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  • He Wore Another Man's Life to Steal Her Heart-and $11,000

    He Wore Another Man's Life to Steal Her Heart-and $11,000
    2026/09/10
    He Wore Another Man's Life to Steal Her Heart-and $11,000

    From four laminated badges buried in a yard to a fabricated family story spoken over dinner, this episode opens with a smell and ends with a stolen life: a man's name pilfered from LinkedIn, a woman’s routines mapped to the minute, and $11,000 gone. How do you build a romance scam so patient and precise that it becomes architectural - and who pays when the costume comes off?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery that began on Oleander Loop and trace how a fake identity moved from online profile to dinner table to a calculated fraud that targeted a carefully scheduled life. Which missteps and small deceptions allowed the con to succeed, and what did investigators find when the real Thomas Roberts was contacted?

    Person: Dawn Simmons
    Person: Thomas Roberts
    Location: Oleander Loop, Harlan County
    Item: four laminated badges labeled Thomas Roberts, Senior Field Coordinator
    Amount: $11,000

    - Four laminated badges with the name "Thomas Roberts, Senior Field Coordinator" were found half-buried at the base of a concrete riser.
    - Dawn Simmons kept a whiteboard calendar and woke at 5:40 AM daily to administer insulin to her 12-year-old cat, Biscuit.
    - The real Thomas Roberts lived and worked in Portland, Oregon, and had not been to Harlan County in twenty years.
    - Two days after the first dinner, Kimberly received a text from an unknown number claiming to be "Thomas - Dawn's Thomas."
    - The Prescott Mutual directory used to explain the contact lists office extensions and professional emails, not personal cell phones.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 分
  • The Voice He Loved Was a Lie: $41,200 and a Cottonwood Phone

    The Voice He Loved Was a Lie: $41,200 and a Cottonwood Phone
    2026/09/09
    The Voice He Loved Was a Lie: $41,200 and a Cottonwood Phone

    He lost $41,200 to a coaching account that promised health and companionship, and the phone that proved it was tucked in a sealed freezer bag four feet up in a cottonwood tree on the east bank of Sutter Slough. Who placed that phone there, and why did a man named Terry Wilson come to trust a voice that was not who it claimed to be?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries from the cottonwood tree to the messages, calls, and financial trail that connected a NourishPath coaching account to a seventeen-month romance that never physically existed. What turns a wellness coach into a persistent voice that persuades a man to send tens of thousands of dollars?

    Person: Terry Wilson
    Date: February 11, 2022
    Location: Cottonwood tree, east bank of Sutter Slough, Grover County, Indiana
    Topic: Romantic scam via wellness coaching account
    Amount: $41,200

    - The phone was found with 61% battery inside a sealed freezer bag four feet off the ground in a cottonwood tree.
    - Rachel West discovered the phone just before dawn on February 11, 2022 while birdwatching and photographed the scene before calling the Grover County Sheriff.
    - Terry Wilson lived on Fenwick Lane in Caldwell, Indiana for nineteen years and had been divorced since 2016.
    - Terry downloaded the NourishPath app after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis in August 2020 and paid $49 for a three-month subscription.
    - Over seventeen months Terry sent $41,200 through transfers that included prepaid debit cards mailed to a forwarding service in Muncie.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    27 分
  • The Peacekeeper's Calendar: How a Rose Led to $312,000 Theft

    The Peacekeeper's Calendar: How a Rose Led to $312,000 Theft
    2026/09/08
    The Peacekeeper's Calendar: How a Rose Led to $312,000 Theft

    Grief made her vulnerable: a single red rose left at 3:40 AM on January 9, 2019, a rose that was not frozen despite 19°F temperatures, and by the end of ten months Pamela Zeller had lost $312,000 - every cent her late husband saved. Who used a paper calendar, a staged soldier persona, and precise timing to turn her loneliness into a schedule of theft?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that led Pamela from a social-network message to repeated wire transfers, and how a handwritten calendar recovered in a motel tied four CD maturity dates to staged crises. How did small gestures, filtered phone calls, and a calculated timeline convince a cautious, steady woman to hand over her life savings?

    Person: Pamela Zeller
    Event: Red rose placed in mailbox at 3:40 AM on January 9, 2019
    Temperature: 19 degrees Fahrenheit
    Loss: $312,000
    Location: Dellwood, New Mexico

    - A single red rose was placed inside a mailbox on Sutter Creek Road at 3:40 AM on January 9, 2019.
    - The outside temperature that morning was 19°F, yet the rose was not frozen.
    - Pamela was 44 years old in summer 2017 and had lived on Sutter Creek Road for 22 years.
    - Ray died of a cardiac event in June 2017; the couple had no children and Ray had invested in four CDs at First Consolidated Bank.
    - A handwritten paper calendar recovered in a Midwest City, Oklahoma motel had four dates matching the maturity dates of Pamela’s CDs.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    17 分
  • She Sent $4,100 to a Chessmaster - His Laptop Told the Truth

    She Sent $4,100 to a Chessmaster - His Laptop Told the Truth
    2026/09/07
    She Sent $4,100 to a Chessmaster - His Laptop Told the Truth

    Fear of being tricked into love and money hits like a cold discovery: a laptop found upright in a snowdrift with a blinking amber light would later link a second-floor apartment to a six-state fraud ring. Four thousand one hundred dollars wired to a Dublin account, thirty-one transfers into that account over nine months, and a stolen laptop with a white chess knight sticker - who was the real Vincent, and how did the laptop become the missing witness?

    In this episode, we walk through the sequence of events from the laptop discovery to the revelations about the romance scam, following the people, timestamps, and documents that connected one woman’s private messages to a multi-state fraud operation. How did routine chess games and curated photographs become the perfect cover for stealing $4,100?

    Person: Erin Edwards
    Date: December 4 (laptop found), November 22 (first wire), December 2 (second wire)
    Location: County Road 9, Pallister, Wisconsin
    Amount: $4,100 total ( $1,100 + $3,000 )
    Case: laptop registered to Thomas Aldridge; stolen from Minneapolis eight weeks earlier

    - Laptop found at 4:47 AM standing upright in eight inches of snow with battery at 31% and amber light blinking.
    - Erin wired $1,100 on November 22 and $3,000 on December 2 to an intermediary Dublin account.
    - The Dublin account received 31 wire transfers in nine months from 14 victims across six states.
    - The man in the photograph had reported his laptop stolen in Minneapolis eight weeks before it was found on County Road 9.
    - Erin played ten-minute chess games every morning at 7:15 starting in October and moved to private messaging by November.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 分
  • The Card in Her Mailbox: How a Fake Lover Stole $27,000

    The Card in Her Mailbox: How a Fake Lover Stole $27,000
    2026/09/06
    The Card in Her Mailbox: How a Fake Lover Stole $27,000

    Loneliness turned into a calculated theft: a greeting card, a borrowed face, and $27,000 disappeared from one mailbox in Palliser. This episode reveals how a fake lover ran a months-long romance scam inside a cancer-survivor Facebook group - and what one final question about trust still won’t answer: how did Connie miss the warning signs until the money was gone?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the first private message in April 2019 through daily exchanges, small repayments and escalating requests that led to eleven silent intrusions into a bank account, asking whether emotional intimacy can be weaponized into financial ruin.

    Person: Connie Bowers
    Date: November 14, 2019
    Location: 41 Maplewood Court, Palliser, Indiana
    Perpetrator alias: Dean Harrison
    Case: Federal criminal case (Exhibit Seven is the greeting card)

    - Connie transferred an initial $9,000 in September after six months of daily messages.
    - The scam included a partial repayment of $4,000 within ten days to build trust.
    - Three additional requests between September and early November totaled $26,000 (6,000; 9,000; 11,000).
    - The greeting card found on November 14, 2019, with blue ballpoint writing, is entered as Exhibit Seven in the federal case.
    - The fake profile photo belonged to Ted Novak, age 61, of Boise, Idaho; the account was created by Ray Kowalski, age 44, from Dayton, Ohio.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • The Man in Chad Who Never Existed: My Two-Year Pen-Pal Lie

    The Man in Chad Who Never Existed: My Two-Year Pen-Pal Lie
    2026/09/05
    The Man in Chad Who Never Existed: My Two-Year Pen-Pal Lie

    Suspicion and heartbreak collide in a shoebox found on a loading dock at 6:15 a.m. on October 22, 2019 - labeled "FOR JANET" with an envelope return-addressed to N'Djamena, Chad. Forty-two letters written over two years built a portrait of a displaced man who, investigators later learned, never existed - so who sent them, and why?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events that led Janet Riley from a careful part-time student and pen-pal volunteer to a shoebox of letters that unraveled a two-year deception, and we ask how a dated mailing system and routine procedures were exploited to create a convincing lie.

    Person: Janet Riley
    Date: October 22, 2019
    Location: Dellwood, Ohio
    Program: Dellwood Welcome Center pen-pal program
    Correspondent name: Troy Gray

    - The shoebox was found upright with the lid on and masking tape reading "FOR JANET" across the top.
    - The envelope on top of the shoebox listed a return location in N'Djamena, Chad.
    - Janet was matched with "Troy Gray" by the pen-pal program after signing up in March 2017 and being matched by September 2017.
    - Forty-two letters were sent to Janet over more than two years, all written by the same hand.
    - The intake form that listed Troy as a 31-year-old Sudanese man was submitted by paper mail from Columbus and routed through the Nairobi partner office.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 分
  • The Photo in the Meter: How a Fake Architect Stole Jean's Life

    The Photo in the Meter: How a Fake Architect Stole Jean's Life
    2026/09/04
    The Photo in the Meter: How a Fake Architect Stole Jean's Life

    Fear that the person you love is real - until one tiny object proves otherwise. A four-by-six photograph sealed in a zip-lock bag, a blue-pen promise on the back, and a meter reader who was forty minutes late: how did one image unravel eight months of fiction and lead to a man in prison? What single overlooked detail explains how twelve women lost money they will never recover?

    In this episode, we tell the story step by step: how Jean met "Glenn Simpson" on MatchPoint, how a relationship built over precise messages and verifiable-seeming details turned into repeated financial requests, and how the discovery of a photograph beside the gas meter forced events into the open. Could a photo in a meter reveal the method behind a romantic fraud?

    Person: Jean Brooks
    Date: September 9, 2019
    Location: Garfield Terrace
    Occupation: Fourth grade teacher (retired)
    Amount requested: $4,500

    - Jean printed and carried a specific four-inch-by-six photograph that was found in a zip-lock bag wedged between the gas meter and exterior siding.
    - The photo's back had a handwritten message in blue pen: "I will come home to you, Jean. I promise this time."
    - Jean was thirty-eight years old in spring 2018 and took early retirement that spring to care for her mother diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
    - The first money request arrived in January 2019 for $4,500 to release building materials held in Lagos, Nigeria; Jean waited eleven days before transferring the funds.
    - Over eight months, twelve women lost unrecoverable money in the same scheme, and by the end a man would be in prison.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 分
  • The Postcard That Bought a Man's Grief - $14,200 Stolen Love

    The Postcard That Bought a Man's Grief - $14,200 Stolen Love
    2026/09/03
    The Postcard That Bought a Man's Grief - $14,200 Stolen Love

    Grief turned into leverage: a widower sent $14,200 to a man he’d never heard speak after a tenderly handwritten postcard arrived at his church, bought in an airport shop for $1.50. Who used borrowed photos, a forged backstory and a paper ledger to turn kindness into a con?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline of how an online friendship moved from woodworking tips to personal emails, a postcard, and escalating payments, and ask how a routine act of decency became a coordinated fraud that cost a man his savings.

    Person: Stanley Weber
    Date: postcard arrived in the second week of August 2019
    Location: Calvary Ridge Community Church
    Amount: $14,200
    Perpetrator: Eric Rogers (identified in evidence)

    - A $1.50 Caribbean beach postcard was mailed to the church in August 2019 with a handwritten note signed "Daniel."
    - Stanley Weber, age 62, had taught woodworking for 24 years and was a member of the church for 31 years.
    - A Facebook account named Daniel Hartley befriended Stanley in February 2019 and moved to email by late March 2019.
    - The stolen photographs used in the fake profile belonged to Frank Odom; a LinkedIn biography used belonged to James Parrish.
    - Evidence at trial showed Eric Rogers kept a handwritten ledger listing Stanley and at least three pages of personal details, and had 17 unsent postcards in his rented room.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 分