I've been to Indiana, but she's never been at something. I've been there. She messaged me on Facebook a couple times asking for money, but I never responded. I actually unfriended her after she did that because I was like, I'm not going to donate to your campaign. If I'm going to donate, I'm going to donate to my friends or, like, somebody in my state. I'm not going to donate to someone. I don't know. What draws me to the story is that there's elements of it that are really, quite honestly, funny. Some of the Prolific Facebook posting that she did. Some of that is really entertaining. I've heard a bunch of people say, like, Megan Stoner was their favorite reality show. She acts like a cartoon character. She portrayed herself as completely different than she actually is. You hear about this new thing where she was blaming people from a church for running her off the road or something, and really, she's just not a very good driver. But on another note, when you hear about the amount of people that she's stolen from and stuff, I just feel convicted to do something about that. Everybody knew she was hiding from the police, and in the time she was hiding from the police, she's posting on social media every day. Somebody needs to give me money so I have a place to stay. My lawyers are telling me not to turn myself in. And we know she's taking the money from Tom. Well, how many more of him are there that we don't know about? Because how is she affording all of that? So Justin and I are on the phone and we're like, we know how to catch her. We just need one of these fake Yanni people. I was like, I swear to you, if somebody approached her pretending to be a fake Yanni person, she would bite in a heartbeat. She's not going to get away from that. Justin's like, you're crazy.

[Vero]

I find all this out from Tom about what she's done with him. Amanda and I are on the phone one day, and we're just sort of connecting like friends, just laughing, and we're like, how has no one caught her yet? Like, at this point, her rearrest warrant had been out for a while. She hadn't been turned in. She was running from the police. I think they had gone to her mom's house once or twice, and she got away. We also were kind of in the dark because the admin group was running a couple different schemes to catch her that we were not all aware of at the time. Amanda says those yoni massages are the one thing she would risk it all for. That's the thing she's obsessed with. Could we maybe come up with a fake business that does that, that would be closer to her and more accessible? Because from what we looked into it, everyone that does that kind of care is on the coast. There's no one really in the Midwest that does this. She was like, what's a place that's close to where she lives? That's, like, kind of hippie? And I threw out the name of Bloomington, Indiana, which is where IU is. It's A very small city, but a blue dot in a very red state.

[Amanda]

I have a graphic design background, so I made an Instagram account. I made it in 20 minutes. I called it True Renewal Bloomington because I had just been watching the Real Housewives of New York, and in the early seasons, one of them has a facial product range called True Renewal. So I made that and I was like, I'm going to buy followers and then I'm going to request to follow Megan on it, and I promise you we'll get something out of this. And Justin's like, you're crazy, but that might just work. So I made it, followed her. The next day was this sting operation that didn't go through. And Justin and I were laughing when the sting operation was going on because they posted in the group that she had been arrested. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is so embarrassing. I just made this Instagram account that is like a fake erotic account for nothing. People are gonna find out about this and they think I'm creepy. But then it came out that they had to let her out of the car after that, and that's to no fault of their own. So we just didn't delete the account. And Megan didn't respond to it for a couple weeks because her Instagram account was private. We requested to follow her. We were going to approach her from the perspective of like, oh, we're a new business owner. Could you give us a tip? Because she had been saying that she was going to write about her experience with that sexual healing stuff. She fell for it. And I think a couple weeks later, it would have been like, right around late August, four in the morning, she's scheduled a call for that day. She's messaged, I want to be your first client. Is this a male or female practitioner? I'm so glad you do this work here. I'm ISTA trained. ISTA is the Yani practitioner website or something. You know, it's not like a medical legit thing, this line of work, but it's like some sort of purveyor of this type of stuff. From that point, she was in, but I never messaged her on the account. Justin did. I just made the account.

[Vero]

And so we invent this character called Xavier St. Clair, who is one of these practitioners, and we make up a fake company called True Renewal that's just getting started and launching their social media branding located in Bloomington. We, like find the address was a real office building. Like, everything we did made sense. We sort of had our bases covered and so we thought. Megan loves to present herself as an expert on things. She loves to claim she was a speaker on, you know, at different conferences that she wasn't even at. If we hit her with a follow request from an account like this, she's going to bite. There's just no way she'll be able to leave it alone. So we follow her on our Instagram account that we've made and we waited. Megan gets put in the back of a police car and gets released because the warrant that they had her on was not extraditable from the county. That was a whole different scheme that Alyssa and Vero had run that we didn't know about. So it's kind of coincidental we hit her with that follow request the night before. Then this happens and Megan gets away. And Megan is indignant on social media the next couple of weeks, she is begging for money, hiding in an Airbnb. She's making posts every day about how she doesn't have money for food. I think a lot of people in the group, especially those who had been a part of the first scheme to get her, were just feeling really dejected, like she's just never going to pay a price for what she's done. Another warrant at some point around the time went out in which it was an extraditable warrant. At that point, if we caught her anywhere in the state of Indiana, she would have been taken to jail. The follow request that we hit her with sat for like two or three weeks, and we sort of, you know, had moved on. We were like, oh, that didn't work. And then one day, she accepts the request and immediately DMs the account. And her first message was, how do I get on your wait list? And from that moment on, we sort of knew this is gonna be the thing that gets her.

[Tiffany Reese]

Next time on. Something was wrong.

[Vero]

Once we started messaging, it didn't take long for her to just start trauma dumping in a way that you would not believe. I'm talking 30 to 40 messages to every reply she would get.

[Amanda]

So we're messaging her on the Instagram. She's very enthusiastic to the point where I'm like, justin, this weekend she's going to want to meet up. So we were like, we need to loop someone in on this to get help. So we text. We're like, we are very ashamed, but we have something to tell you.

[Vero]

This is the interesting thing. She could see my cell phone number on telegram the whole time, and she never looked it up. She never ran the number.

[Amanda]

When she finally tells about the legal troubles. It's like, well, they say I left him homeless but like I don't really care. Like that's their problem. Just so flippant. No remorse.

[Tiffany Reese]

Thank you so much for listening. Something Was Wrong is a Broken Cycle Media Production created and produced by me, Tiffany Reese. Thank you so much to our associate producers Amy B. Chesler and Lily Rowe. Thank you to our audio engineer Becca High and our Social Media Marketing Manager Lauren Barkman of Luxury Media. Additional thanks to our partners Grant at Wondery, Marissa Travis and our team at wme, J, Jason and Jennifer at ksco, our cybersecurity team Darkbox Security and my lawyer Alan. And to all of you who make our show possible with your support and listenership. Special Shout out to Neon Honey and Gabones for covering our theme song gladrag's original song youg Think youk this season. For more music from them, check out the Episode Notes or your favorite streaming app. In the Episode Notes you'll always find content, warnings, sources and resources with links to our websites and social media as well. Thank you so much to every survivor and ally who has trusted us to help share their stories. We are forever grateful. Until next time, stay safe friends. If you like something was wrong, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Luke Lamanna]

Did you know that after World War II the US government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology Technology? Or that in the 1950s the US army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps Recon vet and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown. It's what led me to start my new podcast, Declassified Mysteries. In it I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye opening events like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow redacted declassified mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts to listen ad free. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery App.