Hosted by AARP · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 321 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
AARP's weekly podcast The Perfect ScamSM tells the stories of people who find themselves the target of a scam. Host Bob Sullivan introduces listeners to those who have experienced scams firsthand, as well as professional con artists and leading experts who pull back the curtain on how scammers operate.
AARP hosts The Perfect Scam, a society show with 321 episodes published.
In part 2, nearly a decade after Pat received the first phone call from a woman believing to be in a relationship with him, he continues to receive regular cards, gifts, calls and visits from scam victims. Criminals have
Malcom "Mac" Parker aspires to be a filmmaker. In Vermont, Mac is known as a beloved children's entertainer, appearing on public television and performing around the state. Mac is so well respected in his community that
Bill and Allison are devoted to their dogs, so when they discover their 11-year-old beagle mix Archer missing one evening, they are distraught. They spend hours searching the neighborhood and start putting out alerts onl
After escaping the Palisades fire in January of 2025, Ellen doesn't know if she and her husband Steve will have a home to return to. Miraculously, their house is still standing, but it needs extensive cleaning and repair
Fed up with the rising cost of electricity, Steve shops around and switches to a new provider in his Boston neighborhood. The process is simple, and Steve thinks the matter is settled until a week later, when he receives
Jeanette moves back to Vermont, expecting a peaceful retirement in a beloved community, but a tech support scam upends her life. She reaches out to her local police, who advise her to report the incident to the FBI. Now
In this bonus episode, Bob meets some Fraud Fighters working to make their Nebraska community a little bit safer from scammers. When Omaha passes a city ordinance requiring all crypto kiosks to display a scam warning, lo
Dr. Maurice Sholas, a pediatric rehabilitation specialist based in New Orleans, discovers that his likeness is being used in an ad when a friend sends him a TikTok clip that looks convincingly like him. It's an AI-genera
After taking a break from her tech career to care for her aging mother, Dawn is reentering the workforce in her mid-50s, and she isn't having much luck. She takes a chance on an offer for a new kind of job at "Facebook."
It's tax time, and that means it's also tax scam season. The Federal Trade Commission warns about a recent surge in fake IRS calls to taxpayers. Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary joins host Bob Sullivan to d
When Anola returns home from a picture-perfect trip to France, she finds an unexpected flirtation with a man who reaches out to her on LinkedIn. He showers her with love and attention, and over time, he steals thousands
Richy and Terri send a check to their son and daughter-in-law for their anniversary, but it never arrives. After a tough year of medical issues and the death of a close friend, they open a bank statement to see that thei
When Brian receives an email from "PayPal," he thinks it must be the refund he's been waiting for, but he is instead drawn into a scam that has him running all over town feeding money into crypto kiosks and exchanging ca
Patricia is enjoying a quiet night babysitting when she discovers that her phone has no service. When she switches to Wi-Fi, a sudden barrage of notifications shows that someone is moving money out of her accounts. This
Eric's day-to-day interactions at the gas station where he works have taught him to recognize when something isn't quite right with one of his customers. He's also aware that the crypto kiosk in the store is a tool that
Joyce is a retired teacher who works part-time with special needs kids. She's recently divorced after a long marriage, facing a cancer scare, and acting as the primary caregiver for her 96-year-old mother. With all of th
Josh loves his job as a full-time novelist, but writing and working from home don't give him many opportunities to meet people. So he decides to try a dating site and connects with a woman named Hannah. After months of c
When Manny, an Air Force veteran living in Las Vegas, loses his wife of 62 years, he turns to playing Publishers Clearing House online games to help ease his loneliness. He is thrilled when, one day, he receives a call f
David is a retiree who remains active in his Florida community, but he would like to have someone to share his life with. When an Indiana woman named Bonnie strikes up a friendship with David on Facebook, he is delighted
Employment scams are one of the fastest growing types of fraud. The recent surge can be traced to several post-pandemic factors that make these crimes even easier for criminals. In this episode, we will hear from a job s
Dawn
holistic nutritionist and women's wellness coach · The Unretirees
1 appearance on this show
Michelle Singletary
Washington Post Personal Finance Columnist · Washington Post
1 appearance on this show
Rachel Tobac
Social Proof Security
1 appearance on this show
Kathy Stokes
Director of fraud prevention programs · AARP Fraud Watch Network
1 appearance on this show
Sponsor detection runs nightly. Check back soon.
No public pitch examples yet for this show.
Generate your own personalised pitchBased on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:
Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.
Shows with the most semantically similar episode content. Pitch one, pitch all; producers cluster.
The Perfect Scam has a verified contact on file. Create a free PitchCentric account to access it and generate a personalised pitch in seconds. Research at least 3 recent episodes first and lead with a specific angle that serves their society audience.
The Perfect Scam is hosted by AARP. The show is categorised under society (culture) and has published 321 episodes.
The Perfect Scam has published 321 episodes.
The Perfect Scam regularly covers society, culture, true crime. It sits in the society category, with a culture focus.
The Perfect Scam is accessible for guests with genuine society expertise. A personalised, episode-aware pitch will still outperform a generic one every time.
The Perfect Scam hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
Episodes of The Perfect Scam average 49 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
Our data rates The Perfect Scam's guest bar at 80/100 (Premium tier). Established thought leaders with verified media credentials. Sign in to PitchCentric to see how your own Pod Score compares against this show.
Methodology. Booking Probability™ blends Listen Score, 30-day Virality, open-to-guests detection, and Apple ratings. Data refreshed every 60 minutes. Listen Score and Booking Probability are calculated by PitchCentric. Last enriched 9 days ago.
