CONgregation, Laci is joined today by producer and writing genius Justin Halpern (Abbott Elementary, Harley Quinn). Together, they listen to the music and dig into the story of this week's scammer, Mike Smith, a suburban dad and aspiring musician who made $10 million by creating thousands of fake listeners to stream his (also fake) music so he could rake in the royalties.

Plus, in this dad-centric episode, Laci asks: Are love, credit, and tax accountants a scam, a scheme, or the real thing? Stay schemin’!

Keep the scams coming and snitch on your friends by emailing us at [email protected].

Follow on Instagram:

Scam Goddess Pod: @scamgoddesspod

Laci Mosley: @divalaci

Justin Halpern: @justinshalpern

 

Research by Kathryn Doyle 

 

SOURCES

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/streaming-fraud-fake-streams-mike-smith-1235500686/

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/north-carolina-musician-charged-music-streaming-fraud-aided-artificial-intelligence

https://www.wired.com/story/ai-bots-streaming-music/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RpxiEuGuUw

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