Showing titles in Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions

Do you ever feel like the world is spinning out of control? Do you ever wonder why there is so much violence, terror, and chaos in the news? Do you ever question the official narratives of history and politics? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this audio-book is for you.

Queen of the Con tells the true story of Cassie Chadwick, a successful swindler and “one of the top 10 imposters of all time”, according to TIME magazine. Born Betsy Bigley in 1857 in Canada, she first operated as Madame Devere, a European clairvoyant, and in 1890, was arrested for defrauding a Toledo bank of $20,000. In the mid-1890s, while working as a madam in Cleveland, Cassie met and married a widowed physician with a coveted Euclid Avenue address.

When reclusive millionaire artist Robert Indiana died in 2018, he left behind dark rumors and scandal, as well as an estate embroiled in lawsuits and facing accusations of fraud. Here is the true story of the artist’s final days, the aftermath, the deceptive world that surrounded him, and the inner workings of art as very big business.  

Serial killers are not simple monsters, as many believe. They are human beings just like us: men and women who have made the wrong choices or been turned into ugly creatures by their upbringing. Some seek to cause pain and shock - others just wish to scratch an itch that they have in their mind. All of them bring darkness in their own way.

Ein gefeierter Autor, ein international agierender Serienmörder und der Justizskandal, der Europa und die USA erschütterte. Dieses Buch rekonstruiert den Fall Jack Unterweger in all seiner erschütternden Tiefe. Es erzählt die Geschichte eines Mannes, der mit Sprache, Charisma und Intelligenz eine ganze Öffentlichkeit täuschte und dessen Mordserie sich nicht auf ein Land beschränkte.

The third of a trilogy, this collection features 16 of the world's most outrageous scams and hoaxes. They all really happened, and were taken from firsthand accounts, newspaper reports, or historical documents found in public libraries. They date as far back as the late 1800s, but most are more recent. However, you won't find any defrauded widows or orphans in these stories; the victims are institutions or corporations quite capable of defending themselves, and the crooks who match wits with them are just as savvy. You could almost call it a fair fight!

The harrowing true story of a high-school senior, her parents, her secret online relationship with a handsome, manipulative stranger, and her well-laid plan to leave home and country to marry a man in Kosovo she thought she loved. The Baldwins were a strong, tight-knit family living in Texas...

Audrey Edmunds was a happily married young mother of two with a baby on the way; the neighborhood soccer mom in a small Wisconsin town providing casual childcare when the unthinkable happened. An infant died in her care at the same time the unknown science of Shaken Baby Syndrome hit the media. Swept up in a media frenzy, Edmunds was accused of killing the child through SBS. She was stripped from her children and husband and sent to prison where she would fight for freedom 13 years before she was finally exonerated.

The tragic story of Natalee Holloway still remains a mystery to this day. The events prior to her disappearance are centered on unreliable witnesses, investigators not following proper procedures, and friends who had left her alone with local patrons. To say that a school trip is never supposed to turn out this way is a monumental understatement.

The ultimate collection of Australia's craziest cons and mad schemes from a master storyteller. Australia is the birthplace and setting of some of the wildest, craziest and least-likely-to-succeed cons and rorts in history. From the cleverest double-crosses to the most unlikely and maddest schemes, master storyteller Jim Haynes reminds us that we've never been shy of pulling a trick or two.

At 23, William Simon Baekeland was well on his way to becoming the world’s best traveled person. The “billionaire” heir to a great plastics fortune had already visited 163 countries, but his real passion was finding ways to visit the world’s most challenging destinations. He earned rock-star status in the world of extreme travel. But when his story began to unravel, an eccentric group of hyper-well-traveled country collectors were left wondering how they had allowed their obsession to blind them to the warning signs that William Baekeland wasn’t who they thought he was. 

The spellbinding tale of hustler Edgar Laplante—the king of Jazz Age con artists—who becomes the victim of his own dangerous game. Edgar Laplante was a smalltime grifter, an erstwhile vaudeville performer, and an unabashed charmer. But after years of playing thankless gigs and traveling with...

How could Robert Brockman, one of the world’s richest men, hide billions from the IRS for decades? The answer involves secret servers, coded aliases, and elaborate offshore “trust turduckens.” Based on exclusive interviews with federal investigators, the story unfolds like a spy thriller: undercover stings, a lawyer’s suicide, a brazen dementia defense, and a mysterious death that froze billions offshore.

Ron Moffatt was 14 years old in 1956 when he was accused of murdering a child on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto. During a tough police interrogation, Ron falsely confessed and was convicted at trial.

I Was Scammed Books: Don’t Be Scammed by Home Sale and Rental Scams features an overview of different types of scams, followed by a brief introduction to how the scam investigation began after a scam targeting book authors in The Big Con, the audiobook discusses the different types of real estate frauds, including rental scams, moving scams, home improvement and repair scams, and real estate investment scams. Besides describing the scams, the audiobook provides tips on how to avoid becoming a victim, and what to do if you are.

Sono criminali che non cercano violenza o sangue, ma il cui ingegno straordinario sa infliggere colpi magistrali al patrimonio e al nostro orgoglio. In Il potere dell'inganno, Carlo Lucarelli e Massimo Picozzi vi condurranno attraverso le menti più brillanti e tortuose della storia del crimine: da chi ha venduto due volte la Torre Eiffel a chi ha ingannato i nazisti con falsi Vermeer, da ladre di diamanti che hanno operato per sei decenni a falsari diventati eroi nazionali. Venti storie avvincenti che esplorano il lato oscuro del genio umano, dove l'inganno diventa arte.

** Diese Reihe kann in beliebiger Reihenfolge gelesen werden **Nicht jeder kann die grausamen Details von Wahren Verbrechen ertragen. Doch für einige übt es eine unerschütterliche Anziehungskraft aus—sei es das Streben nach Gerechtigkeit, der Wunsch, den Geist eines Mörders zu verstehen, oder die Neugierde, wie die Fälle gelöst wurden.

No matter how she swayed her hips or batted her made-up eyelashes, she was nothing but pure evil. Ally put her husband and her kids through hell, and they followed gladly. Ally had the help of her cousin Sally. What they did not realize was karma works two ways. They released all the family skeletons that were hidden for decades, which include incest, child abuse, Ally's time as the town whore, her raping of a small community, elders having her as their lunchtime pleasure, and more.

In Los Angeles, a series of murders occurred during the summer of 1980 that left an indelible mark on countless individuals. This string of brutal and bloody crimes would make the already famous Sunset Boulevard aka the Sunset Strip infamous and a place forever synonymous with the word evil. This true story blends statements to law enforcement and trial testimony with personal accounts from those who experienced the events firsthand. The psychology behind these violent crimes is explored, along with a look at the psychological state and the possible motives of the individuals.

Debut author Dee Ashby and her former husband Ty said their “I dos” on a sunny, Texas Hill Country afternoon in April 2015. Dee was head-over-heels in love with her tall, handsome, athletic G.I. Joe and could not wait to spend the rest of her life with this perfect-in-every-way man. Less than six months into their fairytale marriage, Ty developed some debilitating medical conditions, the result of injuries sustained during combat missions abroad.