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Wired to Trust

Easy Prey

Release Date: 04/08/2026

Elder Exploitation show art Elder Exploitation

Easy Prey

Aging parents often rely on the people closest to them for help, but what happens when that help becomes a way to take control? For Charles Wallace, the warning signs started small. His mother’s fridge was suddenly overfilled. A caregiver refused to provide receipts. Spending patterns began to shift in ways that did not make sense. At the time, each concern could be explained away. Looking back, they were part of something much larger. Charles spent 15 years in banking and finance, and after his mother’s death, he used that experience to reconstruct more than 3,000 transactions. What he...

info_outline Art Heists show art Art Heists

Easy Prey

The world of art theft looks glamorous in the movies, but the reality is far more complicated. From multi-million dollar forgery schemes to undercover FBI operations recovering stolen national treasures, art crime is a global industry hiding in plain sight.  This conversation digs into how these crimes actually play out and why the people who pull them off often end up stuck with the very pieces they thought would make them rich. My guest today is Robert Wittman, a former FBI special agent and the founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Over a 20-year career, he worked undercover in more...

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Easy Prey

We make predictions all the time including about the weather, about traffic, about what someone is going to say next. It feels natural, even rational. But when algorithms start making predictions about us, whether we'll repay a loan, reoffend after prison, or respond to a medical treatment, something fundamental shifts. The forecast stops being a guess and starts becoming a verdict. My guest today is Carissa Veliz, a philosopher and associate professor at the University of Oxford, where she also researches at the Oxford Internet Institute. Her work focuses on the ethics of technology, privacy,...

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Easy Prey

Online security advice often sounds simple until you actually try to follow it. Between password managers, privacy settings, and data brokers, protecting yourself can start to feel like a full-time job. That gap between what sounds easy and what’s actually realistic is where a lot of people get stuck. My guest today is Yael Grauer, a freelance investigative technology reporter who covers privacy, security, digital freedom, hacking, and mass surveillance. She also works as a program manager of cybersecurity research at Consumer Reports, where she manages Security Planner, a free resource that...

info_outline Wired to Trust show art Wired to Trust

Easy Prey

It’s easy to think scams only work when someone misses something obvious. In reality, most of them don’t look obvious at the start. They show up as normal situations with just enough friction to notice, but not enough to stop. That small gap is where people tend to move forward instead of stepping back. My guest today is Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies how we form beliefs and make decisions. She’s known for her research on the neural basis of human optimism, and her work has been published in leading journals. In her books, The Optimism Bias and The Science of...

info_outline Intimate Partner Fraud show art Intimate Partner Fraud

Easy Prey

Most scams leave a digital trail. A fake email, a spoofed number, a fraudulent website. You can trace them, report them, sometimes even reverse them. But what happens when the scam has no digital trail at all, because it isn't happening on a screen? What happens when the con is standing right in front of you, making you laugh, meeting your friends, and planning a future with you?  My guest today is Tracy Hall. She's an author, keynote speaker, and senior marketing executive with over 25 years at some of the world's most recognizable tech companies including eBay, Virgin, GoDaddy, and...

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Easy Prey

Every day, employees at hotels, restaurants, and resorts across the country are doing exactly what they were hired to do: being warm, responsive, and eager to help. It's what makes hospitality work. It's also what makes hospitality one of the most targeted industries in cybersecurity. When your entire workforce is trained to say yes, teaching them to be suspicious is an uphill battle. The smarter solution might be to take the target off their backs entirely. Jasson Casey is the co-founder and CEO of Beyond Identity, a company built around one idea: making identity-based attacks impossible....

info_outline When Cybercrime Gets Personal show art When Cybercrime Gets Personal

Easy Prey

Most security breaches don't begin with sophisticated code or elaborate technical exploits. They begin with a phone call, a convincing email, or someone at a help desk who just wanted to be helpful. The human layer is often the weakest link, and the criminals who understand that are the ones causing the most damage. My guest today is May Chen-Contino. She's the CEO of Unit 221B, a threat disruption company that delivers actionable intelligence to enterprises, law enforcement, and government agencies. Her background spans cybersecurity, fintech, and SaaS leadership at companies like PayPal and...

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Easy Prey

Phone scams get dismissed as background noise or just annoying interruptions and unknown numbers with robotic voices we learn to ignore. But behind that noise is an industry built on psychology, automation, and staggering profitability. My guest today is Alex Quilici. He’s an engineer, entrepreneur, and the CEO of YouMail, a company focused on protecting consumers and businesses from unwanted and fraudulent calls. Alex has spent years analyzing how robocalls and scam campaigns are designed, how they evolve, and why they continue to work despite better technology and increased awareness. What...

info_outline Stolen Identity - Stolen Peace show art Stolen Identity - Stolen Peace

Easy Prey

Identity theft gets talked about a lot, but usually in the abstract: freeze your credit, watch your statements, don't click suspicious links. What doesn't get talked about nearly enough is what it actually feels like when someone isn't just using your card number, but is actively living as you. My guest today is Brooklyn Lyons. She's 25, recently married, and by her own admission, had no particular expertise in fraud or cybersecurity before October of 2024.  That changed when her car window was smashed in a parking lot, and her work bag, laptop, wallet, driver's license, and everything...

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More Episodes

It’s easy to think scams only work when someone misses something obvious. In reality, most of them don’t look obvious at the start. They show up as normal situations with just enough friction to notice, but not enough to stop. That small gap is where people tend to move forward instead of stepping back.

My guest today is Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies how we form beliefs and make decisions. She’s known for her research on the neural basis of human optimism, and her work has been published in leading journals. In her books, The Optimism Bias and The Science of Optimism, she explains why we expect things to work out and how that tendency can quietly expose us to risk.

We discuss what’s happening in those in-between moments, why a situation can feel slightly off and still seem reasonable enough to continue, and how past experience lowers our guard without us noticing. We also look at that brief internal hesitation people tend to override, and why it’s often the most useful signal they have. By the time something clearly crosses the line, the decision has usually already been made.

Show Notes:

  • [01:14] Tali explains her background as a cognitive neuroscientist and how her work blends psychology, brain science, and behavior.
  • [01:48] Her interest in the field began with a simple question about how the brain drives thoughts, emotions, and actions.
  • [03:00] She shares a personal story about renting out her apartment that turned into a scam.
  • [04:30] Early warning signs show up right away, including unusual requests and meeting conditions.
  • [05:30] Despite noticing those signals, she moves forward and hands over the keys.
  • [08:43] Looking back, she explains how she rationalized each red flag instead of acting on it.
  • [10:02] That uneasy gut feeling is often based on real information your brain is processing quickly.
  • [11:40] Repeated positive experiences can lower your guard and make risky situations feel familiar.
  • [12:30] The “truth bias” leads people to assume others are being honest unless something clearly proves otherwise.
  • [14:00] There’s often a gap between what you feel in the moment and how you explain it afterward.
  • [17:45] The emotional impact of being scammed can linger long after the financial loss is resolved.
  • [20:47] The brain constantly predicts what should happen next and reacts when something doesn’t fit.
  • [21:30] Subtle cues like timing, tone, and facial expression can signal deception without you realizing it.
  • [24:58] Repetition makes scammers more convincing by smoothing out inconsistencies in their story.
  • [26:18] Online communication removes many of the signals people rely on to judge trustworthiness.
  • [27:59] Setting simple personal rules can help you avoid engaging with common scam tactics.
  • [31:00] People are more vulnerable when they want something to be true, especially in relationships or opportunities.
  • [34:30] Even basic checks, like verifying an email address, can stop many scams early.
  • [36:43] A lot of scams succeed because people don’t pause long enough to look closely.
  • [38:19] Familiar situations lead to less attention over time, making it easier to miss important details.

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