A Star Wasn't Born w/ Justin Halpern

Scam Goddess

Earwolf

Comedy, True Crime

4.8 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

CONgregation, Laci is joined today by producer and writing genius Justin Halpern (Abbott Elementary, Harley Quinn). Together, they listen to the music and dig into the story of this week's scammer, Mike Smith, a suburban dad and aspiring musician who made $10 million by creating thousands of fake listeners to stream his (also fake) music so he could rake in the royalties. Plus, in this dad-centric episode, Laci asks: Are love, credit, and tax accountants a scam, a scheme, or the real thing? Stay schemin’! Keep the scams coming and snitch on your friends by emailing us at ScamGoddessPod@gmail.com. Follow on Instagram: Scam Goddess Pod: @scamgoddesspod Laci Mosley: @divalaci Justin Halpern: @justinshalpern Research by Kathryn Doyle SOURCES https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/streaming-fraud-fake-streams-mike-smith-1235500686/ https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/north-carolina-musician-charged-music-streaming-fraud-aided-artificial-intelligence https://www.wired.com/story/ai-bots-streaming-music/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RpxiEuGuUw

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scam!
0:02.0	Cards, robbery and fraud.
0:09.0	Scam!
0:10.0	Cards, robbery, and fraud.
0:16.0	Scamp goddess.
0:19.0	What's popping congregation? It's your girl Lacey Mosley, aka Scam Goddess What's Popping Congregation?
0:21.5	It's your girl Lacey Mosley, aka Scam Goddess, back with another installment about the podcast about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it.
0:29.3	Sometimes we love them, sometimes we hate them, but we will always laugh at them because this is a comedy show.
0:35.4	But never the victims, hey?
0:41.0	Congregation, what am I? Excited? Yes,
0:47.8	thrill. Thank you for the call and response. I am thrilled to have our guest today. He is a new member of the church. This is his first time at service, so please give him a warm welcome, even though he's
0:53.8	probably already been welcomed into
0:54.9	your homes and your lives for a long time. He is the hilarious Emmy-winning, co-showrunner of
1:01.5	Abbott Elementary. He co-developed the acclaimed animated series, Holly Quinn. He gained initial
1:06.8	fame from creating the Twitter feed and best-selling book, shit my dad says, amen.
1:13.5	And is releasing a novel called Get Lost,
1:16.5	a fast-paced and hilarious thriller about a young woman
1:19.3	who reluctantly teams up with her dead-be-dad to find her missing mom.
1:24.1	When does he sleep?
1:25.3	And he is a dad?
1:41.9	Y'all know dads could be scams, but obviously, Justin Halpert is not. And congregation, please get up out of your seats. Stand up in your cars at the red light. And welcome Justin Halper to the show. Hello, Justin.
1:44.8	Hello. Thank you for having me. What an intro. Wow.
	...

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