scams & hoaxes

Two women worked inside Facebook years apart, and both tried to warn the world about the exact same harms. One of these women became a household name, the other got a gag order. This episode tells both stories side by side, and asks whether Meta's $1...

In 1980, a young straight-porn director called Chris Covino walked into a New York City fetish club and met a man who introduced himself as J.R. Lewis. Over the course of that conversation, Lewis agreed to fund something Covino had always fantasised ...

DashCon 2014 was Tumblr’s infamous failed convention: a ball pit, guest cancellations, and a frantic $17,000 cash appeal that turned fandom excitement into internet legend. We trace how a dream of bringing online community into real life collapsed in...

A decade-long McDonald’s Monopoly Scam turns “random winners” into a pattern, and a single stolen game piece into a nationwide FBI operation with a name that sounds like a pub quiz answer.

A quiz show champion reaches the million-pound question just as suspicious coughs ignite one of Britain’s biggest TV scandals. We revisit the case of Charles Ingram to explore the evidence, the media frenzy, and the courtroom battle that followed.

A luxury music festival collapses spectacularly into chaos, exposing lies, financial fraud, and social media delusion. We revisit how Fyre Festival became the internet’s most infamous modern cautionary tale.

A reality show convinces contestants they’ve been launched into space, pulling off the most audacious hoax in British TV history. We explore how producers engineered the illusion—and why the participants believed it.

A viral campaign promises to stop Joseph Kony but collapses under scandal and backlash. We examine how Kony 2012 captivated the world—and why it ultimately failed to create real change.

An exploration of the 1973 Acali Experiment, where Santiago Genovés's attempt to study human aggression on a raft led to unexpected insights into cooperation and peace.

A silver balloon drifts across Colorado while millions watch, convinced a six-year-old boy is trapped inside. When Falcon Heene is found at home, relief turns into suspicion, outrage and a question that takes years to answer properly.

A gang drives a JCB through the Millennium Dome, attacks a diamond case with sledgehammers and plans to escape by speedboat. What they do not know is that Scotland Yard has watched the entire plot develop for months.

Belle Gibson built a wellness empire by telling followers that she had terminal brain cancer and had beaten it with food, positivity and alternative therapies. The story made her famous. The truth made her one of Australia’s most notorious influencer...