Scams, Con men, Cheats, and Bunco Artists in Old Time Radio

The most successful con men claim to got that way by taking advantage of the inherent greed of their victims. Even the cops will admit that a bunco artist truly can be an artist in the way they manipulate a sucker. However, it is the job of law enforcement to protect the public from these sorts of scams. The most important lesson we can learn from scammers, con men, cheats, and bunco artists is that if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

• The Los Angeles Police Bunco Squad has faced a huge number of swindlers, so many that they have names for many of the common rackets. Detectives Friday and Romero on Dragnet go up against "the Obituary Racket" where the swindler reads the name of servicemen killed overseas and then approaches the victim's loved ones with cheap merchandise supposedly ordered and engraved by the deceased. The loved one thinks that their serviceman had ordered the items on credit and happily pay the inflated fee for the junk merchandise. Sgt. Friday was also working the Bunco Detail when he breaks in a new partner, rookie detective Bill Lockwood played by Martin Milner while working a business opportunity scam. Lockwood is the nephew of the late Ben Romero, Friday's first partner who had been played by Barton Yarborough until the actor's sudden death from a heart attack on December 19, 1951.
• Swindles will always be part of the human experience, even in the future. In "The Reluctant Heroes" on X Minus One, a veteran moon colonist is at the end of his tour when the controllers back on Earth realize that they need an experienced man to stay behind help turn over the station to the new crew. Chapman is the most experienced moon man but he has already been on the moon for three years, and relief ships can only fly every 18 months. Can the commission con him into staying for another tour? The answer is a somewhat tragic Yes!
• A wealthy heiress is a natural target for a swindler, not only is there a lot of money involved but the scatterbrained young lady maybe incredibly open to suggestion. After enjoying drinks with fake Count Gaston who is courting Paula Durfee due to come into a huge inheritance, Casey, Crime Photographer discovers the Count's body and Miss Durfee making a false confession to murder. The swindle turns into a double cross on top of a double cross on top of a double cross in "The Surprising Corpse".
• The officers on Calling All Cars do all they can to protect citizens from the "slickers" who feel they are above honest work, instead they prey upon honest people. Often the victims are too ashamed of their gullibility to come forward. In "Meet the Baron", an ex-con from Vienna disguises himself as nobility to take advantage of others. "The Army Game" is a scam set up by a pair of swindlers who use property they don't own to arrange a series of sizable loans. A gang of crooks set up an operation posing as bookmakers in "Weather Clear, Track Fast" taking false bets on the ponies. Los Angeles Police Chief announces that any person with a criminal record will be required to register with the Department.
• The Bunco Squad warns listeners that con men and swindlers can "make a sucker out of YOU!" In "The Case of the Bookworm" a retired couple meet a pair of strangers at church. The charming stranger claims to be a writer about to land a big book contract and convinces the mark that if they publish themselves they can split a fortune.
• "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" was one of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's original stories. A pair of crooks come to London from Australia to swindle a young girl who does not realize that she is an heiress. After being hired as a governess who rides her bicycle to the train every week so she can visit her mother, a mysterious cyclist follows her. Dr. Watson goes to the country to investigate for Holmes. The story is related on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
• The Early West is fertile ground for con men who had to face the justice of The Lone Ranger. Texas rancher Stonewall Gregory refuses to lease any of his land to oilmen until a pair of Easterners set up a nefarious trick. The Legion of the Black Arrow trick Chief Thundercloud into revealing the location of his magic belt and pulls other tricks. One young man is tricked into shooting the sheriff and another gets shot after disguising himself as the Lone Ranger. The Ranger tricks a trickster lawyer who sets up a crooked land deal. Tonto manages to catch a pair of card sharks, and the Ranger tricks the territorial governor into seeing how badly the Indians are being treated.
• A real estate scam comes to town and tricks The Great Gildersleeve into selling his house and then he needs to find a new one ASAP.
• Chandu The Magician has a good deal of experience tricking people, so he is in a great position to help protect the Reagents from the deceitful Count Metzos.  

See also: Psychics, Mentalists, and Fortune Tellers in Old Time Radio, Tales of Cheating Hearts, Easy Money, Get Rich Schemes, Wife Wanted, and Hello Sucker