Showing titles in Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions

Who was Jimmy Savile? More than anything he was a list of contradictions. He was a practising Catholic who raped young boys and girls and had sex with corpses. He was a God-fearing believer who participated in satanic rituals. He was an unprecedentedly generous charity fundraiser who was too tight to buy his own meals. He was a friend of princes and dukes who ate bacon sandwiches at his local greasy spoon. He was a peace activist who tied up troublemakers in his nightclubs and had them brutally beaten. He was a fairy godfather who hated children.

Nick Stapleton is the presenter on the BBC's Scam Interceptors and has become a guru in the ways of fraud, theft and con artistry. In this audiobook, the first of its kind, he has put together a fail-safe handbook covering all known scams, including advice on how to protect yourself or vulnerable loved ones, what to do if you think you've been scammed and how to go about reclaiming stolen money.

Many listened to the Dirty John podcast, which introduced the world to John Meehan, a dangerous serial predator who infiltrates the life of Debra Newell and ultimately dies at the hand of her daughter, Terra.

The idyllic quiet of a picture postcard English village is shattered when a book club member is murdered by his former student and lover. But why would anyone kill a retired English teacher, a pillar of his community? Perhaps the answer lies in the trail of writing that he, and his killer, left behind: diaries, poems and novels. Documentary maker Gillian Pachter lifts the lace curtain to reveal a secret wedding, sordid affairs, drug abuse and psychological torture. She enlists the help of James, a former student of the victim, to try and uncover the truth.

In an explosive Audible Original investigative series, executive produced by James Patterson, veteran journalist and New York Times best-selling author Vicky Ward chronicles her 19-year quest to uncover what - or who - is behind Jeffrey Epstein’s wealth, influence, and criminality.

In CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys, Patrick Nolan fearlessly investigates the CIA’s involvement in the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy - why the brothers needed to die and how rogue intelligence agents orchestrated history’s most infamous conspiracy. Nolan furthers the research of leading scholars who agree that there remain serious unanswered questions regarding the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.

It started with an anonymous post in 2017. They called themselves 'Q' and left a trail of cryptic messages for an increasing number of followers to obsess over. Over the years, the conspiracy theory became a movement, crashing into mainstream politics and breaking countless families along the way. Over this investigation, journalist Nicky Woolf dives into the online and offline world of QAnon in his search to find the shadowy figure behind it all and the legacy they've created.

Coleen Greenwood was overjoyed to meet James Scott, a heroic firefighter and man of her dreams. Little would she know her dreams would soon become a nightmare as his web of lies started to unravel. The astonishing true story of one man’s lies and a family’s fight for justice.

Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud.

No bond is more sacred than the one between a mother and child. And no figure is more sympathetic than a mother whose child faces a life-threatening illness. But what if the mother is the reason for the illness? What if the sympathy is the point? With help from some of the top MBP experts in the world, Dunlop and Weber uncover the complex maze of psychological, systemic, and cultural issues that compound MBP and offer solutions for how we might find our way out.

The dust had yet to settle on the global financial crisis in 2009 when an unlikely Wharton grad set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. At the centre of this fraud was Jho Low--a character so preposterous he seems made up. Federal agents who helped unravel Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme say the Jho Low affair, when its full contours become known, will become a textbook case for tracking transnational fraud in the modern age.

Spring 1983: it seemed that one of the most startling discoveries of the century had been made, and that one of the world's most sought after documents had finally come to light - the private diaries of Adolf Hitler. What followed was a fiasco of fakery, greed, the duping of experts, and the exchange of extraordinary sums of money for worldwide publishing rights. But that was just the beginning of the story....

The horrific and disturbing nature of these stories often makes you question everything you thought or believed about humanity. Yet they are engaging and fascinating at the same time. We all had evil thoughts throughout our lives. What is it that makes us different from those who actually act upon it? Is it the act alone? These are questions that many ask themselves, and these stories will help dig into the elements and psychology behind some of the most terrifying killers in history.

When we avoid taking a decision, what happens to it? In The Unaccountability Machine, Dan Davies examines why markets, institutions and even governments systematically generate outcomes that everyone involved claims not to want. He casts new light on the writing of Stafford Beer, a legendary economist who argued in the 1950s that we should regard organisations as artificial intelligences, capable of taking decisions that are distinct from the intentions of their members.

For twenty years, Tony Sales was Britain's biggest fraudster. From cloning credit cards and identities to emptying cash machines and being a confidence trickster, Tony knew how to make money. Charming, funny and bright, Sales could make people believe whatever he wanted them to. Soon he was living a millionaire lifestyle: fast cars, hotels and holidays. As analogue crime turned digital, Sales adapted his skills and became a prolific online fraudster, quickly identifying and exploiting loopholes and weaknesses in the system.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past fifty years, you're aware of the many hypotheses that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was not done by one man. Whether you've listened to one or a dozen of the audiobooks on this topic, there's no way to fully grasp the depth of this conspiracy. For the first time ever, New York Times bestselling authors Jesse Ventura and Dick Russell have teamed up with some of the most respected and influential assassination researchers to put together the ultimate compendium that covers every angle - from the plot to the murder - of JFK.

Just before the small-time bootlegger Max Gerlach died, he tried to reveal his secret: he was the inspiration for the mysterious Jay Gatsby. It’s a nice story, but was he telling the truth? Veteran reporter Joe Nocera and producer Poppy Damon investigate this century-old literary mystery and uncover untold secrets about the Great American Novel.

Boaz Manor was a finance wunderkind. He started a hedge-fund company in Canada and later burst onto Wall Street with a product that could transform the crypto market. By all accounts, he was incredibly hard-working. Possibly brilliant. And...a shameless con man who ended up wanted in multiple countries. Chasing Boaz Manor explores Boaz’s schemes through the perspective of those he left in his wake.

Pretty, smart, and pampered, Audrey Marie Hilley grew up in a small Alabama town believing she was entitled to the best of everything. But marriage to her high school sweetheart, a cushy secretarial job, and motherhood were not enough to satisfy Marie, and she soon began to act out in troubling ways. Only when her husband, Frank, became sick with a mysterious illness, did it seem that she was ready to put someone else's needs ahead of her own. The truth was far more disturbing.

Greg Wilson is now in prison. Finally, it is over for Coleen and Karen. They can now move on, take time and heal. But is it that easy? Or is there still much more of the story to come? The uplifting follow-up true story to “Playing with Fire.” How after the darkest days have ended, light will always break through.