Criminalia

Between the years 1869 and 1874, a man calling himself Lord Gordon-Gordon swindled the wealthy populations of Scotland, England, the United States, and Canada. Until he began pulling cons in the late 19th century, though, there isn't much information about this guy. We don't even know what his real name was. But we do know he had endless charm and charisma that helped him bilk people out of millions of dollars, including one of the richest and most ruthless railroad tycoons in American history.

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Ann O'Delia Diss Debar was a medium and a fortune teller who was once described by the famous performer Harry Houdini as, quote, “one of the most extraordinary fake mediums and mystery swindlers the world has ever known.” She made her name -- well, her many names -- as a spiritualist with occult powers, but she was 100 percent fraud. And from 1870 to 1910, she bilked people for millions of dollars around the world.

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Back in the mid-20th century, a widow named Susanna Mildred Hill began placing newspaper ads posing as a much younger woman looking for love. Once she had fraudulently won the affection of hundreds of pen pals, she asked each for a gift of money -- and she successfully did so for years. Known as the Lonely Hearts Scam, this con continues to be big criminal business. We're going to talk about romance scams, and how to keep yourself safe from falling for it.

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Bill Rockefeller Sr. once bragged that he taught his sons about business by swindling them: "I trade with the boys and skin 'em. I want to make 'em sharp.” But the Rockefeller name and money were established not by Bill, but by his eldest son, John D. Rockefeller Sr., who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Bill, himself, had no interest in things like family or work. He liked to roam, and created a career on the road, peddling worthless trinkets and miracle elixirs. This is the story of the thorn in the side of the Rockefeller family. 

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William Thompson certainly was not the first person involved in the con game. We can assume people have been tricking and cheating each other likely since there were people to trick and cheat. We really don’t know a whole lot about William’s life. He just sort of pops up in the historical record when he starts getting noticed around the streets of New York City -- which, as you might imagine, is not good for the con business. He may have been small time, but he was the guy responsible for helping coin the term, confidence man -- or con man.

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Legendary New York City police detective Thomas F. Byrnes once described Bertha Heyman as "one of the smartest confidence women in America." And she was considered among New York City police to be, “the boldest and most expert of the many female adventuresses who infested the country” at the close of the 19th century. Let's meet this so-called Confidence Queen.

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His medical contemporaries once considered him to be a "clever, money-mad neuropath." But what makes Dr. Albert Abrams a bit different than other charlatans we’ll meet this season is that though he was dismissed within the medical community for quackery in his time, he probably wasn’t a guy running a con – at least not on purpose. 

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Their crimes may vary, but con artists have this one thing in common: the power of persuasion to take advantage of people. And in this episode, we’re talking about how one woman known as Madame Rachel took advantage of Victorian high society with her pricey promises of eternal youth. 

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Despite the fact that many priceless works are today carefully preserved and placed under heavy security and surveillance, there are numerous examples in history of thieves simply finding a way. Although the methods used to conduct art heists have evolved, sometimes it doesn’t take an ingenious Hollywood-esque plan involving rappelling through a skylight to make your mark. Sometimes, thefts are opportunistic – say, someone didn’t turn the security alarm on at night, or someone left the bathroom window open. And it wasn't just all about the heists. There were plenty of cocktails and mocktails to go around, too. Listen as Holly and Maria continue their tradition, and talk about their Top 3 favorite shows and favorite drinks of the season. 

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It was a charming and persuasive man named William Thompson who is considered to have been the original confidence artist – although that’s a title that’s probably difficult to pin down. Welcome to a new season of Criminalia, where we'll be talking about master swindlers, offering things too good to be true throughout history.

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