<p>Oscar Hartzell, born to humble beginnings, would go on to craft one of the most elaborate and successful mail fraud cons of all time. Pirates, lost treasure, the Wild West — it's the Spanish Prisoner, with a very English twist.</p>

Oscar Hartzell, born to humble beginnings, would go on to craft one of the most elaborate and successful mail fraud cons of all time. Pirates, lost treasure, the Wild West — it's the Spanish Prisoner, with a very English twist.

For a Small Investment...

When we hear about confidence games, we think, “never me.” Welcome to The Grift, a show about con artists and the lives they ruin. Best-selling author and New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova takes us to the darker side of human nature and deceit. Ten stories about card sharks, cult leaders, art forgers, impostors, and more. Why do we fall for them time and time again?

Share For a Small Investment...

Sign up to save your podcasts

For a Small Investment...

For a Small Investment...

More shows like The Grift

Radiolab

This American Life

Freakonomics Radio

Why Oh Why

Criminal

LifeAfter/The Message

Quiet: The Power of Introverts with Susan Cain

Making A Murderer

Radical Candor: Communication at Work

Pod Save America

The Daily

Haunted

Battle Scars

Swindled

You Must Remember Manson

The Walk

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

The Binge Cases: Where is Daniel Morcombe?

The Binge Crimes: The Vanishing of Janis Rose

What It Was Like

Betrayal: Weekly

Scamfluencers

Blink | Jake Haendel's Story

Devil in the Desert