PRETEND

S605: The Inheritance


Listen Later

A man says his best friend scammed him out of almost $100,000. Now, he's getting revenge.


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

Historical Cons - The man who sold the Brooklyn Bridge


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


-------

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

PRETENDBy Creative Babble

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

2,268 ratings


More shows like PRETEND

View all
Swindled by A Concerned Citizen

Swindled

9,770 Listeners

Something Was Wrong by Broken Cycle Media | Wondery

Something Was Wrong

25,281 Listeners

Criminal Conduct by Creative Babble

Criminal Conduct

1,065 Listeners

Guru: Don't Cross Kat by Wondery

Guru: Don't Cross Kat

6,986 Listeners

The Binge Cases: Catch Me If You Ken by Sony Music Entertainment

The Binge Cases: Catch Me If You Ken

3,848 Listeners

The Opportunist by PodcastOne

The Opportunist

10,331 Listeners

The Binge Crimes: The Arsonist Next Door by Sony Music Entertainment

The Binge Crimes: The Arsonist Next Door

3,030 Listeners

Queen of the Con by iHeartPodcasts and AYR Media

Queen of the Con

3,543 Listeners

Nobody Should Believe Me by True Story Media

Nobody Should Believe Me

2,604 Listeners

Betrayal: Season 4 by iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

Betrayal: Season 4

7,074 Listeners

Scamfluencers by Wondery

Scamfluencers

7,084 Listeners

Infamous by Campside Media / Sony Music Entertainment

Infamous

1,067 Listeners

The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby by CBC + BBC World Service

The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby

672 Listeners

What Came Next by Broken Cycle Media

What Came Next

624 Listeners

The Ponzi Playbook by Neal McTighe and Javier Leiva

The Ponzi Playbook

85 Listeners

You Probably Think This Story’s About You by Brittani Ard

You Probably Think This Story’s About You

1,558 Listeners

Scam Factory by Wondery

Scam Factory

367 Listeners