‘Scam Goddess’ uses her powerful platform to tell fraud victims’ stories

“Scam Goddess” podcaster Laci Mosley talks to Fraud Magazine about her curiosity with fraud and the meaningful work she does confronting fraudsters and speaking with their victims across the U.S. A keynote speaker at the 36th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in June 2025, Mosley exhorts audiences to embrace confidence and erase shame. Through her podcast and documentary series, she promotes victim advocacy and ridicules the “very unserious people” who perpetrate fraud.

Actress, comedian, author and podcast host Laci Mosley, better known as the “Scam Goddess,” has transformed her fascination with all things fraud into a successful franchise that includes the binge-worthy documentary series “Scam Goddess” (available to stream on Hulu) and a book titled “Scam Goddess: Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes.” With a desire to spread the anti-fraud message far and wide and a profound reverence for the work of fraud examiners, Mosley sat down for an interview with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) Vice President of Membership, Ross Pry, CFE, during the general session of the 36th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. Their discussion infused light and levity into the oftentimes serious subject of fraud, and Mosley entertained the audience of anti-fraud professionals with her quick wit and offbeat sense of humor.

Mosley, who grew up in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas, told Fraud Magazine that she was “over the moon” to be invited to speak at the ACFE Global Fraud Conference. “It felt like such a huge compliment that the work I’ve done has been even acknowledged by such a respectable organization. I was really excited to contribute,” she said.

Following her general session discussion with Pry, Mosley spent more than an hour signing her book for conference attendees who patiently waited in line at Nashville, Tennessee’s, Music City Center convention center. She posed for photos and talked with her fraud examiner fans about their work. Mosley then sat down for an interview with Fraud Magazine. She expanded on her deep curiosity about fraud, pointing to the parallels between her career as an actress and the performative element inherent in being a con artist. “The costumes, the accents, the lies, I mean, what is a script but a book of lies that I tell people on camera? But deeper than that, I was curious about people who stepped into the world and decided that they were going to make their own rules. The psychology behind it is fascinating,” she explained.

Mosley told Fraud Magazine that she hopes the fraud examiners who attended her session gained a deeper understanding of the interpersonal aspect of fraud. “I really enjoy exploring that. I think it walks hand in hand with the more forensic side of fraud. It’s how people feel, what information they share, their shame,” she said.

Learning through laughter

Mosley began her general session discussion by sharing a story about being scammed while attending the University of Pittsburgh. She recalled walking to class when a woman stopped her and said she’d run out of gas on her way to the hospital to visit her sick mother. She asked for gas money. Mosley took her to an ATM, withdrew $20 and gave it to the woman. “The next day I was reading in the police blotter, which updates students on crime on campus, and it gave the description of the woman I had just met and given my $20,” she told attendees. “I kept reading, and people who had said no to her sob story got hit over the head with her purse that had a brick in it.”

The costumes, the accents, the lies, I mean, what is a script but a book of lies that I tell people on camera? But deeper than that, I was curious about people who stepped into the world and decided that they were going to make their own rules.

Looking back on her narrow escape from assault, Mosley can laugh now. In fact, she said that she’s found humor to be an ideal vehicle for educating her podcast audience about fraud. 

“I always say, ‘If you can make people laugh, you’re both agreeing that something’s true.’ So instead of preaching out a bunch of information, I get to communicate in a fun way where we all learn and walk away with something valuable,” she told Pry.

The idea for the Webby Award-winning Scam Goddess podcast, which recently eclipsed its 300th episode, developed organically, according to Mosley, who told Pry that she originally wanted to create a comedy podcast focused on current events. [See “Scam Goddess podcast accolades” at the end of this article.] Because those types of podcasts flooded the industry in 2019, Mosley decided to invent a new genre, called “true con,” and give her show a comedic twist. Scam Goddess was born. The podcast’s popularity quickly grew, and comedian Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco media platform picked it up in 2020. For the past six years Mosley has enthralled her “con-gregation” (emphasis on the con) of devoted listeners with stories of fraud, sprinkled with her signature blend of irreverence and humor.

Mosley has established herself as an authority on scams du jour, and her podcast listeners have taken note. Mosley told Fraud Magazine that they frequently contact her with questions about suspicious emails and phone calls they’ve received. “I’m a hotline at this point,” Mosley quipped. “People ask, ‘Is this weird? Should I go on this job interview? Should I date this man?’ I’ve definitely become a resource,” she said, adding that she responds to as many people as she can. “I really want to help. Call a friend or email me. Say it out loud. A lot of times the desperation of the scam and the speed at which the scammer is trying to get you to make decisions are red flags,” she cautioned.

When determining what scams to highlight on her podcast, Mosley told Pry that she has a few criteria, including educational and entertainment value, as well as plenty of story details. As she told conference attendees, “I’m interested in how the scammers lived, how they chose their targets, what they spent their money on. Those are the kinds of stories I like to choose.” 

Mosley told Pry that she’s passionate about helping prevent her podcast listeners and guests from becoming victims of fraud. “It’s also been very therapeutic for me,” she said. “I hold on to a lot of shame and guilt.” She recalled a time in sixth grade that she insulted a classmate’s birthday gift. “I think about that, like, once a week. I can’t let it go,” she said. “So, it’s about embracing shame and erasing shame. I think we should all be a little kinder to ourselves.” [See “Reducing fraud victims’ shame” at the end of this article.]

Finding confidence through con artists

In Laci Mosley’s book, “Scam Goddess: Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes,” she imparts tips and wisdom she’s gleaned from con artists. For instance, she reminded the audience of fraud examiners during the general session of the 36th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference that the “con” in con artist is short for confidence.

“I think we could all benefit from being more confident. If you’re in a space where you don’t feel prepared or you have imposter syndrome, walk in and act like it’s the worst place you’ve been. People are impressed by that. You know what I mean? If you project confidence, you’d be surprised how far you can get and what you can get,” she said.

When interviewing Mosley during the general session, Pry listed three well-known con artists and asked Mosley which one she’d get a drink with, which one she’d ghost (abruptly ending all communication and contact with a person without explanation or warning) and which one she’d keep in prison.

When deciding among Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and disgraced Dixon, Illinois, Comptroller Rita Crundwell, Mosley quipped that she’d get a drink with McFarland who’s “always on Molly, having a great time.” (Molly is slang for stimulant and hallucinogen MDMA.) She’d ghost Holmes, who’d be “stuck at the bar wearing a turtleneck … waiting for me.” Mosley said she’d like to see Crundwell, convicted of embezzling $53.7 million from the city of Dixon in 2013 over a period of two decades, back in prison. Seventy-one-year-old Crundwell had her nearly 20-year sentence commuted in 2024 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which allowed people at high risk of contracting COVID-19 to be released into home detention.

Going beyond the headline

The “Scam Goddess” documentary series follows Mosley as she confronts fraudsters and speaks with their victims around the U.S. Mosley described stepping out of the podcast studio and meeting the victims of real-life fraud as “one of the greatest works that I think I’ve done so far in my life.” During her keynote session, she recounted her experience of meeting Kathe Swanson, the whistleblower who exposed a massive embezzlement scheme conducted by city of Dixon, Illinois, Comptroller Rita Crundwell. Over the course of two decades, Crundwell stole $53.7 million from the city to finance a life of luxury and her quarter horse breeding business.

 “This woman [Swanson] was doing the job of 10 people in the city council while working with the FBI in secret for six months. It drove her to drink, and she missed one of her grandkids being born because she couldn’t get anyone to cover her at work. Rita really harmed her,” Mosley recalled.

Never one to “punch down” at victims, Mosley said she has no problem mocking the scammers, referring to them as “very unserious people” who “deserve to be made fun of.”

When filming her TV series, Mosley told Fraud Magazine that she encounters brave fraud victims who share their deeply personal stories of betrayal with her. “I think these people … want to show the world that they had overcome what happened to them, and they want to put these scammers on blast.” For instance, the episode titled “The Royal Racket,” which aired in February, featured a victim of Daryl Robert Harrison, who pretended to be Prince Daryl R. Attipoe of Ghana in a scheme to defraud victims who thought they were investing in African trucking and mining companies. “She [the victim] was gung-ho. She was ready to tell the story about this man,” Mosley recalled. Harrison defrauded at least 14 victims of more than $800,000. In 2023, Harrison was found guilty of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and witness tampering.

Some of the victims Mosley interviews for the TV series have never previously shared their story of being conned with anyone, not even family members. “We hold those victims in great esteem and take a lot of care to make sure they come off in the best light possible,” she explained. Through her interviews with fraud victims, Mosley is working to erase the shame that many victims feel after being defrauded. Advocacy groups like AARP contend that financial fraud victims are often blamed for what happened to them without acknowledging the sophistication of schemes and social engineering methods that fraudsters have perfected.

Traveling to towns that have been rocked by scandal and speaking to con artists’ victims has allowed Mosley to go beyond the headline. “We see a bold headline and a photo, and we think we know the story. But when you read the actual article, there’s still not as much context as we think. When you go to a town and you get to know the culture and the people, you start to understand how something so ridiculous could happen to them. I learned from a lot of them that they wanted to rebuild and help other people. And I thought that that was really beautiful,” Mosley said.

Mosley told Fraud Magazine that throughout the filming of the “Scam Goddess” TV series, she relished the ability to share the victim perspective. But there’s one fraudster in particular she longs to interview. “It would be Anna Delvey. I think she’s deeply fascinating,” Mosley explained.

Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, was found guilty of second-degree grand larceny, theft and first-degree attempted grand larceny for cheating banks, hotels and wealthy New Yorkers out of $275,000. Arrested in 2017 and convicted in 2019, her elaborate con entailed posing as a German heiress with a $67 million trust fund. Mosley said she appreciates that Delvey “stood in her truth” when she told The New York Times in 2019, “I’m not a good person.” Mosley said she’s interested in Delvey’s pathology, including how she chose her targets. “She didn’t decide to work over every single person she met. There were certain characteristics or personality traits she looked for. I want to know what they are so I can avoid being a victim,” Mosley said.

Crystal Zuzek is assistant editor of Fraud Magazine. Contact her at czuzek@acfe.com.

Scam Goddess podcast accolades

2021: Webby Awards, People’s Voice Winner, Crime & Justice Podcasts

2022: iHeart Radio Podcast Awards, Best Crime Podcast

2024: iHeart Radio Podcast Awards, Best Overall Host

Reducing fraud victims’ shame

One of Laci Mosley’s goals with her Scam Goddess podcast and her TV series of the same name is to minimize the stigma of shame associated with being a fraud victim. According to “Blame and Shame in the Context of Financial Fraud,” a 2022 report by FINRA, three distinct dimensions create a system of victim-blaming culture.

1. The interpersonal dimension includes victims and the individuals and organizations closest to them.
2. The institutional dimension entails legislative, criminal justice, financial service institutions, government services and advocacy groups.
3. The societal dimension comprises the public, news media, social media and entertainment.

Mosley has a particular interest in the interpersonal dimension of victim blaming. The report states that the key players in the interpersonal dimension “have a strong impact on how the victim feels about themselves and their situation.” Typically, victims feel “a deep sense of shame, and many blame themselves for the experience. This keeps the focus on them instead of the criminals. It leads many, perhaps most, to not report the scam, making it difficult for the institutions involved to act. It also creates isolation, lowers self-esteem, and damages mental and emotional health.”

FINRA’s report elaborates on the role people close to fraud victims may play in unintentionally intensifying their feelings of shame. Well-meaning friends and family members, for example, may come across as judgmental by asking, “What were you thinking?” or “How could you let this happen?”

Shame can be even more profound when fraud victims form personal or emotional bonds with perpetrators, such as in romance scams. One social media user is quoted in the report saying, “I can’t believe I fell for it — I was blinded by the cuteness, and I kept making excuses for all the sketchy stuff.”

Simultaneously, many people close to victims display strong support and empathy. The report’s review of social media conversations revealed that caregivers and family members often express compassion when discussing loved ones affected by fraud. Nearly 95% of social media conversations about fraud victims reflected empathy and understanding, according to the report.