Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Description
"From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire Of Pain, twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue by one of the most decorated journalists of our time "I read everything he writes. Every time he writes a book, I read it. Every time he writes an article, I read it ... he's a national treasure."--Rachel Maddow. Patrick Radden Keefe has garnered prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award to the...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Why do we love stories about scammers so much? Journalist Tori Telfer dives into the stories of historical female con women and explains why we are so enamored by their scams"--
The art of the con has a long and venerable tradition, and its female practitioners are some of the best-- or worst. Telfer introduces us to a host of lady swindlers whose scams ranged from the outrageous to the deadly. Among them: In 1700s Paris, Jeanne de Saint-Rémy scammed...
Author
Language
English
Description
"In this spellbinding true story, a pair of award-winning CNN investigative journalists track down the mysterious French psychic at the center of an international scam targeting the elderly and emotionally vulnerable, resulting in an expose of one of the longest running cons in history. While investigating financial crimes for CNN Money, Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken were intrigued by reports that elderly Americans were giving away thousands of...
Author
Language
English
Description
In the 1960s, Edgar Smith, in prison and sentenced to death for the murder of teenager Victoria Zielinski, struck up a correspondence with William F. Buckley, the founder of National Review. Buckley, who refused to believe that a man who supported the neoconservative movement could have committed such a heinous crime, began to advocate not only for Smith's life to be spared but also for his sentence to be overturned. So begins a bizarre and tragic...
5) The missing crypto queen: the billion dollar cryptocurrency con and the woman who got away with it
Author
Pub. Date
[2022]
Language
English
Description
In 2016, on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans, Dr. Ruja Ignatova promised her followers a financial revolution. The future, she said, belonged to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. And the Oxford-educated, self-styled cryptoqueen vowed that she had invented the Bitcoin Killer. OneCoin would not only earn its investors untold fortunes; it would change the world. By March 2017, more than $4 billion had been invested in OneCoin...
Author
Language
English
Description
"A revealing, in-depth analysis of the largest Ponzi scheme in history-with new details from Madoff himself. By the time his outrageous financial crimes were exposed, financier Bernie Madoff had stolen more than 18 billion dollars from thousands of investors. Madoff Talks offers the most complete investigation yet into the largest Ponzi scheme in world history-and a rare glimpse into the mind of its chief architect. For the first time, Madoff reveals...
7) Hype: how scammers, grifters, and con artists are taking over the internet--and why we're following
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
From former Vice journalist and executive producer of hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists, grifters and snake oil salesmen of the digital age-and why we can't stop falling for them. We live in an age where scams are the new normal. A charismatic entrepreneur sells thousands of tickets to a festival that never happened. Respected investors pour millions into a start-up centered around fake blood tests. Reviewers...
Author
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Description
"Blending years of deep reporting with distinctive, powerful prose, Scott C. Johnson's unique true crime narrative recounts the tale of the brilliantly cunning imposter who carved a path of financial and emotional destruction across the world. Gifted with a diabolical flair for impersonation, manipulation, and deception, the Con Queen used their skill with accents and deft psychological insight to sweep through the entertainment industry. Johnson...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
"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 Elizabeth 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 continuing her work as a medium under the name Madame La Rose in Cleveland, Cassie met and married a widowed...
Author
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Description
"USING FORGERIES and bogus identities, Matthew B. Cox--one of the most ingenious con men in history--bilked America's biggest banks out of millions. Despite numerous encounters with bank security, state and federal authorities, Cox narrowly, and quite luckily, avoided capture for years. Eventually, he topped the U.S. Secret Service's most wanted list, and led the U.S. Marshals, FBI, and the Secret Service on a three year chase, while jet-setting around...
Author
Pub. Date
2023.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for homegrown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn't already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation's inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country's gold overseas. Into this big lie stepped on of history's most charismatic scammers, a con man to...
Author
Pub. Date
[2022]
Language
English
Description
"She might be one of the greatest con artists of all time. Cassie Chadwick conned millions of dollars out of banks by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie. It was a simple but brilliant con that reflects the ethos and the high-flying greed of the Gilded Age"--
Author
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, converted to a burgeoning religious movement know as Mormonism, persuaded hundreds to follow him to Lake Michigan, and declared himself a divine king. He controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, practiced plural marriages, and established a pirate colony where he perpetrated thefts, corruption and frauds of all kinds. His assassination made front-page news across the country....
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request