SCAM is a

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

produced by Erica Lyle (aka "Iggy Scam"), launched in 1991. The zine covers

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

culture and

grassroots activism A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

in various locations, including

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In early issues, the zine explored

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

dumpster diving Dumpster diving (also totting, skipping, skip diving or skip salvage) is wikt:salvage, salvaging from large commercial, residential, industrial and construction containers for unwanted items discarded by their owners but deemed useful to the ...

, train hopping, and

volunteering Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

with

needle exchange programs A needle and syringe programme (NSP), also known as needle exchange program (NEP), is a social service that allows injection drug users (IDUs) to obtain clean and unused hypodermic needles and associated paraphernalia at little or no cost. It i ...

and

Food Not Bombs Food Not Bombs (FNB) is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, sharing free, usually vegan and vegetarian food with others. The group believes that corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of ...

. Furthermore, the zine explained "scams" to readers, so that they could attain items or benefits for free. Lyle started the zine as a teenager, after fleeing a violent home situation in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

. She moved into a Ft. Lauderdale

punk house The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music, ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual ...

, where she was introduced to a zine called ''Get Loose''. This zine helped inspired Lyle to create her own zine. Early issues of SCAM focused on topics such as

freighthopping Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of boarding and riding a freightcar without permission. This activity itself is often considered to be illegal, although this varies by geography. It may be associated with other illegal activities such ...

, generator shows, wheatpasting, selling plasma, and returning stolen merchandise. For contemporary audiences, many of the scams detailed in the zine are no longer relevant. However, the zine is understood to be a source of inspiration and creative resistance for many readers. It is particularly known for documenting a life that aims to "...resist capitalism and have fun AND have a sense of humour at the same time," according to

Microcosm Publishing Microcosm Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor based in Portland, Oregon. History Microcosm Publishing was founded in 1996 by Joe Biel and business partneElly Blueas a distributor of books and records. Initially based iBiel's C ...

. Over time, the zine became more political. In 2008, Lyle produced an issue that focused on

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...

and activism in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2010, SCAM examined

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

, juxtaposing the elite art world with the tent cities of Miami. In 2011, SCAM focused on Black Flag and the Los Angeles punk scene. In 2016, Lyle produced a twenty-fifth anniversary issue, which included interviews with

Barry McGee Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American artist. He is known for graffiti art, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin. Life and education Barry McGee was born in ...

Danny Lyon Danny Lyon (born March 16, 1942) is an American photographer and filmmaker. All of Lyon's publications work in the style of photographic New Journalism, meaning that the photographer has become immersed in, and is a participant of, the document ...

, Rebecca Giordano, and others. Lyle explained in an interview, "The magazine started as a way to document the life my friends and I were leading as teenagers, which was getting everything for free hrough scams, stealing, and resource-sharing But it was also a way to participate in and broaden my community. As I got older, my interests changed. I became less interested specifically in punk and more involved in activism, and I started doing other self-publishing projects for a broader audience. ''SCAM'' is sort of morphing into more longform, underground journalism, where I try to cover things outside of the mainstream but in a really careful and thoughtful way." In 2010, Microcosm Publishing printed ''Scam: The First Four Issues''.{{Cite web, url=https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3124, title=Scam: The First Four Issues, website=Microcosm Publishing, language=en, access-date=2019-11-24 In 2019, Lyle joined the band

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pio ...

as a guitarist. She discussed SCAM in interviews, and she stated that an eleventh issue was in development.

References

Punk zines 1991 establishments in Florida