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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineThe 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 than 20 countries and helped recover over $300 million in stolen art and cultural property. He’s also the author of Priceless, where he shares stories from those investigations and what really goes on behind the scenes.
We discuss the movie version of art crime and how it actually works. Whitman explains why most stolen masterpieces are nearly impossible to sell, how insider access plays a role in many museum thefts, and why forgery and fraud now make up the bulk of the market. There’s also a practical side to it. Whether it’s fine art, prints, or even sports memorabilia, the same patterns show up again and again. People trust the wrong details, skip the research, and get pulled in by what feels like a deal. The takeaway is pretty straightforward. Slow down, check what you’re buying, and don’t assume something is real just because the story sounds convincing.
Show Notes:
- [01:06] Robert Wittman introduces his FBI career and explains how he founded the Art Crime Team, leading investigations across 20 countries and recovering over $300 million in stolen art.
- [04:01] He shares how he ended up in art crime almost by accident, getting assigned museum theft cases early in his career when no one else wanted them.
- [07:00] We get a breakdown of the art crime industry, including how much of it is driven by forgery and fraud versus outright theft.
- [10:00] Whitman explains why stolen high-value artwork is extremely difficult to sell and often becomes a liability for the criminals who take it.
- [13:43] A reality check on museum security, comparing Hollywood portrayals to how thefts actually happen in the U.S. and abroad.
- [16:18] The conversation shifts to jewelry theft and why stolen gems are far easier to break down and resell than famous works of art.
- [19:19] He walks through a major forgery case involving a well-known New York gallery that unknowingly sold millions of dollars in fake paintings.
- [22:55] Practical advice for everyday buyers on how to avoid getting scammed when purchasing art or collectibles online.
- [26:34] One of the most fascinating recoveries: an original copy of the Bill of Rights stolen in the 1800s and tracked down over a century later.
- [30:20] A much smaller but equally interesting case involving ancient cylinder seals and how they were unknowingly brought back from Iraq.
- [32:30] The risks in the sports memorabilia market, including widespread forgery and why authentication matters more than ever.
- [35:37] Final advice on protecting yourself as both a buyer and seller by doing basic research and understanding the true value of what you have.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.