The Recruitment Trap
Easy Prey
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...
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Convincing Deepfakes
Easy Prey
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...
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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...
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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,...
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Sports Betting
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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...
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Google Maps Scams
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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...
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Job Recruiter Scams
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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...
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Bail Bonds Scams
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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...
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Confessions of a Fraudster
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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...
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Personal Safety
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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_outlineFraud doesn’t always announce itself with obvious warning signs. Quite often, it shows up wrapped inside something that feels routine — a purchase you’ve made before, a link that looks legitimate, a message that arrives at just the wrong moment. Nothing feels suspicious, so your guard stays down. By the time questions start forming, the transaction is already done.
My guest today is Iremar Brayner. He’s spent more than 15 years working in fraud prevention and risk management across payments, retail, ride-hailing, fintech, and digital marketplaces. In his role at G2A, he leads fraud strategy for one of the world’s largest digital entertainment platforms, where speed, approval rates, and loss prevention are constantly pulling against each other.
We discuss why scams continue to work despite smarter tools, how “friendly fraud” complicates the picture, and why digital goods create very different risk patterns than traditional retail. We also get into automation, AI-driven decisions, and what it really looks like to manage fraud in real time.
Show Notes:
- [1:36] Iremar shares how his career in fraud prevention began, moving from bank customer service into reviewing suspicious transactions.
- [2:45] He explains why he completed law school but chose not to become a lawyer, and how legal training shaped his understanding of fraud psychology.
- [4:10] Fraud is framed as an emotional event, with urgency, financial stress, and excitement often lowering a person’s defenses.
- [6:16] Digital marketplaces attract fraudsters due to low-cost items and products like gift cards that are easy to cash out.
- [7:10] The concept of card testing emerges, where stolen payment details are validated through small purchases.
- [8:05] Iremar discusses the rise of friendly fraud, where legitimate customers dispute transactions after receiving goods.
- [9:30] Major product launches, such as highly anticipated game releases, create predictable spikes in fraud risk.
- [11:05] Marketplace fraud requires managing risk on both sides, verifying sellers while monitoring buyers in real time.
- [12:40] He describes G2A’s shift away from manual review toward fully automated transaction decisioning.
- [14:15] The tension between frictionless customer experience and effective fraud prevention is unpacked.
- [16:05] Automation and AI are positioned as essential tools for scaling fraud defenses without overwhelming operations.
- [18:10] AI’s real impact is discussed: not changing fraud itself, but making attacks faster and more scalable.
- [20:05] Iremar explains why human judgment still plays a critical role alongside AI systems.
- [21:41] Fraud patterns differ across industries, illustrated through examples from ride-hailing platforms.
- [23:10] Abuse of referral and incentive programs reveals how self-referrals became a common fraud tactic.
- [24:40] Identity misuse by drivers highlights risks tied to document verification.
- [25:50] Face recognition and customer reporting become tools for detecting account misuse.
- [27:15] High-value luxury marketplaces introduce entirely different fraud and logistics challenges.
- [29:10] Practical consumer advice: buy from reliable sources, review refund policies, and question unrealistic pricing.
- [30:05] Seller protection strategies focus on accurate product descriptions and shipment tracking.
- [32:05] The most common complaints in marketplaces are items not received and items not as described.
- [33:20] Iremar recounts becoming a fraud victim after a fraudulent airline ticket charge.
- [35:00] A WhatsApp impersonation attempt using his photo targeted his mother.
- [36:10] Verification habits are emphasized as one of the strongest defenses against scams.
- [37:40] The risks of social media and account takeover scenarios are discussed.
- [39:30] Challenges around encouraging broader adoption of two-factor authentication.
- [40:05] Career advice for those interested in fraud prevention as a profession.
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