Cheat!

Latest Episodes:

Founding Fraudsters Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the people who helped build and shape American society were some of history’s most notorious swindlers. Many of these scams still exist today - in some form or another.

Alzo sits down with Duke University Professor Edward Balleisen, author of “Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff”, to dig into the relationship between American business and fraud.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bitcoin Baddies Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

In 2016, over 100,000 Bitcoin were stolen from customers using the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. The theft rattled the crypto world. At the time of the hack, Bitfinex was considered one of the most stable exchanges in the realm of virtual currency. And there wasn’t much that the company—or authorities—could do to retrieve the stolen coins. They sat in an anonymous wallet for years, accruing value. Millions turned into billions.

Earlier this year, investigators got a lead. And they ended up at the doorstop of two very surprising suspects.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gaming the Gamers Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Cheating usually takes the fun out of games. But with the rise of competitive gaming in the past decade, more people are willing to cheat – and are paying to do so. This is a story about Cheat Ninja, the biggest video game cheating operation that made millions by not playing by the rules.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Operation Snow White Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

The Church of Scientology has been the subject of public fascination, government investigations, movies, and books for as long as the organization has been around. But what might be less well-known is the Church’s longstanding feud with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States.

After the IRS revoked the Church of Scientology’s tax exempt status in the 1960s, the Church, under L. Ron Hubbard’s leadership, launched an elaborate operation to infiltrate the US government with scientologists.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fixing to Win Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

Lotteries should be all about luck. But what if you could beat the odds? Would you do it? In 2010, Hot Lotto – a multi-state lottery game – featured an advertised prize of over $16 million. The owner of the winning ticket wanted to remain anonymous and claim the money to an off shore account. What happened next turned out to be the largest lottery scam in American history.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Talking Gorilla Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

Koko is perhaps the world's most famous gorilla. She was known for her ability to communicate using thousands of signs and gestures taught to her by her caretaker, Francine "Penny" Patterson as part of a research project that spanned 40 years. KoKo captured the public imagination with the way she appeared to think and emote like a human. But as Koko’s fame grew, animal behavioral theorists started to have doubts about the study’s method. How much did Koko really know? What did Koko the talking gorilla really have to say?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mystery Meat Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

In 2013, beef burgers—and other products advertised as beef—that were sold across Europe were found to contain traces, and in some cases, substantial portions of horse and pig DNA. Turns out, this wasn't a labeling mistake.

It was a perfect storm: a largely self-regulated industry combined with precarious economic conditions, which led to a food safety scandal that rocked the world. This incident would raise pressing questions about transparency in food labeling, and how to prevent food fraud on this scale going forward.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Phishy Business Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

When Indian journalist Nidhi Razdan was tapped for a job as an associate professor at Harvard, she was overjoyed. She went through a full hiring process - resumes, interviews, recommendations, before receiving an offer. She quit her job and began preparing to move to the US. Then, one thing after another went wrong. Classes were delayed. Her housing wasn’t ready.

Turns out there was no job, and Razdan was the victim of a bizarre phishing scam that cyber security experts are still trying to unravel.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brokerage on the Brink Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Toby Groves was running a mortgage brokerage when he discovered a small mistake that had been losing the company money, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of money, very quickly. Toby was willing to do anything he could to save his company and the employee jobs that came with it – even if it meant breaking the law, over and over again.

At first it started with just one little, fraudulent loan, then another and another, until things snowballed into catastrophe.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Rise & Fall of Nigeria's SuperCop Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

Nigeria was struggling with a kidnapping crisis, that is until Abba Kyari took over as the head of an elite police unit. Kyari earned the spotlight through his ability to capture the country’s worst criminals: robbers, kidnappers, bombers, arms dealers, terrorists. His work was so dangerous—and he was so successful at it—that people started calling him “super cop.” He insisted he would go to any length to find criminals, but his rogue operations were actually covering up a much bigger crime.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected