Lie, Cheat, & Steal

In this episode (recorded IN PERSON!) Pat and Kath discuss common travel scam tactics to part tourists from their money and belongings.

Pat tells Kath about Ken Paxton, a politician so corrupt even the Texas Republican Party can't stand him.

Are you feeling old, sad, tired, less horny than you'd like? RFK and manosphere podcasters say testosterone might make you feel better. Or maybe it'll render you infertile. Who's to say? Most of the info in this episode comes from a NYT article by Azeen Ghorayshi. You can read it here.

Water scarcity has shaped everything about life in the Western US, including its criminal activities. Pat tells Kath about the lengths some people are willing to go to profit off of the American West's most valuable commodity: water. To hear the rest of this episode, check out our patreon! patreon.com/liecheatandsteal

With gas prices reaching all time highs, Pat tells Kath about the creative methods gas thieves employ to obtain the blood of American life.

Kath tells Pat about the world of clipping, narrative campaigns, and other discursive manipulations that affect our algorithms, taste in music, and culture at large. This episode is primarily a discussion of the Vulture article "The Feed is Fake" by Lane Brown. Read it here: https://www.vulture.com/article/social-media-feeds-chaotic-good-projects-clipping.html We also discuss and quote f...

Kath tells Pat about one of the easiest and most lucrative scams on the internet: Using AI to thirst trap MAGA men.

Pat tells Kath about Lost Boy Larry, a hoax (maybe?) that spawned the most expensive search and rescue mission in New Mexico history.

Kath tells Pat the story of a French woman living in England who's tale of being catfished has some surprising twists and turns. The information in this episode comes from Jeff Maysh's article "A Catfishing With A Happy Ending", published October 2017 in The Atlantic. You can read it here.

Pat tells Kath some stories involving enterprising individuals exploiting various loopholes - through gambling, insurance fraud, and even the KFC app. Subscribe to our patreon to hear the rest of this episode! www.patreon.com/liecheatandsteal :)

We all know grocery prices are going up. But is it all just "inflation"? Or are mega-corporations dictating the price of our pepsis? Take a guess (hint: Ronald Reagan is involved)! Pat tells Kath about some shady dealings that affect the cost of groceries.

Kath tells Pat the story of a scam from the height of America's sweepstakes craze, featuring a cast of unusual characters and a cameo by Donald Trump himself. The reporting in this episode comes from Jeff Maysh, an incredible documenter of scams, who wrote about Chuck Seidman and CBS in the New Yorker in 2022. You can read his reporting here. For the rest of this episode, check out our Patreon...

Pat tells Kath about the real life inspiration for Tony and AJ Soprano, who's short-lived, mob-connected Connecticut hockey team has become the stuff of legend.

Pat tells Kath about a wrongful death case in his beloved Myrtle Beach involving a complicated stand your ground law, corrupt cops, a child custody battle, and more hallmarks of the Southern USA. To hear the rest of this episode, sign up at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Kath returns to the main podcast feed with a story about celebrity impersonators running romance scams on older women, and the efforts being made to stop them. Much of the info in this episode comes from Rebecca Keegan's Hollywood Reporter Article, "Not Keanu, Not Costner: Inside the Billion Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam" , published in July 2025.

at talks to friends of the show Holly Hart and Katrina Walters about the emerging trend of social media influencers being influenced by dark money media groups.

Pat talks to friends of the show Zac Brooks and Nick Saverino about the questionable legal status and murky outcomes that occur when professional athletes gamble on sports. They cover current scandals such as Shohei Ohtani as well as the granddaddy of them all: the 1919 World Series.

Kath tells Pat about a crypto criminal who's corruption caused (yet another) scandal in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

Pat brings Kath a rundown of the year in scams, including some superlative awards for the finest scammers. This one was going to be a bonus but we decided to make it free in honor of the new year!

This week, Pat tells Kath about a big name in the world of true crime that turned out to be a fraud himself.

Kath tells Pat about Pageturner Press and Media, one of many fraudulent "author services" companies based in the Philippines and targeting self published authors. Most of the info in this episode comes from the July 2025 Bloomberg article by Brent Crane titled "Pageturner's 44 million dollar fraud casts a spotlight on author services". You can read it here.

Kath and Pat discuss "Chatfishing", the name The Guardian has coined for people who use Chat GPT to help with (deceive?) their matches on dating apps. The information in this episode comes from the Guardian article on Chatfishing, by Alexandra Jones, which you can read here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/oct/12/chatgpt-ed-into-bed-chatfishing-on-dating-apps

Pat tells Kath about the pseudoscientific history of the IQ test, and how eugenicists used the idea of innate genius to justify their racist aims.

Kath tells Pat about a political corruption story from a simpler time: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich follows in a long line of Illinois politicians in his efforts to enrich himself off the spoils of his political office, including his ability to appoint Obama's successor in the senate.

Pat tells Kath about the strange life of Robert F. Kennedy Jr - chronicling his bizarre childhood, his years as a functioning drug addict practicing environmental law, and finally his descent into vaccine skepticism and his ascent to the top of Trump's DHS.