Libsyn Directory

When Trust Becomes a Trap

Release Date: 07/22/2026

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...

The Recruitment Trap

Easy Prey

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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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Confessions of a Fraudster

Easy Prey

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More Episodes

Sherrod DeGrippo leads threat intelligence for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, where she oversees teams working to identify and respond to increasingly complex cyber threats. During more than two decades in information security, she has held senior leadership roles at Microsoft and Proofpoint, along with positions at Nexum, Symantec, Secureworks, and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Sherrod was named Cyber Security Woman of the Year in 2022 and regularly shares her expertise at industry conferences and through outlets including BBC News, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The New York Times. She is also the author of *Threat Driven Software Development: Defending Modern Online Services*.

We discuss how outdated home routers become tools for criminal and nation-state attacks, what could happen as technical knowledge disappears, and why foundational internet systems may be more vulnerable than people realize. Sherrod also explains why the greatest danger from AI may not be a dramatic technological disaster, but the gradual loss of human connection as people choose frictionless answers over real conversations. Along the way, she shares practical examples of where AI genuinely helps, where its limits become obvious, and why slowing down still matters when emotion or urgency begins driving a decision.

Show Notes:

[01:48] Sherrod introduces herself and traces her 23-year career from government network security to threat intelligence.
[03:00] An early lesson in buffer overflows sparked a lasting interest in both hacking and protecting systems.
[05:10] Growing up around AT&T gave Sherrod firsthand experience with telephone networks, copper lines, and beige boxing.
[08:17] Technology has shifted from something people opened and explored into consumer devices few people truly understand.
[11:24] As technical knowledge disappears, the people who understand how systems actually work are becoming increasingly rare.
[13:41] Older internet users often understood where their data traveled, while today’s devices constantly communicate in the background.
[16:22] Network security remains critical because once malicious traffic reaches a device, the problem has already become much larger.
[17:57] Outdated home routers provide an attractive attack surface for criminals and foreign governments.
[20:12] The conversation turns to the fragility of DNS, internet protocols, and the systems supporting the global network.
[22:13] Chris shares his experience with denial-of-service attacks and seeing legitimate online services exploited by malware.
[25:48] Sherrod explains why AI’s greatest danger may be the gradual loss of human relationships rather than a dramatic physical threat.
[29:23] AI works well for tedious tasks, but human connection, creativity, and judgment should not be handed over so easily.
[31:35] Living intentionally means deciding what experiences matter instead of allowing technology or other outside forces to decide for us.
[34:10] Frictionless technology may leave people more vulnerable to scams by training them to expect immediate and effortless results.
[35:33] Social engineering uses modern tools, but manipulation, espionage, and theft have existed for thousands of years.
[38:14] AI may eliminate certain jobs while also giving people more time to focus on customers, relationships, and other human-centered work.
[40:44] A furnace repair shows how AI can guide basic troubleshooting and reduce the need for some professional diagnostic visits.
[43:08] AI can help someone become competent in many areas, but having access to it does not make anyone an expert.
[45:44] Used intentionally, AI can remove unwanted planning and create more opportunities for people to spend time together.
[47:18] Strong prompts, detailed skill files, and personalized instructions may become more valuable than traditional prompt engineering.
[49:10] A gift card scam demonstrates how fear and urgency can push someone to ignore repeated warnings from others.
[51:30] Sherrod advises pausing whenever a strong emotion begins driving an unusual financial or personal decision.

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