Medical Fraud and Final Thoughts

C. Rob and r Sca H Thank' fr What's popping Conggregation? It's your girl Lacey Moseley, AKA Scam God us back with another installment about the podcast about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. Sometimes we love them, sometimes we hate them, but we will always laugh at them because this is a comedy show. but never the victims, Hey? Cgregation What am I Excited? Yes, thrilled. Thank you for the call and response. I am thrilled to have our guest today. He is a new member of the church. This is his first time at service, so please give him a warm welcome, even though he's probably already been welcomed into your homes and your lives for a long time. He is the hilarious Emmy winning co show runner of Abbott Elementary. He co developed the acclaimed animated series Holly Quinn. He gained initial fame from creating the Twitter feed and best selling book my dad says, A man, and is releasing a novel called Get Lost, a fast paced and hilarious thriller about a young woman who reluctantly teams up with her dead be dad to find her missing mom. When does he sleep He is a day Y'all know dads could be scams, but Obviously Justin Halper is not. And congregation please get up out of your seat, stand up in your cars att the red light And welcome Justin Halper to the show. Hello Justin. Hello, Thankk you for having me. What an intro. wow. Thank you for being here. I'm very excited to talk scams. I'm really like trying to do intros as a metaphor my own life for my own funeral. I hope someone does my intro to my funeral like this. Wow that would be Yeah That would really be like an amped way to start a funeral. I feel like usually people go low, but I think I think pumping up a funer. I don't even want my casket to be there when people arrive. I want it to be announced who's dead and then they roll out the casket with music. Like the beginning of like a lakers game. Yes. Wow And about to be six foot under I see Moses You know, yeah. That's pretty great. Like a little reel of my greatest hits. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe the lights go dark first and then Yeah get to build up music. Yeah ye. Yeah. But now I want to go to a funeral No I really want you. You're gonna outlive you by about thirty years, but I still w to try. Oh, who knows? Wh knows? And Justin, you might need to be responsible for writing my intro. You're very good at writing. That is for sure. all the emmys and accolades and shows that I watch and love. So yeah. I found the one thing I can do. That was a whole scam here was to get you here so you could write my No, but I want to know about your relationship with scams. And lately on the show, I've been asking my guests their opinions, their expert opinions on three random topics. And I want to know for each topic, is it a scam to you? Is it a scheme to you or is it a real thing? So is it a scam, a scheme or a real thing The first one is accountants. game or real thing And I will define that a scam is like inarguably a grift A schem is a little scammy but Lgitimate and then a real thing obviously is a real thing.. I would say If you make over five million dollars a year, it's a scam. And it not the rich person getting scammed. it's all of us, everyone else getting scammed Why are you going? Under that? I'd say a real thing. Oh. it is a scam when you get richer because then it's harder to tax you. Y And the IRS is criminally underfunded. And like when you get so rich that you could just send U haul trucks to the IRS and be like Try to find the needle in the haystack. Yep. You send a thousand pages of documents, all reporting losses. That is a total scam I am so poor. Don't look at me on my yacht. I'm poor. Yeah. This is my poverty yacht. I'm so poor. I have to live on water. That's right. I can't even aff land. Yeah. I'm always floating back and forth. I have to be in Greece. There's nowhere else I can go. Yeah because of my poverty. Also if you have to send your money to another country on a one stop, then that means you're a scam. Honestly a dream of mine for your money to live somewhere else? Oh yes. I'm trying to get to Switzerland. I'm definitely trying to get to the Caymans. Like I remember visiting the Cayman Islands and I think that they're probably the least friendly tourist spot in the islands in that area. And I was always wondering why? And then I was like, o They don't need tourism thatet bad. Yeah. They have everyone hiding their money there They were like, listen, little white girl, we knock on Bayo' here and put Pookka shells in it we don't give a fuck. That's right. And I love that for them. Yeah, they have no kids clubs there. There's no yeah, they don't give a shit Okay Yeah. That's right We're not sure kids trust it. No, mine too. Let's Okay, my next question for you scam schem a real thing, Justin Oh, that's a scam That's a total scam becausecause it just preys on people who can't afford to pay off their bill every month. And then they use all that money that they get all this late fees and stuff to, you know, subsidize all the other bullshit they do. That's a sc. Right? And it was invented in the eighties Anything invented in the eighties is a sca. Anything invented in the eighties, you know somebody was on cocaine when they made it. Yes. No what about this? numumbers. We make numbers. Yeah. And those numbers aside Who we g the houses to? Hey, everybody. sounds great. That's right. In the eighties you did cocaine, you either created die hard or a scam. That's it. ie mayaybe I would love also to make a scam. Yeah that is true. It might be the best time for scams. I mean, Midoff was doing well in the eighties, you know? Yeah. And he made off with everybody's money. That's right. So maybe I happen to agree with you on that for sure. The last question, scams came real thing, love Oh, real thing Oh Yeah, that's right. That's right real thing It doesn't mean we all get it, but it's a real thing Dale Maybe you can't have none, but J Justin over here saying like it's real. Y'all don't know about it, but I do. That's right Oh, that's beautiful. Why you think so? I've been happily married and in real love for well, I should know this if I'm happily married sixteen years. Wow. And I one hundred percent feel it's a real thing. Sixteen years. That's right That is a long time. It is a long time. It does feel like a long time. We were at a wedding and they do that thing where it's like, if you've been on you've been married more in five years, get off the dance floor, you know, to see. And they keep going up and up every year. And I was like, Damn, we're one of the last ones here actually love that Ands Perhaps if I ever trick someone into getting the government involved in a relationship with me. I will do that because inadvertently actually did that for my friend Taylor Mishacks. I was making cards for like I did this like whole wedding decoration in her trailer and stuff because while we' shooting going Dutch the first season, she had to fly home Get married and fly back And so her husband came with her on the way back Obviously, you know, when you book a flight, you'll book a job. and sometimes I guess when you book a wedding,, you'll book a job. That's right. And she was like, this venue is way too expensive. y'all't have to move some stuff around so I could at least get home. So they gave her like an extended weekend. So I decorated her trailer and got a bunch of like bridal stuff and gifts and things. But then when I asked people to sign cards I had Th different cards There was one for The cast There was one for the crew and then there was one for anybody who had been married over. ten years. And how many was that? Was that like a large section or was it you were surprised to find not a ton It was But But it was funny because I had to do what your friends did at their wedding where it's like, if you've been married for five years, get off the dance. I had literally hold the card up to people and be like, hey, how long have you been married? Okay sign this one, not that one. But then for like people who had long lasting marriage, it was like, sign this one with So were they signing? or were they writing a little message to? They were writing a little message. So what group wrote the best messages Oh, it was absolutely that people who had been over married over ten years Joe Morton wrote The B Mess. Like he's just a poet and a genius and a savant He doesn't really watch TV. he just lives life. That's shocking. I can't do that. I can't either I love TV. Me. He's like doing Falconry. And I'm like, sure you don't want this VPN because even though we in Ireland, we can tell everybody we're in New Jersey so you can download these shows. Yeah, my bad, I did watch a lot of Abbott from New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah, That's right Listen, anyway we can get it. Okay, still I think it' still counted as a stream. Yeah, yeah, it counts.. I think I still see something from it Oh my goodness, well, thank you. I love those opinions. Have you ever been scammed, Justin? I'm sure, many, many times. I've been part of scams. Oh Yes, yes. Wow, you jump from victim to participate room. I know, I know. I was sometimes one I used to work in an internet company, this company called break dot com which doesn't exist anymore. It's like a video sharing company. Maybe you remember? No. And yeah, that's probably better.. But you started by calling it an internet company, which already told me it was a sccaam. Yeah, right, right, right And break. com Yeah. And they would be like Coca Cola would like want to place their ad on the video page and they would promise they'd say, okay, you're going to get one hundred thousand views and you pay us money for those hundred thousand views guaranteed. But what we would do on our side is we would go to we had to deal with this super nasty porn site. and On their site. Super nasty porn. Y. That's right. Porn itself already sounds bad. I felt necessary. Yeah, That's right. I felt necessary to clarify that that's what this porn site was. It wasn't just one of your mom and pop porn sites. No no. One of your nice down the middle porn sites. This was nasty. It wasn't your suburban porn s No nasty. That's right. So y'all had to deal with them Yeah. And so what we do is on their page, on their site, it would be like gang bang of four chicks and two like whatever and it'd have a thumbnail of that. But then when their users would click it, it'd be like Coca Cola, the brand blah blah blah And so and then it would we get all these views, right? You'd get like a because nobody's going to actually click on a Coca Cola ad, but they will if they think it's a gang bang. And so my job was to put that video up and then send it to the porn company the gang bang video the comp No, I didn't put up a gangbang video. I was on the A side of that. Wow, Justin, you were the original bot. That's right. Yes. That's kind of botting I can appreciate Now it's just random and they're just under everything and they're saying random stuff appreci being tricked out of, you know, what if my super nasty porn of affliction ended because of a Coca Cola? You think we brought people to the light because This is how I stoped doing super nasty porn watching. I'm gonna say they weren't holding that when they clicked the ad. They were holding something else It was yeah. So then actually the way we got caught and by the way, it wasn't my idea. I was just pushing the buttons, but the way we got caught is the the the company was like Hey, how come people are only watching our ad for zero zero zero four seconds. damn every time they click on it because people would click it, see it wasn't what they thought it was, and then click it. And then they went back. weren they weren't cooke. No, no, Or they were, but not in that way. But not in that way or in that moment. Yeah. Oh wow I couldn't get upset about that because this to me like it is scaming the nasty porn watchers, but for the company who paid for the advertisement, they got the views That's true. I dont finish your session. and then all of a sudden you're Jones in for a nice gold coke. Maybe people are nobody's in a better spot to take in advertising than maybe the person who clicked on that ad. like they're susceptible to anything in that moment. They're really open. They are really open and in more ways than why. The jerkoff demographic is really under utilizedon If someone to advertiseed to me while I had my koti out Yeah, that that's like memorable. That's a memorable experience. I'll never forget it because I'm very vulnerable in that moment. I'm gonna remember everything. Yeah You've got your lotion and your tissue and what maybe you're in the bathroom h in front of your f. The adrenaline is up. You're gonna remember. Yeah, you're gonna know. And then afterwards you're gonna want maybe a Coca Cola. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe you're right. You know, maybe it wasn't a scam. Maybe this all this is all it do I mean, I think break dot com was giving everybody a break. They were. You know? Soil they went out of business, but yeah. I think we should bring them back It is the business model there for sure. It is Sott C. Oh my gosh, tangent, but we'll get into the story. but that also makes me think of like how you know certain websites like porn websites have like communities and comment sections. Yeah. I'm like who is bonding over this? Who finishes whatever they're doing to themselves? And it's like, I need to leave a comment. Yeah. Yeah. I have thought yeah Exactly. that I couldn't keep to myself. I needed other people to know. Also, when you finish doing that. The ability to do anything usually is pretty tough. So thereag, Wh whichich makes me think these are like super type A people. Yeah who like maybe schedule their diddling in their day and there's like time to diddle. All right, seeven minutes out the window. Time for me to leave a response enjoyed this video. I thought we got great to the point of I think it's people on both ends of the productivity spectrum. It's the people who probably don't get anything done an entire day and the people who are like the CEO's of companies. You're absolutely right. I think it's exactly that. It's how they always say that if you are miserable, you either have Not enough money or way too muchoney. Yeah, That's right. Yeah. If you're leaving a comment on a porn video, ye, you're too much time or not enough. O not enough. Yeah Sometimes I think about this one comment I saw once on a porn video and it just said, hey, great job And I thought, wow, they like I was like, they must think that the person in the porn went back and like I guess read the comments. They might Yeah. peopleople look at their views and people like, you know, want to make sure that they're spreading, you know, the disseminating the the work Yeah the products. Oh my gosh, I sound look such a perude. But the work, the pornographic cinema. pornographic cinema, yes. No, but I think that's lovevel. You did say Justin there that love is not a scam. That That was sweet of them to say, good job, guys. You know might cheered up that person. they were having a tough day. they went looked at the comment section of the porn that they're in. Yeah, you know what, you guys get on Apple podcast and leave me a good job. You' five stars. o Bak d. com isn't here anymore, okay? But if it was, I would advertise on it. I would love for it to be like nasty sex binge before it scammed God is. And then maybe you would listen to the podcast afterwards. But let's get into my favorite segment here. Historic Hoodwings. This is where I were regale Justin with a famous con capaper scheme. Maybe it's a group of criminals, a single actor, a couple, we don't know yet. and we'll get his opinions all throughout. So today, Keeping up on our dad theme Because we've talked about the things that dads love. Yeah. We got porn and then I think something else. Coca Ca Love, being tax accountants. It really is a dad centric start. Making up credit in the eighties definitely someone's father So we're talking about a suburban dad and aspiring musician, Mike Smith Who made ten million dollars by creating thousands of fake listeners Was he also a break? A break that's how en was this you No place Wow Were you Latino No, but I wish I could pull up that hat Justin is giving, you might have had a tan and you was had some biceps That is the best I've ever looked. By the way, why every photo musician, they can never look at the camera. It's always like off into the distance. Honestly, musicians are the only people who can get away with Fedoras. It's still icky. It's still icky But when a musician wears it, it's like, oh, are you Santana? Like we'll let this happen than that stop wearing them, especially if you're approaching people for threesps. I told y'all, it's always a really beautiful woman who approaches me and a man and a fedora in the corner, like, Yes. And I'm like, no, her sure. you know. Well he's gott to send her over. Yeah, but also he could not wear the fedora Yeah, but I feel like once you're into Threesoms, you have to have some kind of hat. You cant You can't just have your regular hairirstyle. But I feel like that's not the hat that convinces me you're good at the. I don't know why I'm defending this hypothetical guyora. Oh J? I'm not, but I'm bald and I like hats But I also love that he's posed in front of this graffiti wall, holding his guitar, looking like he's midstrum. It's really giving. It's giving Jason Mar. It's giving Jason Mart Yeah. I agree, Jes It's also giving Jysason Dperulo. I feel like he could do a flip I that why he got all. You know he can do a flip. Has he got a vest on too? M A white vest over a white t shirt with white pants. Is that not Jason Derulo Okay M we could do it flipping if theor stays on. See, that's the kind of guy want in a threesome Okay, Okaykay, okay, now you're make me like that. I get into the suation justuston, I'm going to call you. It like didn't I can't believe it. It happened. He did a flip right in front of me All three of us are made. And the hat was on and I was like, okay, give me your hotel room key. I'll come. Okaykay, I'll be there. So this suburban dad and aspiring musician, Mike Smith, he made ten million dollars by creating thousands of fake listeners to stream his also fake music so he could rake in the royalties. So Mike was a dad in his forties who wore tight shirts And on a chain of urgent care facilities. Oh man, that was not where I thought that was going. Wow. Really anybody where anywhere but there Oh, you't think we're gonna go for I think we're gonna to go to urg care now. Tight shirts and also rescued dogs. right? Like I wore tight shirts and I'm like, I think I have strip and then just the tightest shirted man. This is a specific kind of person in their forties, really though. As a man in my forties, you have to make the decision that You're never going to wear anything super tight again. You have to. I know you have a good bod? I don't. but I know you do some type of recreational sport. What is? No, I don't know. it mostly just looks like I have cancer. But I But I don't and I appreciate and support everyone who does. But I don't. But I look like I do. And so that's why I wouldn't wear it That's why if something looks tight on me, it's simply just because I'm deathly skinny. But this man, I think he obviously works out probably no more than two days a week None of them are leg day. No, no, no, you know those calves are skin te. Yeah, they are. But I think he like feels good enough to try to wear that. ight shir. I think as a guy in your forties, you have to just transition out of this shirt. I mean there are people who accept that they're in their forties and they hang out with people of their own age and their own ilk because they enjoy the camaraderie of talking about things with people your own age And like my little sister moved to Los Angeles to go to grad school. And I realized Like I was like, oh, I was going out of town again to shoot going Dutch in Ireland. I do that for like four months a year And I was like, oh I don't know anybody. L I need to find some friends for her because I'm going to be gone and I don't want her to be alone. And so then I started thinking like, whoo are my friends in their early to mid twenties? And I was like No, anybody in their early to midw. friends and then be like, C, your cousin You want to do a cousin date with my sister so they could meet and they could be friends. Like I didn't know anybody. but that tight ass shirt, he knows all the people in their twenties and probably some club promoters still. Yeah, and that's probably really problematic. I don't know that he's probably had one good interaction with one person in their twenties know sometometimes when I was in college there would be an old person and like there was this football player who ex football player who owned a chain of cash in places. W see I didn't think he was going there either. And that's the same with him. He's a tight shirted man who owns some urgent care. So maybe that's the formula. You got to have one thing that don't go with the otherven and then you stay in the pocket. And he was in his fifties. he would take us to the clubs, he would take us everywhere. And you know, one time he did trip and fall And that's when I really realized how old he was, but yes where he tripped to fail like We were all out and drinking and stuff. But if it had been a younger person tripping and fallen, I think we all would have laughed and been like, o be up There's been the silence when this old man fell We was like He's gonna die is he d? By the way, that was his nightmare Because he would have felt so much better if everyone laughed, but the fact that you were seriously concerned about his health, that's what nothing is more sobering than people recognizing how. When you start tripping it people are concerned if you're okay and' not making fun of you. Yeah, you turned the corner. He turned a corner. And so you know, he got the tight shirts on. He's got the urgent care. And this is when he decided to start self rising or self financing a rise to music Stardom because tight shirts and urgent care were not enough for him So he lived in a big house in Charlotte, North Carolina with his six kids and wife until that stopped inspiring him And he got a divorce. I didn't know we had to be inspired to stay married I mean, you've been married for sixteen years. I think you've been inspired. I guess that's true. Yeah. And Mike Mike said, I'm not inspired by my family anymore Iin't got the reist no more, okay. They stopped wearing tight shirts. It's like, I'm out of here You fruit of the loom as bitchions, I can't be with you no more So he reconnected with and married his college girlfriend, which reminded him of how much he liked a jam session back in college You're describing the saddest man in the world He should stay with his family. Yeah Becauseuse he went and married somebody who encouraged his corniness. And I'm sure his friend in college who is unmarried at this age was like, Hmm, you know what? he got that urgion and cares. I'm gonna ignore the fact that his nipples are rock hard in every room we go into. ' I need financial stability in a person of my own age. And then she was like, yeah, baby, get back into jamming M Dh man. to the garage. No one's ever been more divorced than this guy. This is Wow That does feel like a divorced man's hobby. Yeah. No one jams but divorced dads. They're the only people who jam. Divorced dads jam and dads who have been burriied in you know for like forty years, they put like together boats. Yeah in bottles. Yes Yeah, and intricate train sets. Intricate train set.. Yes. and that gives them the thrill up their leg that they need So he knew how to play the guitar, Banjo piano drums bass Mandoline and the Dulcimer Wow I've never heard of. I don't know if I've heard that in my ear or heard of it at all. But and he always thought that he could be a star So this movie I'm sorry, keep going could be a star, justust. You could. you're right. So this newly divorced guy. use the money from his medical business to f his music career because he thought treatment Treating people for aillness, that wasn't enough for the world. They say, fuck that. I actually need my music is gonna heal y'all even more Yeah, even more. Not my urgent care. That's gonna rack up the bills to pay for this He decided he was the patch Adams of music. So all I needed a little music. y'all gonna be okay. So Mike linked up with a music publicist named Hay, best known for proting Wait what? His name was Heay. This is Hay. Yeah, that is absolutely hey He looks like Hay. Yeah. He looks like he's made of Hay. Yeah. L, this is the straw manan. When has this guy ever been introduced into a story and things got better? Why do I feel like I'm on like the wizard of Oz? Like we've got Mike, he's Dorothy and the two tight shirts. We've got Hay. He's giving me like Look Cowardly lion a little bit. Cowardly lion or horse Scarecrow. Yeah. Oh yeah, you're right, Scarecrow Little of both He's giving scarecrow as well. and Hay was best known for promoting a false rumor that Rihanna had hooked up with JZ to boost attention for her two thousand four song poond the replay. He is famous for that? Yeah He's a famous industry liar Wow. I didn't know that you could like, is that a business? I mean, what is Perez Hilton? Oh yeah. But this guy just did it once. That's what TMZ used to be and now they want to be real journalists. Yeah you're right. TMZ knows if you're dead before you do I hope so. We used to not trust them, and now when they pop up, I'm like Now they're the most trusted I'm like, I'll wait to see what TMZ says You know our news outlets are fucked by the government. when you're like, I'll wait to see what TMZ says. And sadly, that is a real thing in my brain. I kept seeing rumors that Erica Kirk was at Coachell. and I was like, H, I'llait to see if TMZ has a videoight beforefore I believe this So SMH records. Shaking my head is what that sounds like to me. But in this case, it's Mike and Hey I don't know what the S stands for. We'll find this They started a music label called SMH Records and planed to work their way through the industry as producers while also making Mike himself a star Mike had the money to open the label, sign artists and produce their albums because remember, he left people who needed health carere behind. Yeah, sure, as we all do as a country. Yes. Yeah. to make money being stoped. That's right.. And this is SMH Records social media page. It's pretty sparse Yeah. and I need to get my king's wayay off of here, okay. Get him off of here. Don't do my king like that. TI, he belongs on this page. That makes sense. Oh that's right. Is that up What's that old man's name The light skinned one who's old, people are gonna get mad about this. I missed the world why you miss the world he's a old like a motown crooner with light green eyes. Who had a weird sex album recently, but he's in his eighties. Oh Damn, I know somebody is screaming right now He has a show here. He does. Smokey Robs has a show here. It's a channel. Smokey's a soul something or rather yeah. Yeah. And he hosts a channel on Sirious. Wow.s our coworker. Y'all listened to Smokey's so. And we brought them up because we love them. Yeah. And it might get weirdly horny but don't So don't worry about that. There's not another way to get horny in your eighties. It's only weirdly horny. Yeah, but I'm happy for them because I hope to be weirdly horny in my eighties. So SMH got a distribution deal with Capital Records subsidiary and a universal music executive left a senior vice president position to be their chief operating officer So they got some real backing behind this. And with these like meetings that they were taking with Hay and the other guy? Yeah, Mike and Hay and maybe S. Maybe is that S? We don't know. So Mike and Hay made two albums together One was called Fear of a pink plananet Is that about women Maybe. Yeah Mm Maybe that would be a good inso, bop. That feels like a good inso. That's like a clavigular bop. like that's. And it was inspired like it was credited to this group called Pink Grenade Which also feels like men being afraid of like ye. what if Akuchi was a bomb Well what if it was That' what women leadership feels like to them. Yeah. Oh no, we have a cuchci bomb Oh no. And then they had another album called When Music Worlds Collide, which is' not as catchy. No. the other one was catcher. Yeah, fear of a pink planet, I might tune in. Yeah. But when music worldorlds collllide feels bad And credited to Mike and Hay and the Bay Area hip hop artist, DJ King Tech. that's not one of the Bay Area hip hop artists I've heard of. No, I have not heard of King Taang. It go Hey fory And then DJ artists. Then it comes DJe King Test. Those are the top two Bay Area artists So it um Too short T short And you can't forget, u What's the space with the pant hammer? MC hammer? Oh That's true. I think he certainly wouldn't forget it. Yeah. No, and then I'm scared of him. People don't know. don't let them funny pants fool you. That man was a gangster Is that true? Yes, I'm very feared and respected. Really? Yes. You're being serious? Yes Loo up, MC Hammer was he was out here the time, but then everywhere else they were like, it's the haammer ake Yeah That's like hearing like Mickey Mouse fuck people up. That's crazy. Wow. It is comical. That's why I love that sketch in the Chappelle show where it was Wayne Brady and he was like,' Wayne Brady, the bititch and everybody was like,' Wayneay Brady Wow. I't know that. So both of these albums had tons of features, including one from Parliament Funkedelic drummer Jerome Brayy, and uncredited monologue from Johnny Depp on one song. Johnny Depp went on there and did a monologue Did he know he was doing it for like, did they take it from a movie or he actually went on and just did a monologue? You know sometimes in our career, sometimes you just show up places and they tell you you're gonna get money and then you just you just do it. One time I was on camera, and they were like, we'll give you five thousand dollars to open this ruler. and I was broke at the time. I don't know how I got this job. And I thought maybe this was gonna to kill me when I went. And but I was like, gotta risk it And I went and they just wanted me to comically open some very complicated science thing for a tech conference. So it's probably to be like, look at this hot, dummy who can't understand this complicated ruler. Look at her how dumb and hot and on TV she is. Man. I was the only one who did it, Ceciilly strrong did it two. D you both open You both open for this tech company? Yeah, it was filmed. It only took thirty minutes Wow I don't know what they did with it. I gotta get a new age. Probably on hased born. Yeah ye ye I'm right in front of a coke commercial right now. The Avila Bothers, songwriters and producers best known for their work with Usher recorded one of his songs with Billy Ray Cyrus and Snoopdog. That makes sense to me because Snoop doog just be doing anything. Yeah, he'll do whatever. He'd be doing anything. Yeah. And so the song is called lipstick It's a song about Kim Kardashian and features Ashley Holmes, who was famous for being one of the real housewives of New Jersey. And let's just hear a little bit of lipstick Jonathan Hay and Mike Smith Lpstick Grenade your stupid hose, Mack on my face, I'm rocking Smonzb Now you're playing with the p. The fo fish There's a ton of foot fetish shit in this. nothing The way I turn you on with my big old double d. Oh she lightoy pallace. I know you my lipstick on your. Okay Wow That's Yeah. Is that what you did for the tech company I know you want your ruler in my pool It's a little bit of the like little mama lip gloss vibe. Yeah, my lip gloss is popping. Maybe that's what they were going for. But it's all about suking a d Lstick Wh ye, whichich is like a noody even says that where it's like from like, a, nineteen forties dipstick. L that nobodys Hilarious. and it's meant to be grotesque, but it's actually kind of like funny. Why is she stepping on lipstick over and over again? Beacause she's gonna put it on her toes so she could put the toes on the dipstick. Also lipstick. Has a music video ever been made for less than this to the shot several times. there was it's literally taking place in like one room in one part of one room. Like the other part of the room is probably people in cubicles like Right. And you're so right about Dipstick being so outdated. It's giving like I know you want my pouch on your paddy whacker T. What are we doing? And why? So They wrote this I would hope so. Yeah. So Now, if only Mike's music had been good, this system would have worked. have another song that we want to show you, Justin. if you're okay with it, please. It's called Let's Take it Naked Maybe it's better This song is crashing my computer. Hold on, here we go Okay. The stars due to our strong personal convictions, we wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the Illuminati. I've never seen a warning like that before It's like the beginning of a VHS state Uh Oh o. Let her again. Okay It's a lot of cocaine. Yeah, so much cocaine. But like not in the way that you would think people would do cocaine. No. It's like he's doing cocaine with a crazy straw though Like a straw from a children's birthday, greg. Yeah Yeah. L like comeing to Swensson's and have our big Sunday straw. We don't need to see anymore of Let's Take it Naked. It's actually crashing our computer, which makes sense. It's so bad, it's imploding things So let's get to the rap reality competition show. You knew that was coming up next, right? Justin? Absolutely. Mike Mike K have to Does the Zoous network come up anywhere in this? Yeah Terrible for the world. Obviously, I've seen it. I have to say Quinta Bronson will not let me watch anything on the Zeus Network. She's banned me from looking. Yeah, you know what? And I appreciate that Quinta did that. Yeah. You know, we both worked on a Black Lady sketch show. That's how we met. And she's protecting you from a gaze that only black people should see. She said that I shouldn't see it. It's shameful and we don't need you to think about any of us that way Too many wigs flying and all they do is give them ladies tequila and the occasional Dorito and tell them to street fights. And I feel like now I'm selling it. Yeah you just did the worst job of not getting people to watch the Zoous Network. I'm gonna admit it, I do I've seen the things, but for me, it's cathartic ' I was like, if my acting career ever or any of my performing careers went south I feel like I cook it on badty. Yeah Can you slap the sh out of someone? Oh, that wouldn't be my role. I feel like there's no one on that show who like it's like very prideful to like win a fight and stand on business I feel like I could sit on shenanigans and I could run away. like everybody would just be me running away like no And if they happen to catch me, I're like, Like I feel like that would be good for me. R reality competition show. This is where Mike continues to pour money into his dreams, even though these songs were objectively terrible and somewhat terrifying. So and they don't turn to be good, bad. they're just bad. Yeah. So next, he fully self financed a rap reality competition show called One Shot He made it himself with no network attached in twenty fourteen and we have a little bit of the trailer of one shot. I'm guessing that M andem was popping and he was like, you only get one shot. Yeah. We set up one stage get stage rich with one chance to impress our celebrity judges. Not a wom. Each week MCs move on. one will go home with a hundred k and a reccket deal The others just go home. Oh sway King Crooked and Kington. man break his next round one, Undisputed King of the Mic. Do you K it? This is start fulfilling. Who will make their one shot count? This is reality. sa light. One shot. Pmiere is twenty sevenh, seeptember at seven on B. BET onene shot. God Damn it, it got me By the way, that is a who's who of people who will do anything for money. That' like, Do takead, Do take? Justin, when you're writing the eulogy for my funeral, we can definitely get DJ Callid on the mic to say Weed abyss. Oh yeah. O we was abiss. H was Yes, we can get TI there too. Oh, for sure Whenever you like Yeah, ye, yep, we got it. We got a whole lineup coming. So Mike and his main collaborators are collaborators, Crooked, Ting Kk, and Sway Callaway. Oh my go U They held these nationwide auditions and they got TI, Riza, the Game, Tech nine, Twista, and DJ Callet to do the guest hosting. Cricket says that they filmed nearly eighty percent of the show themselves and used that footage to create a sizzle reel and sold it to BET before completing the production. MTues I yes we love the shanigans. For the winner of one shot, they promised one hundred thousand dollars in a deal with SMH records. Oh God C coveted So because he paid for it, Mike got seated at the judge' table, though he's barely in the trailer and it's often unclear why he's on the show at all. He wanted to be in front of the camera as well. is not wearing his fedora, but definitely looking out of place. Yeah. No, he does. I mean, that's a pretty motley crew. But you know what? he probably took inspiration from Diddy because Diddy used to always be in his artists music videos unnecessarily and everyone had a problem with it Like that was the thing that Shunck talked about. He was like, if you don't want to produce it in your music video, come to death Row Rer They knew he was a menace for a long time. So around the time the production on the show started, Mike and Hay got in a fight. Heay started to suspect that his buddy's finances were not all in order. He and other SMH employees sent their business associates one hundred eleven page document accusing Mike of financial mismanagement. Mike reply all withith one sentence How would you reply, Justin W too your business partner who's now outed you to the entire company saying that you're mismanaging finances What's one sentence that would just shut it all down? I mean, did he reply with his bank statement Wow, Justin your real class act He said You got a tiny penis. Oh, well, that's enice drying. Yeah. You guys, I like we call it a penis You got a tiny penis. His words for phalluses are interesting.an. In. Song. L This dude has never referred to a dick. No He's never sexted. No, no. or he has, but it's ended very quickly I'd love to be the speculum inework Hfmear. Like I feel like it's like when we found out Prince Charles was calling Camilla talk about, I'd love to be your Tampon. It's giving that. L Sirah what Check out my hard Wiener. Oh, Wiener's terrible. Yeah. Wiener's awful. So the show aired its only season shocker on BT in twenty sixteen, which feels too close to the present, even though it's ten years ago. It didn't turn Mike into a star, but at least he made up with his friend Hey and they kept trying. So the French know, they made up Good. I'm glad. He said you had a tiny penis He was real. What? Yeah ye ye How do think they had a real heart to heart? Love is real. S just Love is real. So let's get to the fake listeners that sparked all of this. In twenty seventeen, Mike started to use fake email addresses to create bot accounts on streaming platforms that could play his music on repeat. Now he started to get some traction with the royalties. The bot accounts started running up streams. At one point he had one thousand forty accounts, each one streaming approximately six hundred thirty six songs a day, with his music accruing about six hundred sixty ones thousand four hundred and forty streams a day. and the average royalty per stream was half a cent Wh So ye, this is back Yeah. So Mike estimated he was earning about three thousand three hundred and seven dollars and twenty cents a day. Wow. So like ninety nine thousand two hundred sixteen dollars a month and over one point two million a year. Damn. Yeah, this is making me think differently about dipsticks. Should we write a song? Yeah Yeah. Patdy whacker? Yeah, paty whackers. we have you stepping on lipstick. Yeah. ye. Yeah, something something in that area. Yeah, this this feels like I've turned a corner on this guy. I feel like It doesn't seem like somethingone is a tiny penis to me at all. No. Or maybe Yeah, O or maybe they M yeah, he need to distract from the penis. Yeah. It's constantly calling to him like make more money Yeah I' bigger. Yeah. I'll never be big. makeake as much twenty as you can. And then they'll think I'm big. So between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty four, he had as many as ten thousand active bot accounts streaming the music. twenty eighteen, he and his boy Hey released Tiny Penis Hey, released the jazz album. They've moved on to jazz. They love negro genres really They're trying them all. They're like Black people have been very successful this. You can't do hip hop. It's try to jazz a scpid they about by and It hit number one on the billboard charts. their out their jazz album. What Yeah. But the next week it wasn't on the chart at all There were no tweets or online comments about the songs on the album. Heay looked at Spotify's dashboard for artists and saw that listeners appeared concentrated in faraway places like Vietnam. Well J this huge Vietn. Oh, they love it in Vietnam A scpid Yeah but Yes. That's how they won the war. That is how they won the war. It was through J. It was through Jaz. Yeah That's what the movie La La Land is all about. It's about how Jazz won the Vietnam War. Yes Yeah V Vietamese. Yeah' right So that's when he started getting notices from distributors and companies that handled the licensing of indie artists music, flagging their music for streaming fraud. Meanwhile, Mike was celebrating, finally making it big because he had something on billboard charts And they don't know how, but he did And also it's the jazz billboard charts, I feel like it's probably Ps pretty easy to school. It's like Bran for Marcelles and no. Yeah. Yeah Maybe like Miles Davis just keeps coming back off the chart. Yeah. you know, then Mike. Bches Bw just is constantly a hit, you know? Yeah. And then Mike Yeah. then was like Mike. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No it goes Miles Davis, P Gesy. Mike. Yeah. the G. Yeah. So Ele Fitzgerald, Mike Mike and Mike So Mike is celebrating, right? June of that year, he shared a photo of his Spotify stats on Instagram with two hundred and fourteen thousand eight hundred and seventy five monthly listeners and Mike loves to be specific. We've got his money down to the cent here. And he said he had more than seventy two thousand listeners on that specific day. And the caption was. That's crazy And thanks to everyone who listens Truly grateful Look how humble he is. Wow. He's so humble. He's so humble. He said That' cz. Yeah. well, you put in the work Yeah, that's not cime. That's no. Yeah. Thank you for listening. Wow So fraud flags will start popping up and Mike needed a new tactic to keep from getting caught. A billion fake streams for one song looked suspicious. Sure F Vietnam. Yeah, from Vietnam. Well there's like four million people there total. who love jazz. Yeah, who do love jazz. That's And they need to listen to it billions of times a day So but a fake billion fake stream spread across tens of thousands of songs is more difficult to detect So, artificial intelligence songs were still a new thing in twenty eighteen, and Mike got in early, working with the CEO of an AI music startup to create hundreds of thousands of fake songs to send to streamers Once again, AI, improving the play., He was really ahead of the game. He really was when comes to crime. He was like, AI definitely a scam. let me get involved. And. So in twenty twenty four, Mike had made ten million dollars with this scheme. and that's when he finally got arrested by the FBI Dang flew too close to the sun Honestly fake the industry music industry has so many scams going on. I know. I'm like, why is he any worse than sp anything else And I would be on his side if he wasn't using AI. You poisoned black people in Memphis to do scooby bop bops from Vietnam. Sorry, we can't be serious. And now we have his mugs shot here. No Fedora in the mugshot. No, but he looks really alert Yeah, he does. He looks the most awake anyone's ever been This was quite the sobering experience Yeah. because he's looking directly in the camera. It feels like the Mona Lisa scams. like the eyes follow you around you. Yeah wow That do you think they raided his house computers and stuff. Yeah, Oh man. Wow. And the AI songs have largely been scrubbed. but much of the music Mike released is under his own name and still wildly like available. The AI music startup isn't named in court documents, but it was probably boomy And that finally is how Mike Smith became a famous man, which is what he wanted from the start. So he got famous for being arrested for making AI music and making millions off of it. Is he still in jail , he was arrested in twenty twenty four. Yeah, so, you know, it's twenty twenty six. He made music history as the first person in the United States to face criminal charges tied to streaming fraud. Who stole more music? Hammer Elvis? O got We got Thatic Mama Thorton. No, that's a ooh on the right side of history. Okay, thank youen. Thank you. You better be making a show with a black woman. That's right. And know that Elvis was ripping off everything. That's right. He was a handm dog, but that was big mama I think Ma Thorne was the name that they gave her dream girls that' not actually her name. but we all know where I'm getting with this. Yeah, but yeah, so he was really thieving. Hcore. Arrest documents say he fraudulently inflated his streams on platforms like Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube music, poor guys, poor all of them of An anyone look out for YouTube Can anyone look out for a cue ball jet? No shade adjusted. B they would listen Any kind of bald representation, I'll take it Professor X. That's right.'s Yes. It's always good when when Professor X is the first bald man. peopleople think of the made up character. Think of a cool bald guy. Well, I can't think of any that are real. Let me go to Professor X Damn, you right, you're right. I'm just thought of a real balld guy Yeah. My dad's, their're bald Okay something. Yeah. Yeah and you're pulling A lot of white people can't pull off balls. Thank you. Yeah. I appreciate that. It looks like you moisturize your head a little bit too. I You know not as much as my wife would like, but yeah You got to do better job though. You a light coming from the Yeah little shine. Yeah, that's good. So there have been reports that Smith's music, Mike Mike Smith also popped up on Soundcloud Pandora title. Now you got Beiasce You knew she'd make an appearance be I perform one of the songs. I want to hear one of the songs. Okay And part part four, part three. No, part three, partart three. Yeah, partart three give us some scamm. So and even boomplay, a popular streaming service in Africa So in response to like Spotify said, its preventative measures like caught Smith early, minimizing the royalties they paid out to just sixty thousand dollars for Smith's own music and the AI generated tracks. Now, I love that Spotify is saying that they caught this early almost in a way that like they were the fraud stoppers. but I feel like it was more that Spotify was He like to give people money. So we had to look into why we had to give him some. That's what it was. It stopped that. It was just red flags came up when they had to pay someone That's what it was. There has nothing to do with anything other than that corporations dud, we can't be right. Somebody burst into someone's office and said, Do you know we're paying someone a wch Can somebody fucking stop this? They' fucking living off this wage fro? No, we gota get after it. That's right Pandora also said that they paid out fif five hundred dollars in royalties to Smith mith's Robin Pandor, we love It's really quite easy to pull off this kind of scheme. You can look up videos on how to make fake music on YouTube and guides for creating bot listeners on Reddit. What's surprising is that Mike Smith is the only individual who has been caught for it. That might be because a lot of powerful businesses are also engaging in this kind of fraud or at least benefiting from it. so there's really no reason to stop it He to pissed somebody off. Yeah, I think it was. it just like he didn't cut them in. It's the mafia. It's like they didn't get their cut. It wasn't financially worth it for them. R they went after him. He should have just made some phone calls with some of these larger companies and made them in on the scheme. Yeah. 'cause maybe this help with quarterly reports. Absolutely. He becomes investors like are looking therere like, look at our we are in the black and rising And Billions of people in Thailand love our platform. Number go up Number go up. That's right. That's probably why they're quiet about it. Num go up. Yeah. Yeah They don't care how num go. They don't care how number go up. Who number go up? Yeah go up. Exactly. The dos at fifty thousand. That's right And food And the straight H move. And then people get kidnapped on the streets thousand fifty thousand. one thousand fifty thousand. Yeah. That means something to you We all know what that means. We all know what that means. Yeah. Every day I'm like thinking about the Dll. Yeah If if it's not in fifty thousand I'm like, well, what's happening? Yeah. Why am I even alive I don't you want to live in a world where hundred fifty thousand. the catto. Yeah. Not everything else, no, no, no, no no. No doubt. So streaming fraud, some have argued that Mike Smith is actually the robinhood of streaming fraud. The little guy playing the same game the big labels play every day. I mean, ain't that why Drakes st his label? 'cause he said that they were streaming a't like they ain't like us He said the label was running up the streams. They said, I know because we did it with my song. So they were like, I was gonna sue about that e you was like Yeah, when you were a part of the lawsuit 'cause y'all did it to me and I'm also been doing this every back. Thats I'm popular.. Did I say that? No. Anyways So label, streamers and distributors and rights holders all make money on the royalty stream, whether the song and listeners are real or not Damn do we all try make a fake music? Well, here's the thing though about calling him Robinhun. There's the other part of Robinhood is that he gave the money to the poor. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Mor details. Yeah, that part seems like it's missing. But you know what? he was giving his music to the ear poor. Oh, that's true That's true. for all the people who had to live in a world where like because at that time, the dO wasn't at fifty thousand. No. So we were. he had to shut down his medical clinics, right. Bea did he shut him down? I don't know, but it doesn't seem like Yeah, he's probably not also o. He' getting this money from somewhere. so But he wasn't there anymore to see him obviously. So in current like the current music economy landscape, subscription and ad dollars for music and streaming are pooled in one big pot. and royalty money is allocated based on each artist's share of the total streams. Bot streams generate money for who's ever behind them and leave less in the royalty pool for others, which does not sound like Robin hood to me. It sounds like a Rbin artist Yeah. Yeah, you robbed the hood. I was kind of with the scam until that part. Yeah Especially like smaller artists, there already getting so little for the streams. So Spotify itself has been accused of doing this, stacking their playlists with cheaply licensed music to rack up plays and take money out of the royalty pool. I'm gonna stop you there because Every rep, listen Before there was Spotify Before we had What is the one that I'm thinking about this like orange Soundcloud. Before we had Spotify, before we had SoundCloud We had rarappers with CDs in the back of their trunks That's right So now maybe Spotify is just creating a space for the rappers with the CD's in the back of their trunks to Get their music into the world. Yeah. I mean, I remember, you know, walking down Hollywood Boulevard. people handed me their CD's. thing where we so call people soundcloud wrappers. Yeah, That's right. Yeah In a way I deeply identify with that because I think starting an acting career is just like starting a rapper career like we are soundcloud rappers. I was trying to get people to come to my improv shows. or watch my watch me in this show. I'm in it for thirty seconds at minute fifteen forty eight. Don't miss it tonight on Fox. Yeah It's tough because they've given them this opportunity, but then they also pay them dogshit. Yeah. But you know, Mike Smith was a true fraudster Even the actual businesses he used to bankroll for his music label, reality show, and fake bot streams. Oh no, they were also a scam. And Justin we're getting to the end. Getting back to his medical businesses Does he end up in one of his own urgent cares I feel like if he did, he'd be like, getet me out here. Get me out of here. No we got his tongue depresses and Q tips and no Great Well the same year, one shot aired on BET, Mike and his company, Calif Carolina Comprehensive Health Network Sounds legit to me. Lots of words. Carolina. No wayere which is a place It's a planks. you can verify that. rehensive. So they every do. They can do whatever you meet. Yeah which is being you want to go there to leave with. Don't want to be sick. No, you want health when you le for sure Yeah. and network. whichich is a lot of things It's so many other things together. That's right. When you need it. Yeah. a comprehensive network. They were accused of Medicare and Medicaid fraud in two separate lawsuits. See, I didn't see that coming at all blowers and some of his clinics said that they were told to carry out tests and procedures that were not medically necessary and then submit false reimbursement claims. See, this is why I always have a rule that I'm not gonna go see a doctor who's also a jazz musician like They might They can improvise. You know what? That's true. It's the medications that they don't prescribe. Stpid itr m? I don't know. It could be a thing. One of the two laosses claimed that SMH records directly benefited from this fraud, will dh. By september twenty fifteen, Carolina compomprehensive Health network. I was gonna say compromise health network, which is what it is now had allegedly paid SMH, so he's paying himself, Robin Peter to pay Paul from his own businesses one hundred fifty thousand dollars. In September of twenty twenty, Mike settled one of the fraud cases for nine hundred thousand dollars while the other one was dismissed. As for streaming fraud, Mike is out on bail Anne has pleaded not guilty He could get up to sixty years in prison if convicted Wow, that feels like a bit much to me. sixixty years. Well, he's scheduled to be sentenced by a judge on july twenty ninth, twenty twenty six And that judge Judge Branford Maralz hing Oh man, I hope that judge went to school at the compomprehensive University network And that he doesn't face any jail time because this is pretty creative. And when you think about it, like, yes, the artists are being harmed, but it's not like the music b harming at first, you know That's like if you if you get robbed, that's like if your car gets the tires taken off of it. and somebody comes in later and steals your air freshener, you know? It's like it already wasn't a work any. yeah. We were more worried about the tires. So Mike Mike Smith has also agreed to forfeit over eight million dollars in royalties. he gained from using bots to stream. He's going to be paying that out from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty four And I bet you he's probably figured out how to get his fake AI streaming service back up so he can make some money to do so I think this guy and AI haven't seen the last of each other. No. Yeah. No. instead of SMH, maybe it's SMP five hundred. Yeah, he's ahead of his. That's right. He's just ahead of his time He was just so like a click too stupid. The only thing that I wish he would have done is like not use AI to make the songs. I think it's a complete waste and we don't need it. But and obviously we've covered on the show many times. so I'm not gonna to hop on some soapbx at the end here. but I wish that he would have just made terrible songs all day long. I mean, that's what everybody else does. rightight? Yeah, I wonder if it was just like the amount he needed to make in order to spread these streams across so many songs. And then finally he was just like, I can't making them fast enough. I could have kept remixing. I want my lipstick on a dipstick That's true, the most remixed song of all time. There's a jazz version. It's great It's actually very classy. It really lif here. Well, that's reallyif Wow It's just floored. It's Tuesday now My mouth is right. Id be like we put that up on Spotify and we see what happens. I think we do and we remix it. Yeah. And we also wrap It does feel like AI use is the real like shit thing he did But like, I mean, I don't think you this is just a personal opinion I generally don't think you can scam up Whoa Yeah. That is a huge bomb to drop at the end of the show. I But I think it's like like you just said earlier though, like think about everything the music industry has done to performers. L how like if you're scamming the music industry, is it really a scam if you're scamming someone more powerful than you So you do agree, you can scam up I wouldn't consider it a I mean, in the technical term of scam, maybe, but like In the spirit of scamming, I don't think it's a scam Wow, you just threw me on a roller coaster. At first I thought we were gonna have the fight And Justin I was like, oh my Godd, Im have to break his glasses. Kick him a little bit. That you'd be right too. But no, that's like the most ethereal way to say it. It's not a scam. I say scam up, but you're right, it's not a scam if you're scamming up. It's really only a scam if you're scamming down. That's right, The power dynamics have to be taken into account. Yes, I say that all the time, but I've never phrased it that way and it really was a shocker. S people I' sorry y'all Bill it to Justin's insurance.. Yeah Which is a scam So I was like, yes, it is. But oh my goodness, thank you so much for being here, Justin and for offering so much. Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. And would you like to tell anyone where you can be found and where they can watch? See read? Yes, I have a novel coming out called Get Lost that comes out july seventh. I think it is a fun beach read. One of the characters is a big scammer. Oh, I love a beach read Yeah U Yeahah, it's a fun kind of father daughter story. Father is a yeah, kind of a big scam scammer, a little bit a piece of shit. and him and his daughter have to find the missing mother. I love that. I'm definitely going to be reading this. Thank you. Yeah I'm excited about it. And if you watch Abbott Elementary, if you watch Aot if you've heard of it, if you watch it, please watch Abbott Elementary and Harley Quinn on HBO Max and that's alles. Absolutely. And y'all, when you're taking Justin's book Get Lost to the Beach to bring scam goddess as well toolutely Beach reed. that might be more of a um U Hospital waiting room read You know, those wit times alone. Yeah. My book you can read in life. You get lost with sand on your toes with Justin. And then when you get sunbverted, you gotta go to Eurge again Y Godess And you'll love it. You'll love it the entire way. Guys, you can watch Go Dutch streaming now on Hulu, new episodes on Thursdays. And you can watch the first season of Scam Goddess on Hulu as well. Get into that. I might have something else in store for y'all soon. cononggregation, I want y'all to get out there And stay L can them dipsticks S goddess stars and it is hosted by me, Lacey Mosley, AKA Sam goddess. Our producer is Jessica Ciseros, and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is conducted by Kate Doyle. Stay Sam in.