Ransomware Evolution
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...
info_outline
The Counterfeit Economy
Easy Prey
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,...
info_outline
The Internet is Playing You
Easy Prey
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...
info_outline
The Psychology of Yes
Easy Prey
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...
info_outline
Drink Spiking
Easy Prey
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...
info_outline
Love, Lies and Locked Up
Easy Prey
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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,...
info_outlineWhen 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, Ivan’s work led him to the online scam industry and the cybercrime compounds that have spread across Southeast Asia. He is the co-author of Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds, and through the EOS Collective, he and his colleagues also help support people who have been trafficked into these operations.
I talk with Ivan about how small scam operations grew into large compounds, why COVID helped the industry expand, and how fake job offers are used to recruit people from around the world. We also talk about the blurred line between victim and criminal, the local economies that grow around these compounds, and what happens when people escape or are left stranded without money, documents, or a safe way home.
Show Notes:
- [01:27] Ivan Franceschini explains how his academic background in China studies and labor rights eventually led him to research scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
- [04:39] Early scam operations in Cambodia started as smaller setups in villas, apartments, and hotels before expanding into large, organized compounds.
- [07:53] COVID becomes a major turning point as isolation, financial desperation, and new technology help the online scam industry grow rapidly.
- [10:42] The industry expands beyond Chinese-speaking networks and begins recruiting people from many countries, including large numbers from Africa.
- [13:29] Criminal groups, businesspeople, local elites, and trafficking networks all play different roles in keeping the scam compound industry running.
- [15:50] Fake job offers are used to recruit people from abroad, with many victims believing they are traveling for legitimate work in customer service, teaching, sales, or other fields.
- [18:19] Recruiters use believable salaries and convincing explanations to lure people who may be desperate for work or unfamiliar with the region.
- [21:43] Many trafficked workers are not highly trained scammers, but poor or vulnerable people who are taught scripts, given tools, and assigned small parts of the scam process.
- [24:05] Language barriers are no longer a major obstacle because scammers can use translation tools, AI tools, and backstories that make mistakes seem believable.
- [26:40] Scam compounds become embedded in local economies through guards, cleaners, restaurants, construction workers, delivery services, and other support jobs.
- [31:22] Getting out of a compound can involve paying a ransom, escaping physically, or risking a message to an embassy, family member, NGO, or government official.
- [33:40] Some trapped workers are able to ask for help online, but contacting authorities can also be dangerous if local police alert the compound operators.
- [35:17] Crackdowns in Cambodia have left many people stranded without money, valid visas, housing, or a safe way to return home.
- [37:27] Survivors released from compounds may end up sleeping on the street, begging for food, and trying to find help while facing fines and deportation barriers.
- [40:14] Survivor support often means meeting immediate needs such as food, basic medical care, and flights home for people who have nowhere else to turn.
- [41:29] Ivan explains that sanctions and enforcement need to consider the human beings inside the industry, not just the money and criminal networks behind it.
- [42:49] Survivors often have valuable information about trafficking networks, scam techniques, and specific operations, but that intelligence is lost when they are abandoned.
- [45:15] Verifying survivor stories requires interviews, embassy coordination, compound maps, cross-checking details, and recognizing that victim and criminal roles can overlap.
- [48:53] Ivan shares where people can find his book, Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds, and learn more about the EOS Collective’s work.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.