A real-life Indiana Jones?
Start here. Listen to The Treasure Hunter part 1.
The word on the street is that Michael Torres is Ph.D. by day and a treasure hunter by night. Torres claims he has an aeronautical engineering degree from Duke University. Don’t believe him? He has a photo of his diploma. Michael Torres also claims to have taught at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He has the library card to prove it.
When he’s not in the classroom, Torres is out looking for treasure. He claims he raided catacombs in Turkey, he’s recovered one of Sir Francis Drake’s sunken ship. And most recently, he discovered what he believes is a pre-Incan Peruvian burial mask off the eastern coast of Florida.
A war hero or just another case of stolen valor?
But unlike Dr. Indiana Jones, some have accused him of stolen valor by exaggerating his military career. They say Torres falsely represented himself as a war hero with two Purple Heart medals.
His critics say not to believe a word he says. For instance, Michael Torres says he discovered a mass Jewish mass grave in Savannah, Georgia. Is he a serious treasure hunter or just a hack who makes up stories in order to gain attention?
As a spectator in the world of fraud, I allow myself to get sucked in towards the center of the storm of lies. I do this with great caution. The closer I get, the more believable the stories get. And unlike victims, who are emotionally and financially invested, it’s easier for me to circle just outside the hurricane’s eye wall.
In today’s episode, I’ll let you be the judge. Is Michael Torres a war hero/treasure hunter? Or is he a con artist?
You got conned by your Michael! Do you realize how easy it is to fake diplomas and emails? I think you were WAY too sympathetic to this guy. No, he’s not just like your crazy uncle telling stores at thanksgiving. He’s actively lying to people over and over again- and you have admitted this in the series several times. You just formed too much of a relationship with this guy. He seduced you. He conned you and it ruined the series you did on him. Sorry.
You got conned by your Michael! Do you realize how easy it is to fake diplomas and emails? I think you were WAY too sympathetic to this guy. No, he’s not just like your crazy uncle telling stores at thanksgiving. He’s actively lying to people over and over again- and you have admitted this in the series several times. You just formed too much of a relationship with this guy. He seduced you. He conned you and it ruined the series you did on him. Sorry.
I don’t think it ruined the podcast, but Javier was definitely more sympathetic to Michael than I would have been. A few things stuck out:
“I’m a doctor” because he has a PhD? I’ve worked with hundreds of PhDs, that actually have their degrees and published research…not a single one ever referred to his or herself as a doctor. Using the title Dr. Whoever is generally only for full professors, but even then it’s never “A Doctor”.
A DD-214 is a record of military service, no matter what type of discharge. Just because you have one doesn’t automatically mean you were honorably discharged. Anyone who has ever actually served in the military knows this.
No one could verify his transcript at Duke. My guess is because there wasn’t a transcript to verify…just two weeks ago, I was able to order a transcript, within minutes, for a university I attended over TWENTY years ago. Verifying a transcript is really easy when it actually exists.
Having a library card to MIT doesn’t mean anything, at all. He sounded like a fool for even mentioning this.
I don’t think it ruined the podcast, but Javier was definitely more sympathetic to Michael than I would have been. A few things stuck out:
“I’m a doctor” because he has a PhD? I’ve worked with hundreds of PhDs, that actually have their degrees and published research…not a single one ever referred to his or herself as a doctor. Using the title Dr. Whoever is generally only for full professors, but even then it’s never “A Doctor”.
A DD-214 is a record of military service, no matter what type of discharge. Just because you have one doesn’t automatically mean you were honorably discharged. Anyone who has ever actually served in the military knows this.
No one could verify his transcript at Duke. My guess is because there wasn’t a transcript to verify…just two weeks ago, I was able to order a transcript, within minutes, for a university I attended over TWENTY years ago. Verifying a transcript is really easy when it actually exists.
Having a library card to MIT doesn’t mean anything, at all. He sounded like a fool for even mentioning this.
You should have fact checked this guy, with his two baby mammas, or his relatives. Literally anyone who has an actual paper trail on this guy knows all his real stories, because we were present during all these times, up until 2016. Your podcast failed to actually do any research on this guy of those that were literally around him, who he lived with, who raised him, who have his actual employment records, Legal records, arrest records, credit reports, and tax returns. I mean .99 cents online could have debunked this guy, but so can his relatives.