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

Cheaters and Swindlers in this collection of crime radio shows are true artists and con men of the highest caliber, but they all get caught in the end.

Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists

49 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 21 hours, 2990 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
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24 Audio CDs


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Play a sample episode from April 17, 1952:

"Dragnet: The Big Bunco"



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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

Dragnet
Casey Crime Photographer
Casey Crime Photographer

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 HeartsEasy Money, Get Rich Schemes, Wife Wantedand Hello Sucker

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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    COMMENTS

    We have all heard of Ponzi schemes, did you know that there really was a Charles Ponzi who promised his investors a 50% return on their investment? He eventually went to jail because, well, he was running a Ponzi Scheme. Frank Abignale successfully posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a university professor, even a doctor before he was 21 years old! He also passed more than $2.5 million in fraudulent checks, but now Abignale is clean and works for the banks as one of the world's foremost authorities on check fraud. When the Eiffel Tower in Paris fell into disrepair, a con man named Victor Lustig “sold” the landmark to a number of metal dealers for scrap. Before that, George Parker “sold” a number of New York landmarks to tourists, including Madison Square Garden, Grant's Tomb, the Statue of Liberty, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; one of his bestsellers was the Brooklyn Bridge which for years he “sold” twice a week. One of the biggest grifters of all time was Scottish Soldier and adventurer Gregor MacGregor; he invented the island nation of “Poyais” off the coast of Honduras. MacGregor put together a guidebook and collected money from 250 colonists. By the time they realized that there was nothing but salt water where their new home was supposed to be, MacGregor was in France, recruiting more colonists.

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    49 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 21 hours, 2990 min
    49 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 21 hours, 2990 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 49 shows – total playtime 21 hours, 49 minutes
    2. Alan Young Show 461018 103 Proposing To Lulubelle.mp3
    3. Backstage Wife 500905 3984 Oliver Deceive Julia Tells Oliver.mp3
    4. Betty And Bob 470625 008 Corruption In City Government.mp3
    5. Bunco Squad 500415 Book Worm.mp3
    6. Calling All Cars 350625 Meet Baron.mp3
    7. Calling All Cars 360508 Weather Clear Track Fast.mp3
    8. Calling All Cars 361029 Army Game.mp3
    9. Captain Midnight 391106 0181 Mexican Supper Is Interrupted.mp3
    10. Casey Crime Photographer 470116 Surprising Corpse.mp3
    11. Challenge Of Yukon 441123 Paula Buchanan.mp3
    12. Challenge Of Yukon 470402 Dancing Bear.mp3
    13. Challenge Of Yukon 490509 Race To Twenty Mile.mp3
    14. Chandu 481028 089 Looking For Dorothy.mp3
    15. Cisco Kid 570319 490 Judge Colts Law.mp3
    16. Columbia Workshop 460223 004 Hard Luck Story.mp3
    17. Dr Christian 450919 356 Our Daughter Barbara.mp3
    18. Dragnet 501123 076 Big Betty.mp3
    19. Dragnet 520417 Big Bunco.mp3
    20. Great Gildersleeve 441001 137 Gildy Sells His House.mp3
    21. Green Hornet 481230 Road To Ruin.mp3
    22. Hello Sucker 520126 04 Gardening Swindles.mp3
    23. Jack Benny Program 471109 629 Corner Drug Store.mp3
    24. Lineup 521112 119 Grieving Families Cheated.mp3
    25. Lives Of Harry Lime 520620 47 Professor Regrets.mp3
    26. LR 380601 0834 Oil Lease Swindle.mp3
    27. LR 411029 1368 Sentinel Rock.mp3
    28. LR 411105 1371 Wrong Partners.mp3
    29. LR 430419 1598 Sheriffs Son.mp3
    30. LR 430816 1649 You Cant Go Home.mp3
    31. LR 430827 1654 Underwater Deal.mp3
    32. LR 450122 1874 Partners In Crime.mp3
    33. LR 500403 2685 Indian Governor.mp3
    34. LR 500811 2741 Ranchers In Arms.mp3
    35. Lux Radio Theater 440221 427 Wake Up And Live.mp3
    36. Philo Vance 500523 Money Machine Murder Case.mp3
    37. Player 480000 81 Pinwheel Roll.mp3
    38. Red Skelton Show 510218 312 I Caught Devil Part 1.mp3
    39. Richard Diamond Private Detective 490702 Hat Without Body.mp3
    40. Screen Guild Theater 460401 291 On Borrowed Time.mp3
    41. Sherlock Holmes 550227 09 Solitary Cyclist Repeat.mp3
    42. Tarzan Diamond Of Asher 350612 31 Diamond Of Asher 31.mp3
    43. Texaco Star Theatre 410402 26 One Long Pan Takes Chance.mp3
    44. This Is Your Fbi 520704 379 Five Fathom Stickup Upgrade.mp3
    45. Vic And Sade 421020 Freds Concrete Floor.mp3
    46. Vic And Sade 440614 Dead Mans Watch Job.mp3
    47. Whistler 530503 568 Disappearing Woman.mp3
    48. Wild Bill Hickok 511216 038 Wheels Of Doom.mp3
    49. X Minus One 561219 Reluctant Heroes.mp3
    50. You Are There 490220 64 Ordeal Of Savonarola.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    49 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 21 hours, 2990 min
    49 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    576 MB – total playtime 21 hours, 49 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 49 shows – 576 MB – total playtime 21 hours, 49 minutes
    2. Alan Young Show 461018 103 Proposing To Lulubelle.mp3
    3. Backstage Wife 500905 3984 Oliver Deceive Julia Tells Oliver.mp3
    4. Betty And Bob 470625 008 Corruption In City Government.mp3
    5. Bunco Squad 500415 Book Worm.mp3
    6. Calling All Cars 350625 Meet Baron.mp3
    7. Calling All Cars 360508 Weather Clear Track Fast.mp3
    8. Calling All Cars 361029 Army Game.mp3
    9. Captain Midnight 391106 0181 Mexican Supper Is Interrupted.mp3
    10. Casey Crime Photographer 470116 Surprising Corpse.mp3
    11. Challenge Of Yukon 441123 Paula Buchanan.mp3
    12. Challenge Of Yukon 470402 Dancing Bear.mp3
    13. Challenge Of Yukon 490509 Race To Twenty Mile.mp3
    14. Chandu 481028 089 Looking For Dorothy.mp3
    15. Cisco Kid 570319 490 Judge Colts Law.mp3
    16. Columbia Workshop 460223 004 Hard Luck Story.mp3
    17. Dr Christian 450919 356 Our Daughter Barbara.mp3
    18. Dragnet 501123 076 Big Betty.mp3
    19. Dragnet 520417 Big Bunco.mp3
    20. Great Gildersleeve 441001 137 Gildy Sells His House.mp3
    21. Green Hornet 481230 Road To Ruin.mp3
    22. Hello Sucker 520126 04 Gardening Swindles.mp3
    23. Jack Benny Program 471109 629 Corner Drug Store.mp3
    24. Lineup 521112 119 Grieving Families Cheated.mp3
    25. Lives Of Harry Lime 520620 47 Professor Regrets.mp3
    26. LR 380601 0834 Oil Lease Swindle.mp3
    27. LR 411029 1368 Sentinel Rock.mp3
    28. LR 411105 1371 Wrong Partners.mp3
    29. LR 430419 1598 Sheriffs Son.mp3
    30. LR 430816 1649 You Cant Go Home.mp3
    31. LR 430827 1654 Underwater Deal.mp3
    32. LR 450122 1874 Partners In Crime.mp3
    33. LR 500403 2685 Indian Governor.mp3
    34. LR 500811 2741 Ranchers In Arms.mp3
    35. Lux Radio Theater 440221 427 Wake Up And Live.mp3
    36. Philo Vance 500523 Money Machine Murder Case.mp3
    37. Player 480000 81 Pinwheel Roll.mp3
    38. Red Skelton Show 510218 312 I Caught Devil Part 1.mp3
    39. Richard Diamond Private Detective 490702 Hat Without Body.mp3
    40. Screen Guild Theater 460401 291 On Borrowed Time.mp3
    41. Sherlock Holmes 550227 09 Solitary Cyclist Repeat.mp3
    42. Tarzan Diamond Of Asher 350612 31 Diamond Of Asher 31.mp3
    43. Texaco Star Theatre 410402 26 One Long Pan Takes Chance.mp3
    44. This Is Your Fbi 520704 379 Five Fathom Stickup Upgrade.mp3
    45. Vic And Sade 421020 Freds Concrete Floor.mp3
    46. Vic And Sade 440614 Dead Mans Watch Job.mp3
    47. Whistler 530503 568 Disappearing Woman.mp3
    48. Wild Bill Hickok 511216 038 Wheels Of Doom.mp3
    49. X Minus One 561219 Reluctant Heroes.mp3
    50. You Are There 490220 64 Ordeal Of Savonarola.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    49 recordings on 24 Audio CDs. Total playtime 21 hours, 49 min
    49 recordings on 24 Audio CDs
    total playtime 21 hours, 49 min

    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A001

    1. Tarzan Diamond Of Asher 350612 31 Diamond Of Asher 31
    2. Calling All Cars 350625 Meet Baron

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A002

    1. Calling All Cars 360508 Weather Clear Track Fast
    2. Calling All Cars 361029 Army Game

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A003

    1. LR 380601 0834 Oil Lease Swindle
    2. Captain Midnight 391106 0181 Mexican Supper Is Interrupted

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A004

    1. Texaco Star Theatre 410402 26 One Long Pan Takes Chance

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A005

    1. LR 411029 1368 Sentinel Rock
    2. LR 411105 1371 Wrong Partners
    3. Vic And Sade 421020 Freds Concrete Floor

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A006

    1. LR 430419 1598 Sheriffs Son
    2. LR 430816 1649 You Cant Go Home

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A007

    1. LR 430827 1654 Underwater Deal

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A008

    1. Lux Radio Theater 440221 427 Wake Up And Live

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A009

    1. Vic And Sade 440614 Dead Mans Watch Job
    2. Great Gildersleeve 441001 137 Gildy Sells His House
    3. Challenge Of Yukon 441123 Paula Buchanan

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A010

    1. LR 450122 1874 Partners In Crime
    2. Dr Christian 450919 356 Our Daughter Barbara

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A011

    1. Columbia Workshop 460223 004 Hard Luck Story
    2. Screen Guild Theater 460401 291 On Borrowed Time

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A012

    1. Alan Young Show 461018 103 Proposing To Lulubelle
    2. Casey Crime Photographer 470116 Surprising Corpse

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A013

    1. Challenge Of Yukon 470402 Dancing Bear
    2. Betty And Bob 470625 008 Corruption In City Government
    3. Jack Benny Program 471109 629 Corner Drug Store

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A014

    1. Player 480000 81 Pinwheel Roll
    2. Chandu 481028 089 Looking For Dorothy
    3. Green Hornet 481230 Road To Ruin

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A015

    1. You Are There 490220 64 Ordeal Of Savonarola
    2. Challenge Of Yukon 490509 Race To Twenty Mile

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A016

    1. Richard Diamond Private Detective 490702 Hat Without Body
    2. LR 500403 2685 Indian Governor

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A017

    1. Bunco Squad 500415 Book Worm
    2. Philo Vance 500523 Money Machine Murder Case

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A018

    1. LR 500811 2741 Ranchers In Arms
    2. Backstage Wife 500905 3984 Oliver Deceive Julia Tells Oliver
    3. Dragnet 501123 076 Big Betty

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A019

    1. Red Skelton Show 510218 312 I Caught Devil Part 1
    2. Wild Bill Hickok 511216 038 Wheels Of Doom

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A020

    1. Hello Sucker 520126 04 Gardening Swindles
    2. Dragnet 520417 Big Bunco

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A021

    1. Lives Of Harry Lime 520620 47 Professor Regrets
    2. This Is Your Fbi 520704 379 Five Fathom Stickup Upgrade

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A022

    1. Lineup 521112 119 Grieving Families Cheated
    2. Whistler 530503 568 Disappearing Woman

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A023

    1. Sherlock Holmes 550227 09 Solitary Cyclist Repeat
    2. X Minus One 561219 Reluctant Heroes

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    Scams Conmen Cheats and Bunco Artists Disc A024

    1. Cisco Kid 570319 490 Judge Colts Law

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