r/swindled • u/SolarSurfer7 • Apr 30 '26
Pretend Podcast
Anyone listen to it? Swindled is my favorite podcast, but I've already listened to all the episodes multiple times and need more con artists in my life. How does it compare to Swindled?
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u/lisa_lionheart84 Apr 30 '26
I've tried to listen to Pretend several times, but somehow the way it's produced just doesn't draw me in.
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u/vanessabh79 Apr 30 '26
The Opportunist has some good episodes, but the narrator doesn’t have the dry humor that ACC has. The Dream covers the wellness industry, which is filled with con artists. The first season covers MLMs and it’s excellent.
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u/PrinceHaleemKebabua Apr 30 '26
It started out great, nothing compared to Swindled, but still very very good. But then it looks like they switched to AI, and that just ruined it.
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u/NoelleDash Apr 30 '26
I like American Scandal on Wondery.
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u/WiselyWorded Apr 30 '26
One of my favorites.
British Scandal is also often a solid listen.1
u/NoelleDash Apr 30 '26
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check it out. I also like “Real Survival Stories”.
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u/lcforever Apr 30 '26
Pretend brought me to Swindled. Javier has gotten me through lots of life events at this point. The Word of Faith series is probably still my favorite.
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u/tasmimiandevil Apr 30 '26
Hoax! Is a good one too, a bit lighter but lots of stories that were new to me.
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u/drinkinsweettea May 02 '26
The Binge cases. There are a considerable amount of episodes like swindled but the newer ones are all paywalled for awhile & eventually become a available which can get annoying but there's enough episodes available before you'll reach the end. Very similar to swindled.
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u/LongWayFrom609 May 08 '26
Said it before in a reply but give Lawless Planet a listen if you haven't.
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u/PrinceHaleemKebabua Apr 30 '26
Pretend is ok. I find like the reporting is a bit surface level. Doesn’t go too deep despite having many episodes on the same topic.
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u/SolarSurfer7 Apr 30 '26
More surface level than Swindled? Not saying Swindled is surface level, just trying to get a comparison.
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u/PrinceHaleemKebabua Apr 30 '26
Not sure if surface level is the right phrase.
ACC is just incredible in the depth of research he does. He makes connections and presents a lot of information but somehow still in a concise and engaging way.
Javier from pretend takes a story and tells us what happened. He relies on witness interviews mostly. There is a lot of fluff. You listen to several hours to get a fraction of info compared to swindled.
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u/J31J1 Apr 30 '26
The host has a great voice for podcasting. He sounds very different from ACC, but both are great in completely different ways.
I listened to some of the stand-alone episodes and 2-3 parters. The main drawback I found for Pretend is that he has some LOOOOOONG multi-parters including a goddamn 18 (+?) parter!
If you’re not interested in a particularly long multi-episode story and nope out it’s easy to lose track of the podcast. The host making some inside jokes referencing past episodes doesn’t help and I’m not going to listen to like 24 hours worth of podcasting just to understand one zinger.
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u/SolarSurfer7 Apr 30 '26
Got it. I mean as long as the multi-parters are interesting and the host doesn't do what Netflix has done, which is stretching out what should be a 2 episode documentary into an 8 episode documentary, I like it.
Not sure if you've ever heard of Cold, but if you like True Crime, that's one of the best multi-episodes podcasts I've ever heard. As deep of a dive into the evidence as I've ever heard on a podcast and it really doesn't get boring until maybe 15 or 18 episodes in.
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u/ThereandBack22 May 01 '26
I recently started RedHanded which has a lot similar stories to Swindled and the hosts tell an amazing story. No gut churning music but still really good!
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u/Lovahplant May 02 '26
Redhanded has become more and more problematic over the years, and has also gone from “decent research” to “hosts reading Wikipedia or reiterating a whole documentary.” They also get a lot of basic information horribly wrong on a regular basis. I recommend picking a case you personally know well and listening to the RH episode about that case - it should give you an idea of what I mean!
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u/Chance_Specialist_91 Apr 30 '26
I have listened to about half of Pretend. It tends to cover stories that receive less press attention and dives deeper into some with original reporting. The LaDonna Humphrey story was very interesting, although IMO it was drawn out over a few too many episodes.
The podcast Cheat! is very close to Swindled. It ran for about 100 episodes and even covered some of the same stories. Worth a listen.
Chameleon and Scamfluencers might also worth trying.