December 20, 2021

EP. 117 — The Santa Claus Con w/ Larry Owens

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, we have Larry Owens discussing John Duval Gluck, the conman who popularized writing letters to Santa Claus in the beginning of the 20th century. Plus, investors in an NFT project titled “Evolved Apes”  learn that the world of NFTs isn’t immune to scams. Stay Schemin’!

Research By Kaelyn Brandt 

SOURCES:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3dyem/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed

https://nypost.com/2015/09/20/meet-the-con-artist-who-popularized-writing-to-santa-claus/

https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-con-man-who-saved-christmas/

https://ny.curbed.com/2015/11/30/9895926/the-strange-story-of-nycs-santa-claus-building-that-never-was

Recent Episodes

See All

April 17, 2025

In this week’s Fraud Friday, Laci is joined by Aida Osman (Rap Sh!t, Betty) to discuss how an elusive artist used a Banksy-inspired NFT to earn millions and how an Australian line dancing scheme went wrong.

April 14, 2025

On today’s episode, Laci is joined by Emmy Award winner Lamorne Morris and his hilarious co-host, comedian, writer, and director Kyle Shevrin from their podcast The Lamorning After. 

April 10, 2025

This week on Fraud Friday, Laci is joined live at Chicago’s Den Theatre by Sydnee Washington, Skyler Higley, and Ashley Ray to unpack the infamous scam that rocked the Windy City and the nation, the Jussie Smollett case.