My New Podcast Obsession: The Wedding Scammer

I don’t know about you, but I am very particular about podcasts. If the audio is bad quality, the host is grating, or the source material feels not very well-researched, it’s easy to lose me. Now I don’t think I’m a podcast snob— I love a pop-culture or reality TV podcast as much as anyone. But when it comes to true crime stories, I get really picky.

That’s why this new podcast, The Wedding Scammer by Ringer podcasts on Spotify really caught my attention from the jump. The host is a journalist, and I am usually much more drawn in when the host has a journalism background becasue I feel like it guarantees a certain level of quality and attention to detail that not all true crime podcasts have. Secondly, it was about a scammer, which is a little more lighthearted and easier to stomach than some of the other more gruesome stuff out there which I can only take in bits and pieces.

I will say that the only thing that had me skeptical about the pod was that the last scammer-based podcast I listened to, Scamanda, turned out to be really flat, repetitive, and lacking in some substance. I went into it with really high hopes because it was being promoted everywhere, but when it came to it, I felt that sources they had access to and the analysis of the main character’s motives was sorely lacking. It was also hosted by a journalist but the story didn’t flow and felt like it was maybe even 3 episodes too long.

But this one really starts off with a clear path and intention. The opener reads something like: Dear reader, we want you to know that this 7-part series is not over until you reach the very end, so stick with us. It opens with a flash forward, to the host trying to figure out how to tape a wire to his chest and the promise that we will actually get to meet our scammer. And better yet, the journalist has a personal connection to this story: he was one of the people that was scammed by this guy.

Now, I won’t give any more away because it really is a captivating story, but I am happy to say that this felt like a neat and tidy story with lots of meaty interviews, plot twists, and overall good storytelling. It got me out of a bit of a podcast rut, and I know that I will definitely be following whatever the host, Justin Sayles, takes on next.