Introducing: Scamfluencers

Scamfluencers

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.1 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2022

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You never really know someone…especially online. In today’s world, the power of influence can be the quickest path to money and fame, and it often ends in ruin. These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. On Wondery’s new weekly series, join co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi as they unpack epic stories of deception from the worlds of social media, fashion, finance, health, and wellness. These influencers claim to be everything from charismatic healers to trusted financial insiders to experts in dating. They cast spells over millions. Why do we believe them, and how does our culture allow them to thrive? From Black Swan Murder to a fake social media influencer to an audacious Hollywood Ponzi schemer, each season will take the listener along the twists and turns, the impact on victims, and what’s left when the facade falls away.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sati, I have a question. Why is it so easy to fool people online?
0:10.0	Hmm. Maybe it's because we all have those moments where we're just so desperate and then someone
0:15.5	comes along and they convince you that they have all the answers. These are the people who
0:20.5	will do anything for influence.
0:22.9	I know it's, like, difficult to believe now, but there was ones a time when I was begging
0:26.4	these reporters to write about me. I was like, please, I'm important, please.
0:30.8	They promise you things that seem way too good to be true.
0:34.2	It is a shocking case, a social media influencer accused of using fraud to help fund a
0:40.3	lavish lifestyle.
0:42.3	You know why it seems too good to be true?
0:46.3	Because it is.
0:47.3	A con man who swindled over $11 million by posing as a Saudi prince.
0:51.3	Gibson has made it.
0:53.3	Except it's all a lie.
0:55.4	She doesn't have cancer, never did.
0:58.0	Often courting thousands of victims to believe that they are in love.
1:01.5	...for running a $650 million Ponzi scheme.
1:04.8	But tonight, we have the proof that this is a lie too.
1:09.9	From Wondry, I'm Sachi Cole and I'm Sarah Hagi.
1:12.7	And this is scam influencers, where each week we dive into stories about the power of influence
1:17.9	taken to an extreme.
1:19.4	It's a show about schemers and con artists who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
	...

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