Skip To Main Content
Still from Showtime’s Love Fraud series
Features
From Pivot Magazine

Pivot recommends: what to read and watch right now 

A book about white collar crime, the story of a con man and Netflix shares its business philosophies 

Still from Showtime’s Love Fraud seriesLove Fraud tells the story of Richard Scott Smith, a Kansas con man who stole from the dozens of women he wooed through online dating sites (Picture courtesy of Showtime)

READ

In 2016, when it was discovered that Wells Fargo employees were directed to open more than three million bank and credit card accounts without customers’ consent, CEO John Stumpf resigned—and walked away with a US$134-million exit package. Law professor Jennifer Taub, author of Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime, explains how this kind of high-class fraud has flourished in the 21st century.

WATCH

Love Fraud, a four-part series from acclaimed documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, delves into the story of Richard Scott Smith, a Kansas con man who stole from the dozens of women he wooed—and in some cases, married—through online dating sites. After one woman started a blog to document her experience, others began to connect the dots and Smith was eventually charged with forgery and identity theft. Love Fraud premieres August 30 at 9 p.m. EST on Showtime.

READ

What started as a DVD-by-mail rental service has, in the span of two decades, become the world’s largest streaming subscription service, with 183 million users in 190 countries. In No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, with business writer and professor Erin Meyer, details the sometimes controversial philosophies behind the company’s success.