Like Dirty John’s John Meehan, Richard Scott Smith seduced and married women to take their money.
Stan documentary, Love Fraud, details how Smith, a fraudster and con-man, married and defrauded at least 10 women.
During her interview on the series, Sabrina Dunlap revealed that the 49-year-old had stolen $100,000 from her, while another, Jean Hansen, said that she had to file for bankruptcy.
Over the years, Smith used 10 different social security numbers and 43 telephone numbers to seemingly get away with his crimes. He also went by different names including, Scott Smith and Rick Smith.
The series follows Smith’s ex-wives as they band together to track him down because unlike Meehan, this con-artist is still alive and has never been caught.
Bounty Hunter Carla Campbell, who features in the documentary, calls Smith “Satan’s son”.
In an interview with OprahMag.com, she says that “he’s not done”.
“He’s still out there. I’ve talked to his first wife and I’ve talked to his last victim and he’s doing the same thing.”
How did the women find each other?
Through the website Scott the Crook Smith, victims of his crimes were able to find one another.
Created by Lisa Lenton, one of his former wives, the site was used to gather information on his whereabouts.
In an interview documented in the series, Tracy — one of his victims — said that the woman on the site was “such good support to me”.
“They had been through it, and they made me feel better,” while others would ask: “How could you be so naive?'”
The women connected to piece together his behaviours, which often started with him being very loving. He would bring them roses and court the women before he would turn and become “controlling, mean, and aggressive” and he wouldn’t allow them to Google him.
Where is Richard Scott Smith now?
While he’s been arrested several times, including in 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to the series, Smith was sentenced to prison and then released in April 2020.
The filmmakers, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing say that the last known whereabouts for the fraudster were in Kansas, in August this year and while their series has already been released, they are still keeping tabs.
How has the documentary helped?
When the trailer for the series was released in the US, a woman reached out to the filmmakers saying that her sister was living with him.
Now that he is out of prison, his former wives believe he is “continuing his scheming” and there’s no doubt that people will start to recognise Smith. For bounty hunter Campbell (who has been diagnosed with lung cancer since the series wrapped), this may put him “deeper underground”.
“There is more to come. He’s not done,” she told the outlet.
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