Lie, Cheat, & Steal

Kath tells Pat the story of the first person prosecuted in the US for gaming music streaming services, aspiring musician Mike Smith. Much of the info in this episode comes from a January 2026 Rolling Stone article by Jon Blistein called The Wannabe Rock Star Accused of Scamming Streamers. Read it here!

Pat tells Kath about some recent scam stories - from Mitch McConnell Misinfo, to a bear related theft, to some small town scammers with big city scam dreams.

In this unlocked patreon episode recorded in person! Pat tells Kath about a San Antonio beer magnate, who's complicated affairs with three women sharing the same first name ultimately lead to his death, and a subsequent coverup by powerful interests.

In this episode (recorded IN PERSON!) Pat and Kath discuss common travel scam tactics to part tourists from their money and belongings.

Pat tells Kath about Ken Paxton, a politician so corrupt even the Texas Republican Party can't stand him.

Are you feeling old, sad, tired, less horny than you'd like? RFK and manosphere podcasters say testosterone might make you feel better. Or maybe it'll render you infertile. Who's to say?Most of the info in this episode comes from a NYT article by Azeen Ghorayshi. You can read it here.

Water scarcity has shaped everything about life in the Western US, including its criminal activities. Pat tells Kath about the lengths some people are willing to go to profit off of the American West's most valuable commodity: water. To hear the rest of this episode, check out our patreon! patreon.com/liecheatandsteal

With gas prices reaching all time highs, Pat tells Kath about the creative methods gas thieves employ to obtain the blood of American life.

Kath tells Pat about the world of clipping, narrative campaigns, and other discursive manipulations that affect our algorithms, taste in music, and culture at large. This episode is primarily a discussion of the Vulture article "The Feed is Fake" by Lane Brown. Read it here: https://www.vulture.com/article/social-media-feeds-chaotic-good-projects-clipping.htmlWe also discuss and quote from Eliza McLamb's article "Fake Fans", which kicked off this discussion a few weeks ago: https://substack.com/@elizamclamb/p-192801490To hear the rest of this episode, check out our patreon at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Kath tells Pat about one of the easiest and most lucrative scams on the internet: Using AI to thirst trap MAGA men.

Pat tells Kath about Lost Boy Larry, a hoax (maybe?) that spawned the most expensive search and rescue mission in New Mexico history.

Kath tells Pat the story of a French woman living in England who's tale of being catfished has some surprising twists and turns.The information in this episode comes from Jeff Maysh's article "A Catfishing With A Happy Ending", published October 2017 in The Atlantic. You can read it here.

Pat tells Kath some stories involving enterprising individuals exploiting various loopholes - through gambling, insurance fraud, and even the KFC app. Subscribe to our patreon to hear the rest of this episode! www.patreon.com/liecheatandsteal :)

We all know grocery prices are going up. But is it all just "inflation"? Or are mega-corporations dictating the price of our pepsis? Take a guess (hint: Ronald Reagan is involved)! Pat tells Kath about some shady dealings that affect the cost of groceries.

Kath tells Pat the story of a scam from the height of America's sweepstakes craze, featuring a cast of unusual characters and a cameo by Donald Trump himself. The reporting in this episode comes from Jeff Maysh, an incredible documenter of scams, who wrote about Chuck Seidman and CBS in the New Yorker in 2022. You can read his reporting here.For the rest of this episode, check out our Patreon at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Pat tells Kath about the real life inspiration for Tony and AJ Soprano, who's short-lived, mob-connected Connecticut hockey team has become the stuff of legend.

Pat tells Kath about a wrongful death case in his beloved Myrtle Beach involving a complicated stand your ground law, corrupt cops, a child custody battle, and more hallmarks of the Southern USA. To hear the rest of this episode, sign up at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Kath returns to the main podcast feed with a story about celebrity impersonators running romance scams on older women, and the efforts being made to stop them. Much of the info in this episode comes from Rebecca Keegan's Hollywood Reporter Article, "Not Keanu, Not Costner: Inside the Billion Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam", published in July 2025.

at talks to friends of the show Holly Hart and Katrina Walters about the emerging trend of social media influencers being influenced by dark money media groups.

Pat talks to friends of the show Zac Brooks and Nick Saverino about the questionable legal status and murky outcomes that occur when professional athletes gamble on sports. They cover current scandals such as Shohei Ohtani as well as the granddaddy of them all: the 1919 World Series.

Kath tells Pat about a crypto criminal who's corruption caused (yet another) scandal in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

Pat brings Kath a rundown of the year in scams, including some superlative awards for the finest scammers. This one was going to be a bonus but we decided to make it free in honor of the new year!

This week, Pat tells Kath about a big name in the world of true crime that turned out to be a fraud himself.

Kath tells Pat about Pageturner Press and Media, one of many fraudulent "author services" companies based in the Philippines and targeting self published authors.Most of the info in this episode comes from the July 2025 Bloomberg article by Brent Crane titled "Pageturner's 44 million dollar fraud casts a spotlight on author services". You can read it here.

Kath and Pat discuss "Chatfishing", the name The Guardian has coined for people who use Chat GPT to help with (deceive?) their matches on dating apps. The information in this episode comes from the Guardian article on Chatfishing, by Alexandra Jones, which you can read here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/oct/12/chatgpt-ed-into-bed-chatfishing-on-dating-apps

Pat tells Kath about the pseudoscientific history of the IQ test, and how eugenicists used the idea of innate genius to justify their racist aims.

Kath tells Pat about a political corruption story from a simpler time: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich follows in a long line of Illinois politicians in his efforts to enrich himself off the spoils of his political office, including his ability to appoint Obama's successor in the senate.

Pat tells Kath about the strange life of Robert F. Kennedy Jr - chronicling his bizarre childhood, his years as a functioning drug addict practicing environmental law, and finally his descent into vaccine skepticism and his ascent to the top of Trump's DHS.

Kath tells Pat about a embezzling sugar daddy who used his massive ill gotten gains to support a camgirl to the tune of millions of dollars and a real estate empire.

Pat tells Kath about two Christian Nationalist billionaires using their fortunes to put their thumbs on the scale of Texas' politics.

Kath tells Pat about a theft that rocked the foundations of the close knit world of Star Wars collectors, where a single plastic Boba Fett can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. The info in this episode is from the 2019 Popular Mechanics article "The Great Star Wars Heist" by Alexander Huls. Read it here: https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/a26364375/star-wars-toy-theft/

Pat tells Kath about Huey Long, the most influential politician in the history of Louisiana, for better and for worse. Is he a member of the good guy club? Decide for yourself!

Kath tells Pat about a mysterious caller who bewitched famous and powerful men throughout the 1980s, and her surprising true identity.Much of the information in this episodes comes from Bryan Burroughs 1999 Vanity Fair article, "The Miranda Obsession". Read it here: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1999/12/miranda-catfish-movie-199912

In honor of our latest war-based-on-nothing, Pat tells Kath about some historical examples of leaders using trumped up or fully manufactured circumstances in order to justify starting a war. PS - Cuomo conceded like 20 minutes after we finished recorded this, and the Liver King got arrested a couple hours after that. LOL

Kath tells Pat about a crypto scam that took a small town in Argentina by storm.For the full episode and over 110 additional patreon-only episodes, navigate to patreon.com/liecheatandsteal on your browser and sign up! (don't do it on the app, theyll charge you more fees)

Kath tells Pat about a local Brooklyn mystery, that when unraveled reveals a predatory real estate scheme run by a notorious slumlord.The information in this episode is from investigative reporting from The City, which can be read here: https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/19/sherita-billboard-dinosaur-mystery-real-estate-deed-theft/

Pat tells Kath about the Shaun King of 1880s Scotland, Annie Gordon Baillie. To hear the rest of this episode, go to patreon.com/liecheatandsteal on your browser and sign up for our patreon today for 100+ bonus episodes, ad-free version of our main episodes, and discord access!

Pat explains how our new "technofeudalist" economy, where increasingly, goods and services are rented rather than paid for outright (our podcast subscription is the exception of course).

Kath tells Pat about the King of Bougainville, Noah Musingku, who turned a ponzi scheme borne of an economic crisis into a would-be monarchy in the emerging island nation of Bougainville. Much of the information in this episode comes from the Harper's article The Island King by Sean Williams, which you can read here: https://harpers.org/archive/2024/11/the-island-king-sean-williams-bougainville/ To hear the rest of this episode, navigate on your browser to patreon.com/liecheatandsteal and subscribe to our patreon :)

Kath tells Pat the story of Alan Todd May, who turned an engaging personality and a small inherited oil claim into a Ponzi scheme that had him living large across the country with a series of young boyfriends. Much of the info in this episode comes from Charles Bethea's article on May in the New Yorker, "The Fake Oilman", which you can read here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/the-fake-oilman

Pat and Kath talk some topical scams, frauds, and thefts. We cover some pope-related shenanigans, Fyre Fest 2, a Looney Tunes-style break-in, and more in this roundup episode.For the full episode (and 100+ more subscriber-only eps), check out our patreon at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

In this episode, recorded in person in Austin, Pat tells Kath about the reason behind the modern scourge of fake job listings, wasting applicants' time and inflating economic indicators.

Kath tells Pat about a would-be communication breakthrough for nonverbal and autistic people that maintains popularity, despite being labeled a pseudoscience. To listen to the rest of this episode, navigate to patreon.com/liecheatandsteal on your browser and sign up today!

Kath tells Pat credit repair agencies, an industry which take the scam that is the credit score an adds another scam on top of it. We talk about the conditions that allowed this industry to flourish, and recent attempts to protect consumers from its manipulations.Much of the info in this podcast is available in Maddy Crowell's recent article "The Big, Empty Promises of the Ballooning Credit Repair Industry", available here: https://newrepublic.com/article/192064/big-empty-promises-ballooning-credit-repair-industry

Pat tells Kath about Shawn Bolz, a Charismatic Christian who combines two classic forms of scamming: "psychic" cold reading and prophetic ministry. To listen to the rest of this episode, navigate to patreon.com/liecheatandsteal on your browser and sign up today!

On this dual-subject episode, Pat tells Kath about the history of Deadwood, South Dakota, a town filled with liars, frauds, thieves and bullshitters, and gives us an update on a bullshitter he knew personally back in his pawn shop days.

Kath tells Pat about a classic scammer archetype: the gambler who's convinced he has a system, and gets in over his head. Viktor Gjonaj was a successful real estate mogul in Michigan before roping an innocent, down-on-his-luck friend into a multi million dollar ponzi scheme that involved the bulk purchasing of lottery tickets, as Gjonaj was convinced he'd discovered a pattern in the numbers.To hear the rest of the episode, sign up for our patreon at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Kath tells Pat about Anthony William, The Medical Medium, a health guru who claims to have the ability to commune with the spirit world about his clients' health. Despite ringing endorsements from a whole host of celebrities and a cushy appointment writing for GOOP, not all of William's clients have been so fortunate.

Pat and Kath talk about the many sorts of scams they've been victim of in the stand up comedy world, where it's easy for would-be bookers, show producers, and other showbiz hangers-on to make a buck off an aspiring comic's desire for fame and success.

Have you ever talked to an o***f**s model? Well, we have some news for you: that was, to quote everyone in the media, "some guy in the Philippines". Kath tells Pat about the surprisingly competitive world of professional onlyfans chatters, and the class action lawsuit that may put an end to the industry.