108. The Scamming Madame

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling

BBC

True Crime, Comedy

4.3 • 922 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Laura looks at the story of a prolific French fraudster: Thérèse Humbert.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.0	Nothing beats the feeling of falling in love.
0:10.0	You feel like the luckiest person ever.
0:12.4	You said I'm looking for a wife?
0:14.1	Until you find out it was all a lie.
0:16.5	Something just wasn't right.
0:18.4	Join me, Vicky Patterson,
0:19.8	as we find out how one man's fake love may have ruined hundreds of
0:24.0	real lives.
0:25.0	He's got no morals.
0:26.6	The impact of his crimes, it's just so enormous.
0:30.3	Love-bombed wife hunter.
0:31.9	This man needs to be stopped.
0:33.7	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:36.3	Our story starts in 1902 in central Paris on a very wealthy street.
0:41.5	A crowd of hundreds of people have gathered outside a large, grand property.
0:45.9	The building is in rooms and has been empty for days.
0:49.3	The exterior walls are blackened with smoke after a terrible fire,
0:52.3	but the crowd has little sympathy for the homeowner.
0:54.6	In fact, they are desperate to see her brought to justice.
0:58.2	This house is owned by a woman called Therese Umber, and the crowd believe she is one of the most prolific con women in France's history, whose scams were so devastating that they threatened the career of the French Minister of Justice,
1:11.8	the family of artists Henri Matisse, and the entire country's economy.
	...

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