4 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏱️ 5 minutes
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Natalie Cochran seemed like she had it all: a good job as a pharmacist, a loving husband, and two kids. But then she quit her job to become a government contractor and started raking in dough, or so she claimed. Behind the scenes, Natalie was running a classic Ponzi scheme, scamming friends and family with fake contracts, fake government emails, and even fake cancer. But when the walls start closing in, lies alone won’t be enough to save her… These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. Every week on Scamfluencers, 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? Listen now: Wondery.fm/SCAM
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| 0:00.0 | Scams are everywhere. On your phone, in your inbox, even on your television screen. Looking at you, Tinder Swindler. What is it about scams that has pop culture so obsessed? Maybe it's because it could happen to anyone. Or maybe it's because we're all so deeply fascinated by the psyche of someone who can lie with ease, cheat with no guilt, and convince the |
| 0:22.0 | world that they are who they say they are, even when they're not. |
| 0:25.6 | Scamfluensers is a weekly podcast that takes you into the world of deception, sharing the |
| 0:29.9 | stories of today's most notorious scams. Like the recent episode of Natalie Cochran, the pharmacist |
| 0:35.4 | Fem Fetal. It seemed like she had it all. A good job, loving |
| 0:38.9 | husband, and two kids. But behind the scenes, Natalie was scamming friends and family using |
| 0:44.1 | fake contracts, fake government emails, and she even faked cancer. But when the wall start closing |
| 0:50.0 | in, she'll do anything to keep the lie alive until someone ends up dead. You're about to hear a |
| 0:55.9 | preview of scam influencers. While you're listening, follow scam fluencers on Amazon Music, Apple |
| 1:00.9 | podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:16.0 | Sachi, have you ever watched a movie and just been like so inspired? |
| 1:17.1 | It changed your life. |
| 1:18.1 | Oh, for sure. |
| 1:19.0 | What was it? |
| 1:24.1 | Probably that Helen Keller movie they kept making us watch on junior high. |
| 1:25.6 | How did it change your life? |
| 1:27.0 | Learned a lot. Okay. We'll talk about that later. I mean, the real answer is not better. It's probably Robocop. Yeah. Okay, that makes all more sense. Robocop makes sense. For me, it was like Harriet the Spy, maybe. Oh, yeah. Because I was like, okay, that's me. I need to be meddling in writing. |
| 1:45.0 | Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| 1:46.5 | A Lizzie McGuire movie, maybe. |
| 1:48.3 | True. |
| 1:48.9 | Swan Princess. |
| 1:49.9 | That was profound. |
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