Scam Goddess

“Laci Mosley is a hilarious and wise rule breaker and Scam Goddess reminds you there are many ways to ‘live your dream.’” —Amy Poehler

A 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 affected her own upbringing, career, friendships, love life, and more.

From an early age, comedian and actress Laci Mosley knew her path would be riddled with scams, cons, robberies, and frauds. Little ones. Ones that didn’t hurt people or get 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 have guided her throughout her life—from a religious childhood in rural Texas, to a stint as a city bartender at what might have been a drug front, to swindling her way past the gatekeepers of Hollywood—recounting 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 identifies the secrets to flipping the script and coming out ahead.

• “Laci Mosley is a hilarious and wise rule breaker and Scam Goddess reminds you there are many ways to ‘live your dream.’” 

  Amy Poehler

• “Laci could scam me into anything (like writing this blurb). Laci always makes me laugh and this book is no different.” 

  Conan O’Brien

• “Laci scammed me into to writing this! Kidding. Laci is one of the funniest, most incisive people I know, and this book has all the wit and heart I’ve come to expect as her friend. This book ain’t a scam, it’s a joy.” 

  Ira Madison III, host of Keep It and author of Pure Innocent Fun

• “One of the funniest books I've ever read. . . . Laci is the beautiful and the scammed as she navigates a world trying to keep everyone down, with laugh-a-millisecond honesty and empathy for the people frauding for good. I now have my next ten scams planned and ready. Thank you, Goddess.” 

  Jamie Loftus, New York Times bestselling author of Raw Dog

• “This whole book is a scam. It distracts you with constant laughter but you’re actually learning valuable life lessons and falling deeper and deeper in love with its author.” 

  Laura Chinn, author of Acne: A Memoir