In this riveting and deeply personal episode of Pod Candy, your hosts Stacey, Dori, and Dr. John Mayer flip the script and share their own brushes with the dark world of manipulation, fraud, and deception. From Dr. Mayer's jaw-dropping story of identity theft and near ruin, to Dori’s financially and emotionally devastating entanglement with a predatory “tax loophole” scheme, to Stacey’s close call with a shady pyramid organization masked as personal development—this episode proves the scariest stories aren’t always on the news.

Together, they unpack how smart, self-aware people can fall victim to cons, cult-like mentalities, and emotional manipulation—and how they fought their way out. Raw, honest, and at times hilarious, this episode is a powerful reminder that anyone can be targeted, and healing starts with speaking up.

In this episode, Stacey, Dori, and Dr. John examine one of the most elaborate catfishing schemes in recent history. The gang picks apart the Netflix Documentary; Sweet Bobby My Catfish Nightmare. It's a wild story about a London based radio host who endured a nearly ten year relationship with a handsome cardiologist named Bobby, only to find out it was all a fictitious web of cruel deception. Stacey, Dori and Dr. John discuss the psychology behind both catfisher and catfishee, and what causes someone to go to such great lengths to deceive another person.

In this episode Stacey, Dori and Dr. John dive deeper into the madness of Ed Gein through the eyes of two of the industry's leading experts. Alex Flaster is the writer and producer of Biography's "Ed Gein" documentary. Adam Rockoff is an industry expert on slasher films, and author of the critically acclaimed books; The Horror of It All: One Moviegoer's Love Affair with Masked Maniacs, Frightened Virgins and the Living Dead, and Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. Together the group discusses details of this gruesome case, and the reasons Ed Gein inspired some of Hollywood's most horrifying characters.