“All I wanted was a status symbol. What I got was a $31,000 lesson in the downside of payment apps.”
fraud
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Inside Job
“Robert Konashewych was a young police officer with expensive tastes, two girlfriends and a mountain of debt. Heinz Sommerfeld was recently deceased with a large unclaimed estate. Problem, meet solution.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Prince
“The Mediterranean’s wealth and influence shined brightly on the prince, Stefano Cernetic, until the question of his identity became the eye of a storm.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition highlights stories by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, David Gauvey Herbert, Kit Chellel, Ashley Stimpson, and Nate Rogers.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Case of the Fake Sherlock
“Richard Walter was hailed as a genius criminal profiler. How did he get away with his fraud for so long?”
Posted inUncategorized
‘How Did This Man Think He Had the Right to Adopt This Baby?’
“Army Rangers killed her parents. A Marine is raising her in America. But her Afghan family says she was taken under false pretenses.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming
Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into participating in well-organized schemes that defraud people in the U.S. and around the world out of millions of dollars. Cezary Podkul’s investigation takes us deep into both sides of the operation: He tells the harrowing account of Fan, a young man from China, […]
Posted inReading List
Impersonation Nation: A Very Scammy Reading List
Five stories that demonstrate we’re living in the golden age of the personal hoax.
Posted inNonfiction
Debt Demands a Body
“The future that debt chose for me — indeed the future it chooses for many people — included a lot of shame, confusion, and pain.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Native Scholar Who Wasn’t
“Academia is an industry, like journalism, that defines itself in large part by its ethical standards; we’re supposed to educate people and produce knowledge. So what does it mean that we’re also a haven for fakes?”