Warring plastic surgeons, fraudster art dealers, and teenage hackers posing as celebrities are just some of the outlandish crimes featured in the brand-new series of the BBC’s Strange But True Crime podcast.
Launching on Wednesday 10 June on BBC Sounds, host Rima Ahmed from BBC Radio Leeds’s Breakfast with Rima show delves into a world of outrageous heists, daring fraudsters, and bizarre blackmail plots. She also covers the colourful and unique criminals behind them.
Series three will feature – a reclusive teenager, who helps scam millions of people by hacking into the social media accounts of the world’s most famous celebrities; a deadly feud between two rival plastic surgeons, when one plots to burn the other’s house down; and a handsome art dealer in London, with links to the stars of Made in Chelsea, who commits the biggest art fraud in US history.
The Strange But True Crime podcast is recorded at BBC Radio Leeds, part of BBC Local, and generated millions of listens since launching last year. It was recently nominated for Best Episodic Crime Podcast at the True Crime Awards 2026 – and won Silver in the “True Crime” category at the APAs in 2025.
In addition to this podcast, Rima also presents for BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Friday breakfast show, and BBC Radio 4. She had a legal career before moving into broadcasting – after being discovered by the BBC’s “New Voices” talent scheme around 2019.
Ahmed said: “I’m excited to be back covering some of the world’s most bonkers crime stories – and how the people behind them are brought to justice. The special thing about this podcast is that we focus on crimes that are bizarre rather than brutal, which sometimes throws up more questions than answers. We unpick why on earth anyone would go to the lengths of committing these crimes but also find out the real-world impact on the victims and their families. Our listeners know it’s a crazy world out there, with strange goings on – but you really couldn’t make this up. And I promise you we don’t! This stuff really happened!
The Strange But True Crime podcast will be available on BBC Sounds on 10 June – with new episodes available every week.
