The Marriage Grift Pt. 1: Romance as Strategy | Serial Killers & Murderous Minds

The Marriage Grift Pt. 1: Romance as Strategy | Serial Killers & Murderous Minds

From Scams, Money, & Murder by Crime House

May 7, 2026 · 58 min · Episode 103

About this episode

This episode explores how Helmuth Schmidt used relationships as a structured financial scheme targeting women with savings.

Helmuth Schmidt used newspaper ads to meet women seeking marriage. He targeted women with savings and gained access to their finances. This episode explores how relationships became a structured financial scheme. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money and Murder to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Scams, Money and Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Crime House

Topics covered

  • romance scams
  • financial schemes
  • true crime
  • serial killers
  • marriage fraud

Keywords

  • marriage grift
  • romance as strategy
  • financial exploitation
  • true crime podcast
  • scams

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PAVE Studios

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