Episode 210: A Scammer Darkly

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Laura, Ashlyn, and Lauren talk scams and charlatans. On this episode: George Mickum’s fake Birkin Bags, the “Pig Butchering” romance scam that manages to make crypto even more fraudulent, useless “AI-powered” weapon scanners, and M. Lamar Keene’s run-ins with the “Psychic Mafia”.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

George Mickum’s Birkin Bags: The Hermès Birkin bag: Everything you need to know about the world’s most coveted tote (CNN) | Guest of a Guest writer accused of selling fake Birkins (Page Six) | Birkin Bag Scammer Also Hawked Fake Jewels (Avenue Magazine) | Manhattanite scammer allegedly sold counterfeit Birkin bags (Jezebel) | The Birkin Bag Grifter Had Some Shady Hamptons Deals, Too (Avenue Magazine) | Age is nothing for this fashion consultant (WTOP News)

Pig Butchering: Warning on crypto and romance frauds (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) | Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority Warns Investors About "Pig Butchering Scams" in Advertising Campaign (Government of Saskatchewan) | How Human Traffickers Force Victims Into Cyberscamming (ProPublica) | How Pig Butchering Scams Work (ProPublica)

AI Weapon Scanners: New safety officers at Manitoba’s largest hospital will be properly equipped, health minister says (CBC News) | Weapons scanners to be installed at some HSC entrances in coming weeks (Winnipeg Free Press) | HSC weapons detectors panned by nurse after knives go undetected (Winnipeg Free Press) | The AI gun detectors NYC is testing on the subway trigger false positives (The Verge)

M. Lamar Keene: M. Lamar Keene (Wikipedia) | Camp Chesterfield (Wikipedia) | Camp Chesterfield Exposure – Lamar Keene (YouTube) | True-believer syndrome (Wikipedia) | Scam the bereaved, defraud the dead: the shocking crimes of America’s greatest psychic conman (The Guardian Podcasts) | Fake Psychic (BBC Audio)

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