Steven Comisar, a well-known Ohio podcaster who portrayed himself as a reformed fraudster, is facing fresh scam allegations from the FBI.
The 64-year-old built a decadeslong criminal record by defrauding victims and has been convicted five times in federal court. His prison sentences totaled more than 22 years.
In 2023, Comisar launched a podcast called Scam Junkie, presenting himself as a former con man who had changed his life.
But on Wednesday, prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Cleveland charged Comisar with allegedly orchestrating another fraud scheme—this time targeting an Ohio couple for $7 million, according to Cleveland.com.
Court records do not list an attorney for Comisar. He was arrested in California, and an initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
Authorities allege that he spent the money on gambling, hotel stays, meals and other personal costs.
Comisar first gained widespread attention as a con man in the 1990s. He later wrote America’s Guide to Fraud Prevention and made repeated television appearances as a fraud expert.
In the trailer for Scam Junkie, he calls himself the “Don of Con” and claims he had “perpetrated every scam known to man” before turning his life around.
Steven Comisar, 64, has been convicted five times and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison
Comisar launched Scam Junkie in 2023, portraying himself as a former con man who had reformed
He also claimed that he now helped people protect themselves from scams while teaching methods to “legally make money and influence people.”
His criminal history includes a telemarketing scheme involving horse racing, fraudulent oil-well investments and a case in which he took $125,000 from an Iowa man.
In 2003, Comisar received an eight-year prison sentence for defrauding an 84-year-old Minnesota man of $480,000.
While awaiting sentencing, he attempted to extort more than $50,000 from an attorney. Comisar falsely claimed he possessed information that could clear her brother, who had been convicted of murdering a government informant.
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After the attorney rejected his demand, Comisar allegedly threatened that mobsters would visit her home and mutilate her husband.
FBI agents say Comisar resumed defrauding victims roughly a year after leaving prison in 2018. The alleged targets were a couple from Massillon, Ohio.
According to court records, he posed in emails as corporate CEOs, investors, a wealth director, an attorney and an unnamed individual described as one of the richest people in the world. Using those identities, he persuaded the couple to invest in projects that he promised would deliver a “huge windfall.”
Comisar allegedly told the Massillon man to send cashier’s checks urgently to cover fees, taxes and government fines. The payments, he claimed, were needed before the millions supposedly generated by the investments could be released.
The FBI alleges that Comisar defrauded an Ohio couple of at least $7 million
FBI agents said they traced Comisar after he had parcels delivered to a hotel
FBI agents linked Comisar to the scam using phone and email records, court records say.
Some text messages directed the man to send cashier’s checks to ‘S. Comisar’ at a room at the Beverly Hills, California, Marriott hotel, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
Agents said they found out Comisar had lived there on and off for years and even had Amazon and FedEx packages delivered to the hotel.
The Massillon man sent 70 checks to Comisar from 2019 through July 2026, ranging in amounts from $7,000 to $300,000, according to court records.
While the total amount Comisar scammed out of the couple is still being investigated, an FBI agent wrote that it exceeds $7 million.
Bank records show that Comisar also made around $1.2 million in profit from a thoroughbred racetrack in California, where he bet about $4 million between January and May 2026.
Our News Outlet contacted Comisar for comment.
