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32 Facts About Cults, Schemes and Charismatic Con Men

Keep your wallets close, and your ideals closer

32 Facts About Cults, Schemes and Charismatic Con Men

June 15, 2024

Good thing we were here, or you might’ve been any one of these con men’s next victim! Sorry, con people. That’s right, there are a few ladies on this list that did some pretty heinous things in the name of their cults, too.

All of which is to say that you can’t really trust anyone out here in the con and/or cult game. You can get played when you didn’t even know you were playing!

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

32

CRACKED ALLISON МАСК RECRUITED GIRLS FOR HER CULT LEADER. The Smallville actor recruited women who would be severely mistreated by NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. She faced sex trafficking charges but negotiated a plea deal for the lesser charge of racketeering. She served 2 years in prison, and Raniere got 120 years. — Source

31

CRACKED FELICITY HUFFMAN'S SAT FRAUD SCANDAL. She pleaded guilty to mail fraud, and admitted to paying $15,000 to a service that guaranteed to boost her daughter's SAT scores. She spent 14 days in prison, got 250 hours of community service, and paid a $30,000 fine. — Source

30

Christopher Owens CRACKED.COM The indie rocker grew up in The Children of God until he was 16, traveling the world to actively recruit new members. When asked what it was like, he says Imagine being raised in the Taliban. — Source

29

Keira Maguire CRACKED.COM Maguire, who was on The Bachelor (Australia) in 2016, says her own father founded The Seaside Sect, a polygamous cult in Victoria. Her mother, one of 9 sister wives, got them the hell out of there when Keira was 5. — Source

28

Patrick Hickey CRACKED.COM This Nevada state legislator spent a long time as a member of, and lobbyist for, the Unification Church. While he eventually left, he's remained in the marriage that he believes was hastily arranged by Jesus Christ himself, while he was in the cult. — Source

27

Jaden and Willow Smith CRACKED COM In 2014, the Smiths ... along with some other influencer types s-- started a group called The Orgonite Society, or A Secret Society Of Individuals Who Create And Place Orgonite To Balance Gaia's Energies. Besides playing with rocks, the group also dabbles in the teachings of the The Sex Guru, that horny li'l freak from Wild, Wild, Country. — Source

26

R. Kelly R. KELLY TRAPPED You're surely aware that R. Kelly is criminally gross, but maybe not that his charges include racketeering, which is defined as an organized scheme to profit from crime --in this case, accruing a ha- rem of young women through abuse and coercion. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

25

Neil Young Through Wilson, Manson also met Neil Young, who became a frequent guest at the ranch and even apparently dated one of the family members. Young compared Manson to Bob Dylan and tried his best to get him a record deal, but then Manson pivoted to murder. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

Shirley MacLaine You probably know that tons of celebrities were involved in the creepy MLM/self-help group/sex cult NXIVM, but one surprising name that's come up is Shirley MacLaine -- you know, Steel Mag- nolias, Terms of Endearment, Glee, etc. It's not clear what her role in the organization was, but she (probably) never branded anybody. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

The Source Family The Source was a famous L.A. vegan restaurant featured in Annie Hall in a scene about how much L.A. vegan restaurants suck. It was also run by a cult headed by a guy who had 13 child brides. It was nevertheless popular with celebrities, particularly John Lennon, who was said to get into deep conver- sations with the waitresses/cult mem- bers and whose son even made a music video inspired by the guru. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

22

21

Hillsong Church The Hillsong megachurch family is a group of churches popular with celebrities like Justin Bieber, Chris Pratt, and various Kardashians which ex-members have described as a toxic environment full of abuse, coercion, isolation, and Chris Pratt. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

Andrew Keegan Andrew Keegan, on the other hand, absolutely has his own cult, with its own California temple and every- thing. Their beliefs are vague, rely- ing heavily on crystals and illegal kombucha, but what all the inner circle members can agree on is that Keegan has a knack for attracting and enlightening followers thank to his vortex of vibes, which is hippie for big dick energy. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

Winona Ryder rry 9-19.10 J CRAGKED.COM She spent three years of her childhood, starting at age 7, living on the Rainbow Family Commune -- a 300-acre plot with no electricity. She credits her mother secretly showing her movies in a barn for sparking her interest in acting. — Source

18

Rose McGowan CRACKED.COM McGowan grew up in an Italian Children of God commune. She escaped at age 9, before she personally experienced any funny business, but says women existed in the cult solely to serve the men sexually. — Source

17

Patricia and David Arquette CRACKED.COM The Arquettes grew up in a Vermont commune co-founded by their parents, called Skymont Subud. It was a utopian society that somehow didn't include electricity, running water, or really any modern bathroom technology whatsoever. — Source

16

SHADY TIES HARVEY MILK AND JIM JONES When Jones (who conducted the mass-suicide of 918 people) was getting bad publicity, Milk wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter, praising the cult leader and the work he was doing. They left that out of the Milk biopic. CRACKED — Source

15

CRACKED SHADY TIES THE BEACH BOYS so VENTURA CAL 47623 AND CHARLES MANSON 22 APR 1968 Manson supplied Dennis Wilson with girls and drugs, and was a frequent guest in his home. One of Manson's disciples even babysat Mike Love's children. — Source

14

CRACKED SHADY TIES MICHELLE PFEIFFER AND THE BREATHARIANS The group claims to get all their nourishment from the sun. They were very controlling, Pfeiffer said. I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially draining. When researching cults for a film, she realized she was in one, and left. — Source

13

SHADY TIES JOHN KERRY AND JEFFREY EPSTEIN 2004's Democratic Presidential nominee and current Presidential Envoy for Climate, Kerry was found in Epstein's private phone book and flight logs. CRACKED — Source

12

CRACKED DAVID DENG Deng tricked over 100 Chinese nationals into believing they were part of an elite U.S. special forces unit. Не charged people who wanted to join his army a fee of between $300 and $450, and gave himself the rank of supreme commander. — Source

11

CRACKED ROBERT HENDY-FREEGARD This 34-year old car salesman tricked seven people into thinking he was a secret agent for MI5. Не made them run away from supposed terrorists, stole from them, and made them beg and borrow money to pay for his fancy lifestyle. — Source

10

CRACKED SONY PIERRE BRASSARD In October 1995, Queen Elizabeth II was tricked into thinking she was talking to the Canadian Prime Minister... but really it was a radio host trolling her for 17 minutes. She agreed to give a speech on TV asking for everyone in Quebec to come together. — Source

9

CRACKED BORIS SKOSSYREFF SCAMMED HIS WAY INTO ROYALTY. Though only a minor noble, he insisted he was the rightful ruler of Andorra. His claim was extremely dubious, but they voted him in as king anyway. Of course, he was immediately deposed, but man, that's pretty baller. — Source

8

CRACKED MARK PEDLEY CREATED A FAKE COUNTRY. The Dominion of Melchizedek pretty much only existed to perpetuate massive bank fraud. Even the former president of Portugal's brother was taken in by a loan scam based in the country, which was located in several different areas over the years. — Source

7

CRACKED THE FOX SISTERS HELD PHONY SEANCES. They swindled untold numbers of people during the 19th-century Spiritualism movement and were even authenticated by skeptics, none of whom could figure out that they were just cracking their joints to make otherworldly sounds. — Source

6

CRACKED GIOVANNI DI STEFANO WAS THE (FAKE) LAWYER TO THE (EVIL) STARS. Не presented himself as a lawyer to the likes of Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milošević, earning himself the nickname the Devil's Advocate before it was revealed that he had zero legal credentials in addition to scruples. — Source

5

CRACKED OPERATING A FAKE US EMBASSY A fake US embassy in Ghana was open for around 10 years, and gave out a lot of fake and stolen visas before it was closed. You really have to hand it to the scammers for their consistency and dedication. — Source

4

GRACKED.OOM Jerry Seinfeld was hoodwinked by a shady accountant. Seinfeld gave him an envelope with thousands of dollars in it, the accountant spent it all on drugs. — Source

3

ES UNION A 2850 OF IES 35926 WARRING 12 AGRICOTO Benjamin Ackerman scammed his way OF AMI into a number of famous people's houses, including Usher and Adam LO Lambert, by pretending to be a realtor. After casing the houses, he came back and stole thousands of high-end stuff worth millions of dollars. 12 12 L05 L CRACKED COM C — Source

2

CRACKED.COM 09 LEY CF T EY C FO John Malkovich and Larry King lost $1.7M and $700,000, respectively, to Bernie Madoff's investing scheme. King was fortunate enough to get all of his money back, while Malkovich only got $508,000 back, which he claimed ruined him financially. — Source

1

CRACKED.COM In 1998, NFL player Fred Taylor handed over his $3.6 million signing bonus to his agent William Tank Black. Black then invested the money in a pyramid scheme and lost it all. — Source

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