Earl Washington: A Rip Off the Old Block | 165
Scamfluencers
Wondery
4.1 • 7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 June 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Singer-actor Earl Washington turns out to be a triple threat when he takes up carving wood blocks to make ends meet while hustling to make a life as an entertainer in Los Angeles. But just like any other artist, his wood carvings need a good origin story, so Earl creates a new identity, a made-up grandfather, and begins selling his blocks on eBay as historical relics rather than his own creations. What Earl doesn’t account for is the number of times people will try to take him down, including a collector named Doug, who does his research, calls the FBI, and gets justice for the trail of deceived collectors Earl has left in his wake.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, scam influencers fans, Sachi here. |
| 0:02.2 | If you live for the outrageous stories and unbelievable cons that we cover, you need Wendry Plus. |
| 0:07.2 | It's like sitting in the room with us as we unravel every twist. |
| 0:10.5 | Add free a week ahead of everyone else and packed with exclusive content you won't hear anywhere else. |
| 0:16.1 | Start your free trial in the Wendry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify now. |
| 0:29.6 | Sachi, have you ever been a collector of like anything? |
| 0:36.2 | I want to say no, but I know that I have a problem, which is that I like buying stuff that looks like other stuff. |
| 0:39.2 | Same. Oh my God. Right? Like a Tromploy is unfortunately putting me in bankruptcy. I know. I own a lot of purses |
| 0:47.1 | shaped like other things. And I have a small collection of fake cigarettes. I love candles that look like real objects and I never burn them. I've |
| 0:57.4 | become an old lady. I know. This is why I don't buy them anymore. I went to Target the other day and |
| 1:01.7 | they had a bunch of candle shaped like cakes and I had to talk myself out of it. Oh my God. I know what I'm |
| 1:06.1 | going to get you as a gift. Just buying it brings me joy. Okay. I can't wait. But I do have to stop myself from becoming |
| 1:12.9 | this kind of person because I know how far it can go and I don't want to be that person. But today, |
| 1:19.8 | we're going to talk about a true artist and scammer who cornered the market on an incredibly |
| 1:25.9 | niche art form. |
| 1:32.3 | But he underestimated the fact that collectors like me are total freaks, |
| 1:34.7 | and you can't fool a true fan. |
| 1:43.7 | It's early 2021, and Doug Arbiter is at home in York, Pennsylvania. |
| 1:48.2 | Doug is in his mid-50s, tall, and wears clear-rimmed glasses. |
| 1:53.1 | He's an anesthesiologist and an executive for a New Jersey health care system. |
| 1:58.1 | But his real passion is collecting antique medical equipment. |
| 2:00.6 | It's more of a lifelong obsession, really. Doug has been collecting |
... |
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