Phil Kitzer and the G Men | 166

Scamfluencers

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.1 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Phil Kitzer was a globe-trotting scammer who spent more than a decade creating fake banks and insurance companies, ripping off customers to pay for his lavish lifestyle. By the late 70s, Phil’s scam is so prolific that the FBI authorizes the first-ever white collar undercover sting operation. Two young agents join Phil’s entourage and quickly get in way over their heads. With no undercover training, these two newbies scramble to keep up with one of the best con-men in the world without blowing their cover, and hopefully get enough evidence to put Phil away for good.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Scam Fluencers fans, Sarah here.
0:02.8	If you love the drama, deception, and mind-blowing reveals,
0:06.5	Wondery Plus is your VIP ticket to more.
0:09.2	Add free episodes, early access to the juiciest scandals,
0:12.6	and deep dives you won't find anywhere else.
0:15.2	Get the full Scamfluencers experience.
0:17.5	Sign up today.
0:25.3	Thank you. experience, sign up today. Sarah, have you ever hung out with like newish friends and gossiped a little too hard?
0:30.0	And then you realized that you weren't really in the right company for the kind of gossip you just told?
0:35.0	You know what? That is so close to being my worst nightmare. I've been
0:39.5	close where I've tested the waters where I've been like, yeah, you know that girl? And then people
0:44.5	like, oh yeah, I love her. And I'm like, gotcha. But usually I try and like dip my toes in to see
0:51.1	what the vibe is. But yeah, I mean, it happens to everyone. I'm sure it's happened to me
0:55.0	and I've just like erased a memory. Well, this has never happened to me because I do not gossip and I do
1:00.0	not start every single scamfluencer's recording session with, do you have any gossip? Oh my God,
1:04.7	you actually do that. And when I don't have anything to offer you, I'm like, I've failed. Yeah, and I feel that you have failed.
1:11.8	Well, I asked because today's scammer got caught doing a version of just this,
1:16.0	trusting the wrong people with the intricate details of his scam.
1:20.1	God, Sarah, it's like you can't trust anyone to keep a little secret about fraud.
1:27.9	It's an early morning in March 1977 and Jack Brennan is sitting by the window in a hotel
1:33.2	room in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1:35.9	Jack's in his early 30s with boyish round cheeks, sandy hair, and a southern drawl.
	...

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