He started small, swiping cards, buying gift cards, and cashing out. It spiraled into a full‑blown criminal enterprise. Dozens of co‑conspirators, stacks of stolen plastic, and a lifestyle built on chaos.
Meet Nathan Michael, leader of Oak Cliff Swipers.
Sponsors
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Sources
- https://www.athensreview.com/news/local_news/locals-named-in-fraud-ring/article_2b5608b5-05f1-59dc-a03b-fdde2b8872b9.html
- https://www.kltv.com/story/13638863/massive-id-theft-investigation/
- https://www.kltv.com/story/13653935/bike-rider-hit/
- https://www.kltv.com/story/13648532/mall-worker-helps-break-identity-theft-ring/
- https://www.kltv.com/story/15237196/final-suspect-pleads-guilty-in-chicken-express-credit-fraud-ring/
- https://www.kltv.com/story/14734686/malakoff-brother-guilty-in-credit-card-scheme/
Attribution
Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.
Assembled by Tristan Ledger.
Episode artwork by odibagas.
Mixing by Proximity Sound.
Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Transcript
[START OF RECORDING]
JACK: Man, have I got a story for you. Where did this one even come from? Oh yeah, it was Twitter. I got a Twitter DM, and this guy’s like, hi, I’m Nathan. I’m like, okay. He was like, yeah, I’ve done some stuff, and you might want to interview me. I should note right here that this episode has a lot of swear words, and I would say it’s for mature audiences. So, if you have some sensitive ears around you, I recommend listening to this one with headphones or whatever you need to do. That’s your warning. That’s your graphic warning for this one. So, typically, when someone DMs me and says, hey, you know, you should interview me for your show, my first response without even knowing anything about them is, can I see your police report?