Chameleon
We are living in a golden age of deception. It feels like everyone has an angle and that, everywhere you turn, someone’s trying to scam you. Chameleon is a new weekly show from veteran journalist Josh Dean (co-creator and host of The Clearing, Hooked, White Devil, and the original Chameleon season, Hollywood Con Queen) that takes you inside an incredible, stranger-than-fiction story about someone—or some people—pretending to be something they aren’t. Are you obsessed with cons, frauds, and impostors? Then this is the podcast for you. Get your new weekly true crime obsession every Thursday from Campside...
Defrocked: There’s a Plagiarizing Pretend Parson on the Run
Robert Peters was almost none of the things he claimed to be. For decades, Peters moved all over the world, talking his way into universities, teaching jobs and churches with forged references and invented qualifications. He married at least eight women, and even after being exposed he would simply disappear and start again somewhere else. This is the story of a historian who became obsessed with Peters, told by another historian who picked up the chase.
Read Adam Sisman’s book The Professor & The Parson
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Rise and Fall of Michael Avenatti: An Anti-Trump Hero Who Flew Too Close to the Sun
In 2018, Michael Avenatti seemed to appear out of nowhere. A brash, flashy lawyer riding shotgun with the porn star Stormy Daniels as her allegations against Donald Trump exploded into a national scandal. Avenatti was everywhere and was even — briefly — considered to be a presidential contender. Then the mask slipped to reveal a man clinging to his own myth.
Read Matthew Shear’s 2018 New York Times profile of Avenatti
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Program Pusher: A Trojan Horse Cult For Troubled Teens
When Esther was a teenager, her parents supported her in joining a group that promised to help her with her drug problem. She found a world of secret rituals, forced confessions, endless meetings — and a community that for a while at least, seemed to be exactly what she felt she had been missing her whole life.
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The Problem Dog Whisperer: Too Good To Be True
Steffen Baldwin was a tattooed dog whisperer with an apparent gift for rehabilitating dangerous animals. He was a beloved local celebrity with a reputation for saving the most difficult dogs from being put down. But after one pit bull named Remy vanished, a determined owner, a vet and a local detective began to piece together a pattern of deception that revealed a far more sinister character than anyone ever suspected.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Jacob and the Lion: A Cult, A Gangster And A Billion Dollar Tax Fraud
Jacob Kingston wanted money, status and the approval of his family. Then he met a charismatic Armenian oil tycoon called The Lion. What began with a deal over a shipment of stranded biofuel turned into a sprawling billion dollar scam where religious extremism, organized crime and green-energy policy collide.
Listen to Michele’s podcast Kingdom of Fraud
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Four Mrs Wilsons: The Spy Thriller Author with a Real Life to Match
When Mike Shannon was nine years old, he was told that his father had died fighting the Germans at the Battle of El Alamein. Michael’s father hadn’t died at all. He’d been a successful novelist and, quite possibly, a spy. We follow one journalist down a rabbit hole into the astonishing hidden lives of Alexander Wilson.
Read Tim Crook's book The Secret Lives Of A Secret Agent
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REVISITED: The Undead Tour: How The Fake Zombies Fooled America
A British band called The Zombies had a smash hit single in America with ‘Time of the Season’ in the late 60s. Shortly afterwards, four handsome Texans hit the road pretending to be the Zombies. This is the unbelievable true story of rock’s most brazen imposters… two of whom went on to form ZZ Top.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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A View To Deceive: An Artist Goes Undercover To Expose The Uber Rich
The views from New York's luxury high-rise apartments can be spectacular. And the higher up you go, the more exclusive, and expensive the properties become. An artist became obsessed with those views, and the hidden world hiding behind them. She just needed to find a way in.
Discover more about the Andi Schmied and her book “Private Views A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan”
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Artist of Cons: The Unbelievable but Totally Real Life of Milwaukee’s Most Interesting Man
As a teenager in Milwaukee, Art Rapkin became a hustler, karate champion and a fake Bob Dylan. Then he started smuggling cocaine, before ending up in a Mexican prison, where he was tortured, before working with he FBI and DEA.
Read Poison for Rats by Arthur Rapkin and Alec Banks
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Lie in The Sky: Is Frank Abagnale Jr's story too good to be true?
Frank Abagnale Jr. became America's most famous con artist. He said he stole millions of dollars, posed as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, before working for the FBI. His story became a bestselling book, a Hollywood blockbuster and a Broadway musical. But what if the greatest con Frank Abagnale pulled was convincing the world that any of it was true?
Listen to Javier Leiva’s podcast The Real Frank Abagnale
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Cultivated: The Self-Proclaimed Prophet Hiding In Plain Sight
In the summer of 1991, a young woman walks into a police station in Ogden, Utah. She claims that just blocks away, amongst the manicured suburban sprawl, a self-proclaimed prophet has spent years building a secret religious empire — fuelled by fear, manipulation, and systematic abuse.
Listen to Mike King’s podcast Gardens of Evil: Inside the Zion Society Cult
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Archangel Made Me Do It: The French Mayor And The “Fortune Teller” Who Has His Ear
The mayor of an idyllic seaside town in France had seemingly fallen under the spell of a glamorous mystic who claimed she could speak to the dead. Their relationship soon pulled the whole town into a mind-blowing scandal that blurred the line between personal loyalty and political corruption.
Listen to Leo’s podcast The Mystic and the Mayor
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Big Man on Campus: The Hoops Phenom Who Tried High School Twice
A promising high school basketball star seemed to appear out of nowhere—a talented homeless kid trying to rebuild his life after Hurricane Harvey. But Rashun Richardson was no ordinary freshman. In fact… He wasn’t even a teenager.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Going Places: The College Art Students Who Fooled a Nation
In the late 1990s, a group of art students from Leeds, England, announce a week in Spain as their latest “conceptual artwork” — and Britain’s tabloids lose their collective mind. But as the headlines pile up, it becomes clear the “holiday” is only the surface story. And the Art is aimed straight at the culture machine that’s reporting it.
Sarah Thornton's artist website
Read Griselda Pollock’s book: Avant Garde Gambits
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Wannabe Pilot: Fish Swim, Birds Fly, and Randy Lies
His friends, family and a string of partners all believed a version of the same thing. That Randy was a former marine who now flew commercial airliners. But as the people around him started to look more closely, their ideas about who this charming man was began to wobble. And if Randy has been taking such great liberties with the truth then what else isn’t true?
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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For The Love Of Dogs: The Scam Shelters Abusing Animals For Clicks
A network of animal shelters in Uganda started posting heartbreaking videos of starving, mutilated dogs on social media, begging for donations from animal lovers. But as a group of women around the world began comparing notes, they uncovered something much darker: a sprawling scam operation where animals were being tortured for clicks, sympathy and cash. And they started fighting back.
Follow Nicola’s instagram account WeWontBeScammed
Check out Sarah’s pipe cleaner cats
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Hos...
REVISITED: The Kid Who Couldn’t Stop Playing Cop
In 2009, Vincent Richardson walked into a Chicago police station and reported for duty. No one noticed he wasn’t actually a cop. No one noticed he was 14 years old. This is the story of the teenager who fooled the system time after time. Was it a prank? A cry for help? Or something else entirely?
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck. Launching November 13th wherever you get your podcasts.
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Mother of All Stories Part 2: Mom On The Run
When Heidi Cloud was twelve years old, she became the first child in America to be sent to jail for refusing a court-ordered visit with her father. As she grew up, Heidi came to understand that the real danger had been much closer to home. Her mother spent decades pulling everyone around her into a relentless world of conspiracy. Then she disappeared.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Mother of All Stories Part 1: A Daughter Falls Under A Spell
Heidi Cloud's childhood never stood a chance of being normal. A mother with a warped way of seeing the world keeps the family on the run and embroiled in an impossible custody battle with a historic and horrific conclusion. How does Heidi begin to untangle the truth when her own mother is as manipulative as she is convincing.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Mr 10 Percent: The Suburban Dad Who Fleeced Global Soccer
He rode a mobility scooter through Central Park with a parrot on his shoulder. He also helped pull off one of the biggest financial scams in sports history. This is Chuck Blazer, the flamboyant soccer bureaucrat turned FBI informant whose corruption helped reveal criminal activity at FIFA — the organization responsible for world soccer, including the World Cup — from the inside.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Fetal Attraction: The Reality Star And The Woman He Wished He’d Never Met
When Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor ended, he thought the public humiliation was behind him. Then a woman he barely knew claimed she was carrying his twins — something which, according to Clayton, was impossible. As the story exploded online sleuths begins pulling at loose threads. What they uncovered led to allegations of deception, forgery, and a pattern stretching back years.
Listen to Stephani’s podcast Love Trapped"
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Laundry Man: The Wild Ride of the Pig Butcher's Banker
A swashbuckling South African expat, Benjamin Mauerberger, rose up as a boiler-room stock hustler in Southeast Asia, then reappeared years later with a diplomatic passport and extraordinary wealth. When reporters start pulling at threads, they uncover an entirely new identity: this stock scammer seems to now be a key player in the industrial “pig butchering” scam economy. How does a small-time con artist end up orbiting political dynasties, buying yachts and private jets?… And what happens when the doors finally start to close?
To learn more about Tom Wright and his team’s work on this story: Project...
Introducing: Crimeless
Join your Chameleon host Josh Dean and his partner in (dumb) crime, comedian Rory Scovel, as they dive into the incredible story of a shady Swami who scammed Newark, New Jersey into adopting the Hindu city of Kailasa as a “sister city.” The problem: Kailasa doesn’t exist. And the swami behind it? A notorious scammer who’s on the run from various charges, some of them very serious. “Very embarrassing for the city,” one Newark resident told CBS. “Truly no words,” said another.
Crimeless is a production of Campside Media, Smartless Media, and Big Money Players. Every week, Josh...
Dumpster Fire Phoenix: The “Festival” Organizer Who Just Can’t Stop Himself
Fyre Festival was sold as the most exclusive party on earth — a luxury music festival in the Bahamas for influencers, celebrities, and the ultra-wealthy. It became one of the most shared disasters of the social-media era, but by the time the truth had emerged, thousands of people had already bought into the dream. And if the organizer was right, could be persuaded to do so again. And again. And again.
Read Gabrielle Bluestone’s book Hype: Inside the Fyre Festival and the Golden Age of Grift
Watch the Netflix Doc she executive produced Fyre: The Great...
Catch Him if You Ken: The Dating Scammer Who Targeted Influencers
The story of a mild-mannered guy who charmed his way into the lives—and bank accounts—of women on two continents by posing as a wealthy heir with big crypto dreams. But Ken’s real talent isn’t getting your money — it’s disappearing before anyone can prove what he’s done.
To listen to Natalie and Abukar’s podcast: Catch Me If You Ken
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Whiteout: The Olympic Snowboarder Who Became A Cocaine Kingpin
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder should have been a footnote—a guy who raced once, finished 24th, and faded away. But in early 2026, Ryan Wedding resurfaces as a fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, accused of running a sprawling cocaine network and ordering hits across borders. How did a middle-class kid from a ski family end up here?
Ready Alyssa and Tisha’s reporting on Wedding for ESPN
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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High Stakes: Life inside a Vampire Cult
As a lonely, grieving teenager in the early days of the internet, Celeste Mott is drawn into a secretive message board called "The Looking Glass": a place where self-proclaimed vampires demand total belief, reward devotion, and punish doubt. What begins as fantasy soon becomes something much more dangerous: a closed world built on manipulation, hierarchy, and psychological control. Years later, Celeste tells the story of how she was pulled in, why it was so hard to leave, and the charismatic figure at the center of it all.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
<...The Journalist And The Voyeur: It’s Not So Easy When You’re The One Being Watched
Gay Talese thought he’d landed a once-in-a-lifetime story every journalist dreams about: a motel owner who built a hidden viewing platform so he could watch guests in their most private moments and kept meticulous “research” notes for decades. But when Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi starts pulling at the threads, the story begins to unravel into something messy. A source who can’t stop exaggerating, and journalist who may have wanted to believe a little too much.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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A Master's Puppet: Jeffrey Epstein's Money Man
The unsettling story of Leslie Wexner—the Midwestern retail billionaire who built Victoria’s Secret, then gave Jeffrey Epstein extraordinary access to his money and credibility. But how much did he know?
Listen to Vanessa and Justine’s podcast Fallen Angel
Read Gabriel Sherman’s Vanity Fair article on Epstein and Wexner.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Real Eddie: His Scamming Is Insaaaaane!
The rise and spectacular fall of Eddie Antar, the electronics mogul behind the Crazy Eddie brand. Who scammed his way from the streets of Brooklyn to Wall Street and then vanished without a trace.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Mesh Mill: How Scammers Took Advantage of Women's Pain
Shortly after Christmas, Sharon gets a terrifying call. A stranger tells her the pelvic mesh inside her body has been recalled. It's a “ticking time bomb," and she needs emergency surgery to remove it. So Sharon flies to Florida. What she’s walking into is a scam embedded in America’s mass tort machine: stolen medical data, a call center, and huge profits powered by the pain of women like Sharon.
To learn more about this story:
Book: The Pain Brokers, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Atria/One Signal, 2026 Article: How Profiteers Lure Women Into Often-Unneeded Surgery, New York T...Harry And Rachel Part 2: When True Love Dies
For 563 days, Harry believed the love of his life was dying of stage-four cancer. Then Rachel’s husband called, and everything Harry thought he knew collapsed. A pattern emerges, revealing a woman he no longer recognizes and a trail of emotional wreckage stretching back decades.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Harry And Rachel Part 1: When True Love Lies
In 2001, Harry meets Rachel in Houston. And so begins a complicated and uncertain kind of love story. An on-again, off-again connection that would stretch across two decades of tragedies, lucky breaks, and relentless second chances. Sometimes the hardest lies to see are the ones you want to believe the most...
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Extra Credit: The Rise and Fall of a Frat House Ponzi Scheme
Syed Arbab looked like the next financial prodigy—a frat house day trader who turned beer-soaked bravado into a successful hedge fund. Except that wasn't exactly the whole truth. When the SEC came knocking, Syed doubled down, lied, and kept going.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Master Manipulator and Commander: Trust Your Gut
She thought she'd met the real deal: a decorated Navy officer, stationed at the Pentagon, opening hospitals in war zones. But what begins as a whirlwind romance slowly unravels into a portrait of compulsive deception. In the aftermath, this seasoned journalist is determined to get to the bottom of not just how and why her partner lied, but why she believed him.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Vampire Catfish: A Message Board And The Boy Who Believed
Michael was 16, lonely, and stuck in a small Southern town when he met someone called Dennis on a vampire-themed online message board. What began as a thrilling, romantic connection soon spiraled into something darker. We follow Michael’s journey as he tries to make sense of the many layers of deception two decades later.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Goodfellas: The Country Bar Theme Scheme
When an Arizona reporter starts looking into a flurry of closures at country music-themed restaurants, he thinks it’s just another boring business story. But he uncovers a collapsing franchise empire and millions in fraud, all linked to a mysterious character with mob connections living a double life.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Face Plant: The Woman With A Thousand Boyfriends
What's it like to have your image used as the bait in thousands of online romance scams? This is what happened to Janessa Brazil—whose image has been hijacked and used to con hundreds, maybe thousands, of lonely people out of hard-earned cash. This is a story of love, lies, and the faces behind a billion-dollar catfishing industry.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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The Velvet Sundown: The band that’s not quite Human, not quite machine.
They were a hot new band and storming up the charts. But something seemed off about Velvet Sundown. Was this the work of AI? When someone behind the band came out denying it, this looked like mystery solved. But this was only the beginning of an internet hoax with many layers.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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Engineering to Deceive: The Talented Coder Who Just Keeps Getting Jobs
When one tech founder tweets a warning about a seemingly prolific engineer named Soham Parekh, it sets off an avalanche. Turns out, Soham has been hired and paid by dozens of start-ups, sometimes working at several at once. He dazzled founders with coding tests, then vanished into a fog of excuses.
Chameleon is a production of Campside Media and Audiochuck.
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