When Trust Becomes a Trap
Easy Prey
Most people use technology all day without giving much thought to what is happening behind the screen. We trust routers that may not have been updated in years, depend on internet systems few of us understand, and now turn to artificial intelligence for everything from travel plans to home repairs. That convenience comes with tradeoffs. In this episode, we look at the weaknesses built into our connected world and what happens when our technical knowledge fails to keep pace with the technology surrounding us. Sherrod DeGrippo leads threat intelligence for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, where...
info_outline
Scam Compounds
Easy Prey
When most people think about online scams, they picture criminals sitting behind a screen and stealing from victims around the world. But in Southeast Asia, many of the people sending those messages are victims too. Some were promised legitimate jobs, flown across borders, trapped inside guarded compounds, and forced to scam others while trying to survive. In this episode, I talk with Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies Asia Institute. After years of studying labor rights, civil society, and Chinese investment in Cambodia,...
info_outline
Sports Betting
Easy Prey
Sports betting is everywhere now. It is in the commercials, on the apps, wrapped into game broadcasts, and sold as a fun way to make sports more exciting. But behind the easy sign-ups and “risk-free” offers is an industry built on odds most people do not fully understand, fine print that can cost real money, and a business model that depends on customers losing. In this episode, I talk with Danny Funt, an investigative reporter and the author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling. His reporting on sports betting, politics, news, and sports media has appeared...
info_outline
Google Maps Scams
Easy Prey
Most people are not thinking clearly when they need a locksmith or a plumber. They are locked out, water is leaking, something broke, and they just want somebody nearby who can fix it. So they open Google, tap one of the first businesses that comes up, and assume the listing is real. Unfortunately, that is exactly the kind of situation scammers count on. In this episode, Mike Blumenthal, co-founder and analyst at Near Media, talks about fake local business listings and the ways bad actors have learned to game Google Maps. Mike has been following this problem for years, going back to the...
info_outline
Job Recruiter Scams
Easy Prey
Job hunting is hard enough without having to stop and ask whether the recruiter in your inbox is even real. My guest today, Jay Jones, ran into that problem firsthand after being laid off in December 2023. With his daughter due to be born just weeks later, Jay began receiving messages from recruiters that looked promising at first, but quickly turned out to be fake. Jay, also known as The Profiler, decided not to ignore what was happening. He started investigating the patterns behind these scams and has since identified and helped remove thousands of fake profiles, fraudulent companies, and...
info_outline
Bail Bonds Scams
Easy Prey
Getting a call that someone you love has been arrested is scary enough. Getting that call from someone who sounds official, knows just enough to seem credible, and says you have to send money right away is exactly the kind of moment scammers are counting on. Julie Henderson is the president of the North Carolina Bail Agents Association and has spent 24 years working in the bail bond industry. She started in the field almost by accident after applying for what she thought was a legislative assistant job, and she has stayed because she cares about helping people get through one of the most...
info_outline
Confessions of a Fraudster
Easy Prey
Technology keeps changing, but many of the most effective scams still come down to something very human: trust. My guest today is Tony Sales, co-founder of We Fight Fincrime and Underworld TV. Tony has a perspective most people in fraud prevention will never have. Earlier in his life, he was involved in organized financial crime and was once described in the UK press as Britain’s greatest fraudster. After years in that world, and after serving time in prison, Tony made the decision to use what he knew to help stop the very crimes he had once been part of. Today, Tony works with...
info_outline
Personal Safety
Easy Prey
Scams and safety threats don’t always announce themselves. Sometimes they start quietly, with a moment of distraction, a strange feeling you ignore, or a situation that shifts just enough to test whether you’re paying attention. My guest today is S. Gale Bleth, a personal safety educator, certified RAD self-defense instructor, speaker, and author of Aware: A Personal Safety Playbook for Leaving the Nest. Gale brings a deep background in crime prevention and safety education, including 16 years at Cal State East Bay and 16 years as a crime prevention specialist with the Hayward Police...
info_outline
Data For Sale
Easy Prey
Everyday conveniences ask for tiny pieces of information all the time like a phone number at checkout, a zip code at the register, an email address for a receipt, or a loyalty account for a small discount. At the moment, it can feel harmless. But those small details can add up quickly, creating a personal profile that businesses, data brokers, scammers, and even people with bad intentions can use in ways most of us never agreed to or fully understood. My guest today is Ron Zayas, CEO of Ironwall by Incogni. Ron is an online privacy expert, speaker, and author who has helped the judiciary, law...
info_outline
Exploiting Psychology
Easy Prey
Scams are often explained as a failure of judgment, but the truth is far more human. People are not fooled because they are foolish. They are manipulated at the exact moment emotion overrides logic, whether that emotion is fear, loneliness, hope, urgency, financial stress, or the desire to believe something better is finally possible. My guest today is Dr. John Demartini, one of the world’s leading authorities on human behavior, perception, resilience, and personal development. For more than five decades, he has researched, written, and taught in the fields of human awareness and potential....
info_outlineFinding a solution to stop spam calls to you, your family, or your business isn’t easy. We may not win this war, but we don’t want the government making this decision for us. We can make it more manageable in the meantime.
Today’s guest is Aaron Foss. After winning the FTC Robocall Challenge in 2013, Aaron started Nomorobo. Since then, Nomorobo has stopped billions and billions of unwanted robocalls and spam texts from reaching our phones, and it was acquired by Applause group in August 2023. Aaron has been featured in The New York Times, Wired, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, and countless other media outlets. He has testified in front of Congress, not once, not twice, but three times.
Show Notes:
- [1:14] - Aaron shares his background as a serial entrepreneur in the intersection of technology and business.
- [3:57] - At the beginning, Aaron didn’t even know what a robocall was.
- [6:47] - Robocalls have this negative connotation. They can actually be good. But there are many that are unwanted.
- [8:13] - There are different types of robocalls and there is a differentiation between spam and scam calls.
- [10:08] - Aaron explains why spam emails are easier to block than robocalls.
- [12:20] - There are some robocalls that are necessary and helpful for some people. That is one reason why not all robocalls can be blocked.
- [13:40] - Not answering the phone is not a plausible solution.
- [15:50] - Nomorobo is basically a series of bots talking to other bots.
- [16:50] - Aaron describes caller ID and how spoofing a number is possible.
- [19:42] - This is such a big problem because the barrier of entry is low.
- [21:08] - It is amazing that we can call anyone in the world. But that also means that scammers can, too.
- [22:53] - This is a complicated problem, and the future solution is a combination of government regulation, companies like Nomorobo, and AI.
- [26:29] - We are never going to win the war, but we can keep it manageable.
- [29:45] - What is the role of the carriers when it comes to robocalls?
- [31:47] - Keeping scammers on the phone does not make the problem go away.
- [33:52] - Some scams are seasonal and some are evergreen, like Medicare calls.
- [36:26] - Aaron explains the different ways these scams can be done and the range of damage they can do.
- [39:56] - At best, this is an annoyance. But there are people in our lives that are vulnerable and less protected.
- [44:42] - Sometimes, Nomorobo users have to turn it off for specific reasons and specific calls they’re waiting for.
- [47:56] - This problem is an example of “death by a thousand papercuts.”
- [49:30] - There are some red flags and things you might notice if you answer robocalls that could indicate that they are scams.
- [50:46] - This seems like an easy problem to solve, but it is far more complicated than most people think.
- [52:00] - Aaron describes what it was like to testify in front of Congress.
- [56:43] - Listen and educate yourself. Talk to other people about these things.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.