Libsyn Directory

Money Laundering

Release Date: 02/18/2026

Easy Prey

Ransomware has changed dramatically over the years. What started as criminals locking up individual computers and demanding relatively small payments has grown into a much larger operation involving stolen data, entire networks, third-party vendors, and increasingly sophisticated ways of pressuring victims to pay. Now AI is adding another wrinkle, giving criminals new tools while also creating some unexpected problems for them. Joining me to talk about how ransomware has evolved is Allan Liska, a ransomware researcher and Field CISO at Recorded Future. Allan has more than 30 years of...

The Counterfeit Economy

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A counterfeit handbag may leave someone disappointed. A counterfeit medication, airbag, or child’s car seat can do far more damage. Fake products now reach into nearly every part of daily life, and many of them arrive through online stores that look completely legitimate. Kari Kammel saw the danger firsthand when a pharmacist overseas offered her several versions of the same medication. Some were authentic, while others were openly described as counterfeit. That experience stayed with her. She now directs the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University,...

The Internet is Playing You

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A convincing lie no longer needs to look suspicious. It can appear in a familiar social media feed, come from someone who seems real, or arrive as a video that looks almost impossible to fake. By the time doubt sets in, the post may already have been shared thousands of times. Few people understand that online environment better than today’s guest. Nina Jankowicz has spent more than a decade studying what she calls the bad things that happen on the internet. She is an internationally recognized expert on disinformation and online harassment. She was also named one of Time magazine’s 100...

The Psychology of Yes

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It is easy to say you would never fall for a scam when you are looking at the situation from the outside. In the moment, though, things can feel much less obvious. A request may sound reasonable, the person may seem trustworthy, and saying no can feel awkward enough that you go along with something you would normally question. Today’s guest studies exactly why that happens. Vanessa Bohns is the Bronstein Family Professor and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University’s ILR School. Her work focuses on social influence, compliance, and the pressure people feel to cooperate, even...

Drink Spiking

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A drink can be out of your sight for only a moment, but that may be all it takes for someone to tamper with it. Spiking can happen in bars, restaurants, festivals, and even among people who already know and trust each other. It also goes far beyond alcohol. Drinks, food, vapes, cigarettes, and other substances can be altered without someone’s knowledge, leaving them vulnerable before they fully understand what is happening. Dawn Dines has spent more than 20 years working to change how people understand and respond to spiking. She is the founder and CEO of Stamp Out Spiking, a UK charity...

Love, Lies and Locked Up

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What sounds like the plot of a crime thriller was Sharon Armstrong’s real life. An online romance drew her into an elaborate web of lies involving overseas contracts, invented emergencies, and several people playing carefully planned roles. By the time she arrived at an airport in Argentina with five kilograms of cocaine hidden inside her suitcase, she still believed she was carrying business documents for the man she loved. Sharon was arrested and spent more than two years in an Argentinian prison before returning home without a conviction. During that time, she had to confront the truth of...

The Recruitment Trap

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Everybody is searching for ways to increase income. Unfortunately, MLMs often look like an easy way to start a business without taking on the cost of a traditional company. The pitch sounds simple. Buy the product, follow the plan, and put in the work. The numbers behind those promises often tell a different story. Today’s guest, Stacie Bosley, has spent years studying what really happens inside MLMs. She is a professor at Hamline University in Minnesota and holds a Ph.D. in applied economics. Her research covers multi-level marketing, consumer protection, income claims, and pyramid scheme...

Convincing Deepfakes

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A familiar voice on the phone or a recognizable face on a video call used to offer some reassurance that you knew who you were dealing with. AI has changed that. Voice cloning, face swaps, and real-time video impersonation now allow scammers to convincingly pose as executives, job candidates, romantic interests, or even family members. Understanding how these attacks work and where they may be headed is a central part of Tom Cross’s work as Head of Threat Research at GetReal Security. Tom has spent more than 30 years studying cybersecurity threats, software vulnerabilities, and the methods...

When Trust Becomes a Trap

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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...

Scam Compounds

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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,...

More Episodes

Organized crime is often imagined as something violent, chaotic, and obvious. But today, it looks far more polished than that. It operates like a multinational business, spread across borders, built on trust networks, specialization, and efficiency rather than brute force. This episode looks at how modern scams, fraud, and money laundering actually work and why they’re so hard to spot before serious damage is done.

My guest is Geoff White, an investigative journalist who has spent decades covering organized crime, cybercrime, and financial fraud. His reporting has appeared on BBC News, Sky News, The Sunday Times, and other major outlets, and he is also the creator of The Lazarus Heist, the hit podcast and book series exploring North Korea’s global hacking operations. His latest book, Rinsed, examines how technology has transformed the world of money laundering.

We talk about how modern criminal networks are structured, why scams now rely on patience and psychology rather than speed, and how money laundering functions as a service industry that quietly supports fraud at scale. The conversation also explores why victims are sometimes unknowingly used to move stolen funds, how urgency is weaponized to override judgment, and why slowing down remains one of the most effective defenses people have.

Show Notes:

[01:08] Geoff shares his background and why the organized crime + technology overlap is where he’s spent his career.
[02:52] Why longer-form work (books, podcasts) is often the only way to explain complex crimes that don’t fit into a quick news segment.
[03:56] Old-school enforcement was violence; modern crime groups often can’t use that when partners are anonymous and overseas.
[04:23] The trust networks holding global crime together can be more fragile than people assume.
[05:06] The strange “trust inside crime” dynamic especially in ransomware, where criminals must appear “reliable.”
[06:18] Competition today looks more like corporate rivalry than street violence, especially in ransomware affiliate ecosystems.
[07:41] Do these groups evolve from traditional cartels or arise from new tech-native criminals? Geoff says it depends on the region.
[09:58] The skill split of elite coders builds ransomware, while newer recruits use social engineering to get initial access.
[11:34] Money laundering adapts fast with crypto, game currencies, NFTs while the core “service business” model stays the same.
[12:46] The “cost” of laundering: fees can be extreme for newcomers, and lower for experienced players with connections.
[13:53] A disturbing case where victims are daisy-chained to launder money and reinforce the romance-scam illusion.
[15:12] Why money mules are treated as disposable and how many don’t realize the seriousness until law enforcement shows up.
[16:48] The tactic of letting victims withdraw a little money to make a platform feel legitimate and why it works so well.
[18:09] Geoff connects today’s tactics to classic con mechanics (“putting the mark on the send”) and the psychology behind it.
[19:22] Geoff describes seeing an “escalator scam” firsthand: small payouts early, then pressure to pay to “unlock” higher earnings.
[21:51] The scary shift is that scams now look polished and patient, stretching across multiple channels and weeks (or longer).
[23:12] The more we “self-custody” money and identity online, the more security responsibility shifts onto individuals.
[24:32] A major crypto seizure case raises a messy question when seized assets grow in value, who gets the upside?
[28:46] Geoff’s practical defense: slow down on anything money-related, create space, and don’t let urgency steer decisions.
[31:17] Why today’s scammers play the long game of months of relationship-building can lead to life-changing losses.
[34:29] Repeat victimization: recovery scams and fake “investigators” often target people right after they’ve been hit.
[36:08] “Traceable” doesn’t mean “recoverable,” why freezing and returning stolen crypto is legally and logistically hard.
[38:44] UK reimbursement changes shift liability between sending and receiving banks but there are tradeoffs and open questions.
[41:28] Geoff reacts to US payment quirks (card taken away, tip written in pen) and why it still surprises outsiders.
[45:11] Closing advice is to learn from other people’s stories and run “what would I do?” scenarios before a crisis hits.

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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