Reviews
via Podcasts
Well Presented
Good audio, chases the leads. Not all fluff, even if the story is winding.
Grumpyhistory
Chant is annoying
Why do we have to hear the woman chanting every other minute? Was so looking forward to these newest episodes but can barely make it through the first one.
Chackit
Nothing happens
I’ve listened to every episode and all it does it string you along to a non conclusion.
Aaron LA
Mannered and overproduced
Interesting story, but the off putting production plays like an endless movie trailer: frenetic, mannered, and overproduced.
Saurolophus
Fascinating and chilling
This was an excellent podcast with top notch journalism. At times I felt frustrated by the host but I chalked it up to what I can only describe as his “britishisms” the sort of frustrating way British people don’t speak directly. The story itself gets very scary towards the end. In some ways I do think they have reached the end of their search and that to go further would be touching something that is beyond the realm of BBC journalism. To me it seemed obvious that it was a scam for the beginning, I don’t think I’m that much smarter than other people though because I think, crucially, the want to believe in it was the nexus that propelled it to such heights. There was just enough truth in crypto riches to be plausible enough that it felt so good to give in to belief I imagine. That being said it is an audacious crime. Perhaps one of the most brazen and large scale scams of all time. Alongside Bernie Madoff but so different too. I can’t believe people are still investing in it and still promoting it. It’s also a great example of how tacky rich people really are. When Jamie described the Dutch millionaires home I was rolling my eyes the whole time. What a cockroach lol. I don’t know if we will ever truly know what happened to Ruja but I think it can safely be sad that One Coin is a massive criminal enterprise.
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bunnyreebs
Someone’s gotta say it…
Has anyone checked the guest suite at that one fancy resort in FL? It’s only a matter of time before He Who Must Not Be Named and his Russian pal gets involved, if they aren’t already!
Awesome podcast, one of my favorites!! I am so looking forward to episode 13.
Can’t believe this is still going on- truly the scheme of the century, it’s insane.
d00dles4science
Just end it already
2 episodes over 4 years, more and more hearsay and presumption. Keep playing it off like there will be more episodes coming soon. It was good at first, now it’s annoying. Just end it.
Jgbjknd smxkfhd
Junk
This podcast takes you in circles and loses itself in benign information.
Good Humor Fan
Excellent story telling. Shame about the annoying music.
This podcast is when written and researched and very well presented. It’s in in-depth look at a complex scandal.
The only blot is the constant playing of Bulgarian traditional music - presumably as a mood-setter. It’s ok at first but just becomes a wailing irritant.
Nhandy1
Amazing
What a great story!I hope you can find here!!!
Bloxboxkid44
Excellent
Strangely, these recent scammer like Ruja, SBF, Elizabeth Holmes of Thanos seem to all think they can pull it off. BBC and their budget allow their journalists to travel worldwide and report and research extensively. From Sofia to Frankfurt, Uganda, Romania, USA. Well done.
StillWater1
Great content, but
I love the podcast, but the sound effects are distracting and annoying. Like chalk screeching on a board over and over.
CardiffMary
Audio is wonky
Hard to regulate volume, background sound is too loud and it makes it hard to hear thr participants.
Beeeee424242442424
Interesting story but the constant background music is quite distracting.
Interesting story but the constant background music is quite distracting.
sarahstap
Brilliant!
Very well researched story. One of the best podcasts about white collar crime.
Jane Cockatrice
But the background noise…
Nearly every speaker has a ticking clock or other distracting background noise behind them. Interesting topic but this makes it impossible to listen to.
CM1000 01
Great content, but with sound mixing issues
Loved the content and learned a lot, however it was physically difficult to listen to - Al the music and background sound effects were so loud and the speaking g was almost like a whisper at times, which seems fixable?
Other than that, a fascinating listen.
kvobrien
Very interesting
Hard to listen to all the background noise but good story. Why all the sound effects? But excellent story. Doesn’t need the sound effects just tell the story.
Bad Advuse
Great stuff
I mean, if you really just pay attention to what she is saying with her embarrassingly poor English, it’s obvious that she was selling fog to those greedy folks who believed in magic. She’s brilliant. So intelligent. A true manipulator.
BLKSND173
FBI Reward $250,000 USD
As of May 2023, the FBI reward is now $250K.
SelfAwareRobotMom
Ironic crypto adverts
i find the show interesting. something to keep my mind occupied on my daily jog.
But I find it so ironic the podcasts advertising. Every episode, I am being pushed adverts for Moneygrams Crypto Wallets. What is that? Another crypto scam?
So while the BBC is deep diving into shady crypto one coin, they receive advertising monies for pushing more shady crypto products
DRM 87654383557
Fascinating
Never heard of OneCoin or Dr Ruja and it’s a binge-worthy listen. My only complaint is that the background music, which I really liked, is too loud. I’d prefer it to be softer than the speaking voices.
Bobedy
Want to hear same 5 clips 100 times?
The same clips are recycled over and over with very little new content. Ironic given the subject of the podcast, this series is its own kind of scam. They take the same 15 clips and edit them into a different order each time with maybe a few clips of new content to keep you coming back for more.
Ddddaaave
Great
Also binged. Obsessed.
Beastinfection
Excellent reporting
Really enjoying this show. although it’s following an ongoing story that’s been slow to unfold, they've avoided the urge to put out content for the sake of filling air time which I appreciate. Looking forward to the next episodes.
UTA: the update episode was a little off putting. If you only have 3 minutes of content, resist the urge to pack it with 2 minutes of ads. It’s one thing to have to wait a really long time for new episodes, but it’s another thing to be subjected to an excessive ad spot framed as an update.
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Kadence404
Wow
Thanks for the 6 min update episode including 2.5 min of ads. Top notch stuff
ToatsMGoats314
When is the next episode
It’s end of November already when is next episode? 😊
Videohooligan
Listen if you like drama
The story is interesting, but the over-the-top dramatization is…a lot. Especially when the voice actors speak on behalf of “very reliable” and trustworthy sources. I wonder if the people who’ve said this is good journalism have ever actually heard good journalism. Because this isn’t that. Heavy editorializing, drawing the story out…that’s the opposite of good journalism. Which is a shame bc I generally like the BBC. But good for entertainment on a long drive.
Also, it’s really hard to sympathize with the constantly sniveling Scottish woman who frankly jumped headfirst into a scam out of greed. Get-rich-quick schemes are called schemes for a reason.
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Tfayter
Excellent podcast
First, great job. This is a gripping story, well told. The hosts have done some real investigative journalism on this crazy story and it’s a pleasure to listen to. It’s always a pleasant surprise when a new installment appears in my feed.
I do agree with other commenters on a couple of minor negative points, however.
1. The episodes are rather long and drawn out. I appreciate that some amount of this is necessary to appeal to a broader audience (explanations of technical material etc). However, I’m not a fan of the needless repetition of audio clips (which often just feels like filler).
2. I actually loved the music, but after so many repetitions, it’s becoming tiresome even to me. Perhaps you could commission the London Bulgarian Choir to sing some other material in the same style, for a bit of variation?
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pnm456
Favorite podcast
This is a beautiful podcast. It is very suspenseful. The music is sensational. The subject is intriguing. This glamorous woman decides to peddle her invented currency and she is so talented at doing it. It becomes a Ponzi scheme. The twists and turns…So enjoyable for the listener!
Petite Koala
So drawn out and repetitive
Tons of padding and stalling. Same music sting being used a billion times. There’s not very much here and it’s super drawn out to try to cover that up. Bleh, this is what I hate about true crime podcasts.
DocRevolt
What happened to the actual final episode?
We were promised an actual finale. I love the podcast, but no update and no final episode is really frustrating.
pgoldmine
Gripping story
It is a fascinating story. Exciting and gripping. Told in an excellent manner . Don’t know if they will come with a second season. Keep it up !
Shpcapt
Interesting but far too drawn out
This podcast could have been one episode but they’ve drawn each episode out to squeeze as much revenue as possible. This results in a multitude of clips being re-used through each episode over and over again with very little new material. Each episode in itself could easily be edited down to 5 minutes but instead runs 30+. It’s too excruciatingly slow for me to listen beyond episode 5.
DanK_Former_SFer
Excellent journalism.
Especially loved the time taken to travel to Uganda to meet people this scam affected in a major way. I was enthralled the whole 9 episodes. Hope for more now that Dr. Ruja made the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
Marge321
Too repetitive.
This could have been a much better podcast if they did not repeat sections so often. I am convinced that if the repetitive sections had been removed the series would have been half as long, and a much tighter and better story would have been told.
Cuffy Meigs
Ok but overly long and unfocuses
Interesting topic and I want to love it but there are SO MANY repetitive sections, recaps, attempted “gotcha” moments, and questioning of people only barely related (and then *shock* that they don’t know anything). I don’t find the music as awful as some but it is overdone
This could have been done, more effectively, in half as many episodes
erica.laye
One of the worst podcast ever
This podcast was highly recommended and the topic is interesting (the only reason I gave it two stars instead of one). BUT it's ridiculously repetitive. The number of episodes could have been cut in half. The recurring role of one woman who lost 10,000 pounds doesn't add anything. The worst part is we never find out what happened. It just ends with the reporter continuing the search. That's it. I'm embarrassed that I wasted my time. DO NOT LISTEN.
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AndreaWilWoods
Ignore the nay sayers!
A fascinating eye opener into the world of crypto currency. Normally BBC Podcasts are liberal propaganda notorious for suppressing objectivity, but after briefly looking into Jamies sources it seems the pod cast is actually onto something. Negative reviews are most likely One Coin investors protecting their interests, don’t listen to them, make up your own mind!
sigffh
Fav podcast I’ve ever listened to
This story is so wild and so worth the listen. I recommend it to everyone I know it’s so good. The twists and turns and how deep this fraud is is almost unbelievable but it’s true
Abby123Aasen
This had so much promise
The re-enactments were unfortunately so so terrible and embarrassing that I couldn’t make it through half of an episode. YIKES.
Ladymcquaid
Treats The Audience Like We're Five
Interesting story, but the telling is so over-dramaticized, over-explained, and over-produced that I was left wondering if it was intended for an audience of five year-olds.
The music and sound design really distracted from the narrative, both in tone and actual volume. I don't know if I can force myself to keep listening.
The Faerie Queefe
Wonderful Journalism!
Scams and pyramid schemes are a cancer on the world. Ruining millions of lives everyday. Spread the word about this fake currency and the dangers of predatory charlatans who lie and deceive and feed off of desperate people, leaving them with nothing.
LaughingSoHappy
Story is cool, presented poorly IMO
The story behind this is really cool. They waste A LOT of time getting to the point though. This could all be done well and compellingly in one or two episodes. Episode 7 is just them walking around showing people a picture of her and 99% of them have no idea who she is. Sub par story telling in my opinion.
Mr. Tibbles
Great overall
I LOVED this podcast, great information and explaining crypto to person who doesn’t know much about it
Zelda queen of the world
Fascinating
I love the music. The people who don’t are lame. The story is so interesting and well done. I think he is very professional but is trying to make it entertaining, and not dull, and he does an excellent job of that. Making it entertaining does not make it bad journalism. Podcasts are a unique medium and more creativity is a great thing.
The story is crazy. So many scams out there. And now since the world is so global, a scam can reach everyone… great.
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AngryByrddd
Riveting
Very relevant in today’s world. MLMs scare the S*** out of me because they can destroy people’s lives. Do your due diligence before investing!
Babshageg
Just wow
I binged the whole show…great podcast and reporting.
HZBaskin
Music is so awful and distracting
The story is interesting and seems to be well researched but…. the music is so horrible. I could not stand the wailing. Had to stop listening.
JaneNE77
Incomplete story
I hate how all these podcast report but just add a bunch of fluff. When the story is complete, the reporters still are no where closer than where they started. Waste of time
Paintcan21
