Investment Traps
Easy Prey
Investment losses can be confusing because they do not always tell the whole story. Sometimes money is lost because the market has changed. Other times, an investor was sold something they did not understand, pushed into a product that was never appropriate, or denied the information they needed to make a real decision. Courtney Werning has built her career in that space, helping investors sort through what happened and whether someone can be held responsible. Courtney is a named partner at Meyer, Wilson, and Werning, a national investor protection firm that has recovered more than $350...
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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...
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Art Heists
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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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The Power of Prediction
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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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Privacy vs Reality
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...
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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...
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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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Identity without Passwords
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....
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When Cybercrime Gets Personal
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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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Stopping Phone Scams
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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_outlineInvestment losses can be confusing because they do not always tell the whole story. Sometimes money is lost because the market has changed. Other times, an investor was sold something they did not understand, pushed into a product that was never appropriate, or denied the information they needed to make a real decision. Courtney Werning has built her career in that space, helping investors sort through what happened and whether someone can be held responsible.
Courtney is a named partner at Meyer, Wilson, and Werning, a national investor protection firm that has recovered more than $350 million since 1999. She leads the firm’s crypto investment fraud practice through CryptoCourt, serves on FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee, and is the incoming PIABA president. In this conversation, she explains the difference between a bad investment, misrepresentation, misconduct, Ponzi schemes, and the newer wave of crypto fraud that has become especially devastating for older investors.
We also talk about the warning signs people often miss, from guaranteed returns and “secret” opportunities to unsolicited messages on social media, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Courtney shares why trusted contacts on brokerage accounts matter, how recovery scams target people who have already been defrauded, and why it is so important to verify lawyers, financial advisors, and investment opportunities before sending money anywhere.
Show Notes:
- [00:57] Courtney Werning explains how she became an investor protection attorney and why representing regular investors against large Wall Street institutions has been such meaningful work.
- [03:29] Investment losses do not always mean misconduct occurred, but Courtney explains how negligence, misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations, and outright fraud can create valid claims.
- [05:25] Misrepresentation often happens when investors are not given the material facts they need to understand risks, fees, liquidity issues, or the potential loss of principal.
- [07:19] Many investors don’t know what they were missing until after a product fails and an attorney reviews what should have been disclosed.
- [09:22] Ponzi schemes continue to appear in many forms, using new investor money to pay earlier investors until the scheme eventually collapses.
- [12:01] Scammers build confidence by showing early returns, encouraging victims to invest more, and making the opportunity feel safe before the larger loss occurs.
- [14:44] Cryptocurrency fraud losses have climbed sharply, and Courtney explains why the reported numbers likely represent only part of the true scale.
- [17:03] Repeated scam playbooks, fake insider connections, AI tools, voice replication, and polished platforms make crypto fraud increasingly difficult to recognize.
- [19:54] A trusted contact on a brokerage account can give firms a way to alert someone the investor trusts when unusual activity or possible exploitation appears.
- [22:27] Trusted contacts work more like emergency contacts than account controllers, helping preserve independence while adding a layer of protection.
- [24:35] Once someone realizes they may have been defrauded, the first steps are shutting down the account, contacting law enforcement, and getting legal guidance.
- [27:29] Even if months or years have passed, some losses may still be recoverable, though quick reporting gives law enforcement the best chance of stopping funds.
- [30:06] Recovery scams prey on people who are already panicked, promising to trace or retrieve stolen crypto in exchange for more money.
- [31:29] Courtney shares the devastating case of a Modesto man who lost millions in a pig butchering scam and was later pressured with fake insider trading threats.
- [34:11] A trusted contact was listed on the victim’s account, and Courtney believes a brief phone call to his wife could have prevented both the financial loss and the tragedy that followed.
- [36:39] Investor recovery cases are often handled on contingency, which means firms must evaluate whether litigation can realistically benefit the client.
- [39:12] Because the firm is selective about the cases it takes, Courtney says clients offered representation can usually feel confident there is a strong case.
- [40:18] Unsolicited messages on social media, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram, or X should be treated with extreme skepticism, especially when investment opportunities are involved.
- [42:25] Hacked social media accounts can make scams appear to come from trusted local figures, friends, or family members.
- [44:06] Secret or exclusive investment opportunities that cannot be discussed openly are major red flags, especially if someone coaches the investor on what to say.
- [45:06] Courtney explains how to contact her firm, verify that an attorney is real through a state bar search, and check financial professionals through FINRA BrokerCheck.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.