PRETEND

Johnny Depp played Donnie Brasco in the Academy Award-nominated film. But the real-life story of Donnie Brasco is even more fascinating. Joe Pistone, an FBI agent, went deep undercover as Brasco and spent six years inside the Bonanno and Columbo crime families.

The movie, if you remember, starts with Joe Pistone immediately infiltrating with the mob. In today's episode, we will talk about everything that happened before the movie even begins.

What was Donnie Brasco's backstory? Where did he come from, and how did he earn money? The FBI needed to figure out every single detail about this fictional character before Joe Pistone ever made the first contact with the mafia. They decided that Donnie Brasco was going to be a jewel thief. That required Pistone to learn how gemology, how to break into safes, and how to disable alarms.

In this episode, you will hear from Joe Pistone himself. You'll even get to listen to a real wiretap recording between Donnie Brasco and his associate Lefty Ruggiero.

If you want more, check out the new podcast "Deep Cover-The Real Donnie Brasco," Joe Pistone shares the true stories of his time with the mob to his friend and host actor Leo Rossi.

Make sure to subscribe to the PRETEND YouTube channel. I will pick 10 subscribers at random and mail them a screen printed PRETEND t-shirt.

"Fuhggedaboutit"

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If you have a story to share, email Javier at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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Brian Earl with the Christmas Past podcast shares a Christmas story you’ve probably never heard before. In the early 1900s, children’s letters to Santa Claus never made it to the North Pole. They landed in the dead letter office and were eventually destroyed.

But along came John Gluck, a hustler who took these letters to Santa and turned it into an opportunity to get rich and famous.

It’s the strange and true story of government agents, spies, an art thief, U.S. presidents, and gun-toting boy scouts.

Check out “My Dear Santa” with Brian Earl from the Christmas Past podcast

My Dear Santa: A True Crime Christmas Caper

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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Remember when we used to go out to parties? Well, since you can't really go out these days, today we're going to celebrate together. 

In this episode we're talking about party crashers.

Act 1:

Our first story is about the art of crashing a party. What do you need to do to attend a party you weren't invited to without ever getting caught? Megan Gillikin a wedding planner and the host of the Wedding for Real Podcast shows us how.

Act 2:

Our second story, is about the greatest party crasher story of all time. The date was November 24th, 2009. Two Washington D.C. socialites were on their way to the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the stars of the Real Housewives of D.C., crashed the White House State Dinner. How were they able to crash the most secure party on Earth?

Act 3:

We end the show with stories from listeners like you about a time you crashed a party.

Oh, and by the way, just a warning. Some parts of this episode are not suitable for young children. Just want to put that out there.

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Do you have a party crashing story you would like to share? Leave me a voicemail at (919) 867-1871. Or email me javier [at] pretendradio [dot] org.

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The word on the street is that Michael Torres is Ph.D. by day and a treasure hunter by night. Torres claims he has an aeronautical engineering degree from Duke University. Don’t believe him? He has a photo of his diploma. Michael Torres also claims to have taught at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He has the library card to prove it. 

When he’s not in the classroom, Torres is out looking for treasure. He claims he raided catacombs in Turkey, he’s recovered one of Sir Francis Drake’s sunken ship. And most recently, he discovered what he believes is a pre-Incan Peruvian burial mask off the eastern coast of Florida. 

But like unlike Dr. Indiana Jones, some have accused him of stolen valor by exaggerating his military career. They say Torres falsely represented himself as a war hero with two Purple Heart medals. 

His critics say not to believe a word he says. For instance, Michael Torres says he discovered a mass Jewish mass grave in Savannah, Georgia. Is he a serious treasure hunter or just a hack who makes up stories in order to gain attention? 

As a spectator in the world of fraud, I allow myself to get sucked in towards the center of the storm of lies. I do this with great caution. The closer I get, the more believable the stories get. And unlike victims, who are emotionally and financially invested, it's easier for me to circle just outside the hurricane's eye wall. 

In today’s episode, I’ll let you be the judge. Is Michael Torres a war hero/treasure hunter? Or is he a con artist?

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

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In this episode, Michael Torres discovers "a mass Jewish grave." But is it what he thinks it is? And I talk to the CEO of Seafarer Exploration to figure out why he hasn't found a single treasure in 13 years. 

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Torres is a self-proclaimed pirate. He says his most recent finds include the crown jewels of a pre-Incan civilization, a missing colonial settlement, and a desecrated Jewish burial site at Bonaventure cemetery. 

These larger-than-life discoveries have come into question. In today’s episode, we’ll follow the evidence to separate fact from fiction. 

Michael Torres is currently being sued by Seafarer Exploration, a treasure salvage company. The company says Torres lied about his credentials and has set them back financially. Today, we take a closer look at Seafarer Exploration to understand how this company stays afloat. After all, they’ve been around for 13 years, have millions of dollars in debt, and have yet to find a treasure.

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seafarer Exploration, a treasure salvage company, has spent the last 13 years trying to find a 300-year-old Spanish galleon sunken off the coast of Florida. A galleon is a large sailboat, with multiple leveled decks, and 3 or 4 masts. These ships were designed to carry large treasures found in the new world and bring them back to Spain. 

In 1715, a Spanish fleet loaded up with silver departed from Havana, Cuba. Seven days later, a hurricane off the east coast of central Florida swooped in and took down eleven of the twelve ships. Hence, the reason they call this part of Florida the treasure coast. 

But as you can imagine, trying to find the mother load buried underneath the ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack. If Seafarer Exploration has any chance of finding this treasure, they are going to need to find someone who can build a ship that is powerful enough to scan the ocean floor. Imagine a giant floating metal detector that can capture high-resolution images of the seabed. That's when Kyle Kennedy, CEO of Seafarer Exploration, met a man who said, "Sure. I can build you this machine." His name was Dr. Michael Torres.  

Kyle Kennedy claims that Michael Torres presented himself as an aeronautical engineer who graduated with a doctorate degree from Duke University. Torres also said he taught at MIT Draper labs and represented the NSA while also working on multiple classified government contracts. Kyle Kennedy couldn't believe it. This Dr. Michael Torres guy was perfect! And on top of an unbelievable resume, Kennedy says that Dr. Torres was a wounded war hero, who served two tours in Afghanistan. He was even awarded the Purple Heart medal. 

Fast-forward a few years later, Kyle Kennedy is now suing Michael Torres for fraud. He says Michael Torres is a con artist who faked his credential. 

So, who is this guy? Dr. Michael Torres? I'm going to track him down to find out if he really is who they say he is. It turns out that the conman in this story is not who you would expect.

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Walton fell for the oldest trick in the book. He said, “It wasn't some Nigerian Prince emailing me in my spam folder. It was a living, breathing, lovable woman.” That lovable woman’s name is Mair Smyth. She’s also known as Marianne Smyth, or Marianne Andle, or Marianne Welch. She has 23 known aliases.

The way Johnathan Walton describes her, Marianne Smyth is a gifted con artist who brilliantly juggles lies with ease. Each lie gracefully circles in the air, passing through her hands, without ever getting caught. But when she decided to rip off Johnathan Walton, she picked the wrong mark. 

You can learn more about this story by visiting https://johnathanwalton.com/

Bonus episode

Patreon exclusive episode

This is the first in a series of new Patreon only episodes. The series will focus on historical con artists. Today's episode is about the man who sold the Brooklyn Bridge.

This week, I'm joined by Rebekah Sebastian with the Die-alogue podcast and the Yellowtape true crime trivia show. 

Listen here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/42197195

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Story idea?

If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dartanyon A. Williams stole his parents' identities at the age of 15. Unfortunately, they weren’t his last victims. Dartanyon, who also goes by DAW, claims he has stolen thousands of identities. So many that he lost count. 

How did he do it? He had many tactics. But the most proven technique was paying off employees at restaurants, car dealerships, and tax preparation companies. These employees served as double agents. When no one was looking, they would collect customer social security numbers and smuggle them to DAW. Today, DAW’s life of crime is behind him. He’s currently running for congress this November for the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. 

These days, it’s just as easy to steal your identity from a breached database. Everything an identity thief needs to steal your identity is already online. What can you do to protect yourself? 

Click here to see if your email has been involved in a breached database:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

I’ve taken the extreme step of freezing my credit. It’s actually not really that extreme. In fact, it’s quite easy. In this episode, you’ll hear how simple it is to lock down your credit so that no one can assume your identity. 

Michael Bazzell, a privacy consultant, walks me through the credit freeze process. For more details, download his step-by-step guide. 

Essentially, get a free credit report from one of the credit bureaus, then ask them to freeze your credit. This way, no one can open a line of credit under your name. If you ever need to unfreeze your credit, it’s easy. Just unfreeze your credit by going online or with a quick phone call. 

Equifax

Online: https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/

Experian

Online: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html

TransUnion

Online: https://service.transunion.com/dss/orderStep1_form.page

To learn more about Michael Bazzell, check out his website IntelTechniques.com and listen to his podcast The Privacy, Security, & OSINT show. 

I also recommend you buy a copy of Extreme Privacy: What it takes to disappear.

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the last two episodes, you heard from Michael Bazzell a privacy expert whose job is to make people disappear. But who is he? Why is he so passionate about privacy? And how exactly does he make people disappear? I'm going to do my best to figure him out. 

It turns out Michael Bazzell eats his own dog food. He's pretty much an invisible man. I have no idea where he lives or what he looks like. I've spent hours talking to Michael these past few months hoping that he will slip up and let out some detail about his private life. Nope. This guy is locked down and takes his privacy seriously. 

First, you’ll need a copy of Michael Bazzell’s book titled Extreme Privacy: What it takes to disappear.

A secure VPN to protect your location. Michael Bazzell says that a VPN is probably the single most important item on this list. 

A Faraday bag for your smartphone like this one. 

For more resources, make sure to visit inteltechniques.com. And make sure to check out Michael Bazzell’s podcast The Privacy, Security, & OSINT Show.

It's time to reevaluate your digital privacy. Everything you need to know in order to live off the digital grid.

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If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at [email protected].

For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.

To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices