Ridiculous Crime

If you have psychic powers, you should see a scam coming a mile away. Not so for Maria Duval. The French psychic only wanted to use her powers for good, but three shady dealers used her name to create one of the world’s longest-running cons. Just because a letter has a coffee stain on it doesn't mean it's real.

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For many folks, beauty pageants feel like part of a bygone era of 'big hair, don't care' femininity. But Zaron is here to set you straight on that score. Beauty pageants are still very much a thing... and they've got crime a-plenty! Allegations of bribery and hijinks! And also, Steve Harvey! So you know it's bound to get loose. This week it's a bubbly bevy of beauty pageant scandals!

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Elizabeth may not watch tv, but that doesn't stop her from regaling Zaron with tales of television signal hijacking. From porn to zombies to aliens to more porn, no broadcast is safe.

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In the early '90s, the Chicagoland area was home to a bank robber known for wearing very specific masks ––masks of former US presidents. Notably, he wasn't inspired by the classic bank-robbing surfers film, and Point Break wasn't inspired by him, it was all just a...ridiculous crime.

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With debt mounting and no relief in sight, John Darwin figured his only option was to fake his own death. One sunken kayak and a complicit spouse later, he found himself in Panama with no clothes on. But that didn't last. Nothing ridiculous ever does.

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Musicians get arrested... a lot. These singers, songwriters and superstars were busted in some of the dumbest, weirdest, silliest ways possible. Johnny Cash. Amy Winehouse. Ol' Dirty Bastard. Bob Dylan. Frank Zappa. All of them got popped for some... ridiculous crimes.

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As if the whole cryptocurrency thing wasn't ridiculous enough, enter Heather Morgan aka Razzlekhan. An entrepreneur and amateur rapper, she and her husband, Dutch, lived large. The source? Hacked bitcoin. Can't get enough of these clowns and their techno criming? Fear not, there are plenty of film and tv adaptations in the works. The grift lives on.

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"Have you seen this man? Single, lonely, grouchy, rumpled and very possibly. the richest thief who ever lived..." so wrote the Washington Post in 1997 after one man ripped off his employer, the Loomis–Fargo armored car company. Phil Johnson stole 21 cubic feet of cash –– and he had a plan to get away with it. But a man's ego is a helluva thing!

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Creating a Con is a true crime anthology podcast that goes inside the minds of the most prolific modern-day con artist. Their schemes may be new, but their tactics are tried and true. In Season One, you’ll meet Ray Trapani – a 26-year-old whose schemes targeted pharmacies and a payment app before he created his biggest con yet: a tech startup endorsed by DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather that was built on empty promises, fake executives, and millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors.

Listen here and subscribe to Creating a Con: The Story of Bitconned on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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What do hairdressing and bank heists have in common? Precision...and a man named William Smarto. A clever bank burglar, Smarto managed to pull of a bank job almost as big as Dolly Parton's wig budget.

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