Scam Goddess

by Laci Mosley

Memoir

Essays

Humor

256 Pages

"Laugh-out-loud funny and brilliantly subversive—Mosley turns survival into an art form and calls out every scam we fall for."

Synopsis

A hilarious, delightfully subversive essay collection from Laci Mosley, host of the award-winning "Scam Goddess" podcast, about the frauds, cons, and schemes that make up our world—and how the scammer mindset has shaped her upbringing, career, friendships, and love life. From an early age, comedian and actress Laci Mosley knew her path would be riddled with scams, cons, and hustles. Little ones that didn't hurt people or land her in trouble, but ones that would get her where she needed to be. "You see," she writes, "everyone's a scammer and everything's a scam. Some people are better at it than others, but we all do it. The system wasn't built for people like me. Scamming saved me and has taught me how to navigate a messy and unfair world while looking out for myself, too." In Scam Goddess, Laci recounts how her scammer instincts guided her throughout her life—from a religious childhood in rural Texas, to bartending at what might have been a drug front, to swindling past Hollywood's gatekeepers—while sharing the greatest true-crime scam stories that inspired her along the way. Whether it's by the beauty industry, capitalism, or the people we date, we're all getting scammed. In this book, Laci reveals the secrets to flipping the script and coming out ahead.

Our Take

Scam Goddess is wickedly funny and surprisingly profound—a memoir that uses comedy to examine how marginalized people survive systems designed to keep them out. Laci Mosley's voice is sharp, hilarious, and unapologetically herself, blending personal stories with true-crime scam tales in a way that illuminates both. What makes this book so smart is how Mosley reframes "scamming" not as inherently immoral but as strategic navigation of an unfair world. She's not celebrating Anna Delvey-style fraud that harms others; she's talking about the hustle required when you're Black, working-class, and trying to break into industries built to exclude you. The essays move seamlessly from laugh-out-loud moments to pointed social commentary about capitalism, beauty standards, and the con artists we call corporations. Mosley's take on dating as a series of mutually agreed-upon scams is both hilarious and uncomfortably accurate. The true-crime scam stories woven throughout—from Fyre Festival to Elizabeth Holmes—provide entertaining breaks while reinforcing her larger points about who gets punished for fraud and who gets venture capital. Her journey from rural Texas to Hollywood is compelling, told with the timing of a great comedian and the insight of someone who's had to be observant to survive. Fans of Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino or You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson will appreciate Mosley's blend of humor and cultural critique. Scam Goddess is essential reading for anyone interested in how we all navigate—and occasionally game—broken systems.