Libsyn Directory

The Scam You Never See Coming

Release Date: 12/03/2025

Easy Prey

Fraud today doesn’t feel anything like it used to. It’s not just about somebody skimming a credit card at a gas pump or stealing a check out of the mail. It has gotten personal, messy, emotional. Scammers are building relationships, earning trust, and studying the little details of our lives so they can strike when we’re tired, distracted, or dealing with something big. And honestly, most people have no idea how far it’s gone. My guest, Ian Mitchell, has spent more than 25 years fighting fraud around the world and leading teams in the financial sector. He’s the founder of The Knoble,...

Hacking AI

Easy Prey

AI has brought incredible new capabilities into everyday technology, but it’s also creating security challenges that most people haven’t fully wrapped their heads around yet. As these systems become more capable and more deeply connected to the tools and data we rely on, the risks become harder to predict and much more complicated to manage. My guest today is Rich Smith, who leads offensive research at MindGard and has spent more than twenty years working on the front lines of cybersecurity. Rich has held leadership roles at organizations like Crash Override, Gemini, Duo Security, Cisco,...

The Ransomware War

Easy Prey

Ransomware isn’t a lone hacker in a hoodie. It’s an entire criminal industry complete with developers, brokers, and money launderers working together like a dark tech startup. And while these groups constantly evolve, so do the tools and partnerships aimed at stopping them before they strike. My guest today is Cynthia Kaiser, former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division and now the Head of the Ransomware Research Center at Halcyon. After two decades investigating global cyber threats and briefing top government leaders, she’s now focused on prevention and building...

Opportunistic Crimes

Easy Prey

Criminals are always adapting. Whether it’s copper wiring stripped from job sites or porch pirates grabbing deliveries in broad daylight, they keep finding new ways to take what isn’t theirs. But maybe prevention isn’t about harsher punishment or more cameras. Maybe it’s about smarter design and understanding what drives people to steal in the first place. My guest today is Dr. Ben Stickle, a professor of criminal justice at Middle Tennessee State University and one of the country’s top researchers on property crime. Before entering academia, he worked in law enforcement, which gives...

Post Scam Guidebook

Easy Prey

Fraud usually gets talked about in numbers like how much money was stolen, how many people were affected, how many cases got filed. But behind every one of those numbers is a person who’s been blindsided, manipulated, or left trying to rebuild trust in others and in themselves. This episode shifts the focus back to those human stories and the fight to protect them. My guest, Freddie Massimi, has spent more than a decade helping scam victims find both financial and emotional recovery, bringing empathy and understanding to a field that too often feels cold and procedural. As a certified...

Can You Trust Anything Online

Easy Prey

You think you’d never fall for a scam until you meet someone like Kitboga. He’s a software engineer who’s turned his curiosity about online fraud into a full-time mission to outsmart scammers and protect the people they target. His YouTube channel, The Kitboga Show, has millions of followers and nearly a billion views, thanks to his mix of humor, empathy, and clever ways of exposing how scams really work. In our conversation, Kit opens up about how this all started, what it’s really like to spend hours pretending to be a scam victim, and how organized crime has turned fraud into a...

Real Time Fraud Detection

Easy Prey

Everywhere you turn, someone’s trying to fake something like an image, a voice, or even an entire identity. With AI tools now in almost anyone’s hands, it takes minutes, not days, to create a convincing fake. That’s changed the game for both sides. The fraudsters have new weapons, and the rest of us are scrambling to keep up. The real question now isn’t just how to stop scams, but how to know who or what to trust online. My guest today, Bala Kumar, spends his days on the front lines of that battle. He’s the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Jumio, a company working to make...

Child Predator Tactics

Easy Prey

Kids spend more time online than ever, and for the most part it feels normal. They’re gaming, watching videos, and chatting with friends. But hidden in those same spaces are adults who know how to pose as kids, build trust, and push conversations into dangerous territory. Parents might think it couldn’t happen to their child, yet detectives see how quickly an “innocent” interaction can turn into grooming or extortion. That’s the world Detective Seth Cockerham works in every day. He’s been in law enforcement in Texas for close to a decade, and the last few years have been dedicated...

Identity Trafficking

Easy Prey

Some people are willing to hand over their identities for cash, while organized fraudsters are lining up to buy them. What used to be a matter of stolen credit cards has turned into a global marketplace where personal details fuel large-scale fraud. Now with AI, automation, and deepfakes making impersonation easier than ever, it’s becoming much more difficult to protect identities. To understand how we got here and what can be done, I spoke with Ofer Friedman, Chief Business Development Officer at AU10TIX. Ofer has spent more than 15 years in the identity verification and compliance...

Technology, Trust & Time

Easy Prey

Technology is moving faster than our ability to process its impact, forcing us to question trust, motivation, and the value of our time. Few people have had a closer view of those shifts than Esther Dyson. With a background in economics from Harvard, Esther built a career as a journalist, author, commentator, investor, and philanthropist, with a unique ability to spot patterns across industries and challenge assumptions before they become mainstream. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a ten-year nonprofit project dedicated to improving equitable well-being in communities across the...

More Episodes

My guest, Ian Mitchell, has spent more than 25 years fighting fraud around the world and leading teams in the financial sector. He’s the founder of The Knoble, a nonprofit bringing banks and industry leaders together to protect vulnerable people from scams, human trafficking, and exploitation. Ian has seen the evolution of fraud firsthand, from the old-school days of stolen cards to the organized global crime networks using technology, AI, and human manipulation to scale at a pace we’ve never experienced before.

What stood out to me is Ian’s belief that the strongest defense doesn’t start with fancy tools or tighter security. It starts at home. Real conversations with our kids about safety online. Checking in on aging parents. Talking openly with people we trust so scammers can’t isolate us and break us down. It’s serious work, but Ian is hopeful. He believes there are far more good people than bad, and when we look out for each other, we’re a lot harder to exploit.

Show Notes:

[00:58] Ian unexpectedly shifted from music and modeling into the world of fraud prevention.
[01:19] Founding The Knoble and building a global network to fight human crimes and protect vulnerable populations.
[01:49] A look at Follow the Money, the documentary project raising awareness about exploitation and financial crime.
[02:19] Why Ian believes crimes of exploitation have moved directly into our homes and daily lives.
[03:08] The early moment when Ian uncovered a major fraud ring while working at an internet company.
[06:44] How canceling $300,000 in fraudulent orders changed the direction of his career.
[08:11] Reflections on the “wild west” early days of online fraud and security.
[11:01] How fraud evolved from stolen cards into emotional manipulation and trust-based scams.
[12:49] The post-COVID surge in scams and the shift toward targeting individuals instead of systems.
[14:03] Why fighting fraud today requires global coordination and an army of trained professionals.
[16:38] Scammers coaching victims to distrust banks, friends, and even family members.
[17:05] The longest romance-style scam Ian has seen — an eight-year manipulation before money was ever requested.
[18:25] Discussion on timing, trust, and why even smart people can be caught off guard.
[22:05] Ian shares his own experience dealing with identity theft and the complexity of proving it wasn’t him.
[23:22] AI and big data transforming broad scam attempts into precise, personalized attacks.
[25:31] The alarming rise of sextortion schemes targeting kids ages 13–16 and why awareness is critical.
[26:40] The urgent need for uncomfortable safety conversations within families.
[28:09] Why Ian believes the first line of defense isn’t technology — it’s communication at home.
[29:30] The emotional impact on scam victims: shame, isolation, and loss of confidence in judgment.
[31:13] How AI can be used for good and why the industry must move quickly to fight back.
[40:40] Three essential conversations families should start having right now.
[41:21] Protecting children through parental controls, boundaries, and digital safety.
[42:42] Encouraging open dialogue with aging parents about financial protection and autonomy.
[44:19] Finding balance: staying vigilant without living in fear.
[47:57] A hopeful reminder that there are far more good people than bad — and collective action matters.
[48:30] Where to find Ian, learn more about The Knoble, and connect with his work.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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