Easy Prey

Online dating has become more complicated than ever. Learning how to verify that the person you're talking to is actually the person in the dating profile can save you from heartbreak and financial loss. Today's guests are Kathy Waters and Bryan Denny. Kathy Waters is an expert advocate and an educator on the subject of online romance scams. Kathy is co-founder, along with retired Colonel Bryan De...

Every time you pay a bill, data is sent to a credit reporting agency. Errors can be made. It's important to know where to look to see if your credit information is correct, stolen, or purchased. Today's guest is Steve Baker. Steve is chairman of the Privacy Rights Institute. He is a lawyer and previously served as a leader at the FTC for over 27 years addressing consumer fraud in areas like telema...

Consumer Reports is known for the research and comparisons of products and services, but they also offer a free personalized security and privacy planner. Today's guest is Amira Dhalla. Amira is the Director of Impact Partnerships and Programs at Consumer Reports focusing on digital privacy and security. Amira works on projects that improve the cybersecurity and privacy products and tools on the m...

Criminals and trained to hone in on people who are vulnerable. Listen on to learn how you can protect the people you care about and what signs to look out for. Today's guest is Louise Baxter. Lou graduated with a law degree and worked for Sussex Trading Standards. She took over as the chair of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute's consumer power alliance and is the CTSI's lead officer of edu...

Once a data breach has taken place, your data can be sold and resold and resold again. It's important to know how to proactively protect your personal information. Today's guest is Kevin Roundy. Dr. Roundy received his Ph. D. from the University of Wisconsin where he developed tools by which malware can be analyzed both with detailed statistical analysis techniques and dynamic instrumentation. He...

Online predators can pretend to be anyone, any age, anywhere. We need to educate and empower our children to stay safe on their devices and not become victims. Today's guest is Titania Jordan. Titania is the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Parent Officer at Bark Technologies, an online safety company that helps keep kids safe online and in real life. Titania has contributed pieces to the Wall St...

Taking online quizzes can be fun and entertaining. Clicking on links in emails and DMs is just plain convenient. Unfortunately, both of these can put your identity at risk for theft. Today's guest is Patrick Glennon. Patrick has over 20 years of experience in banking and consumer identity protection with roles at companies including JP Morgan Chase, Core Logic, Arthur Anderson, and eBates. He has...

It is fascinating to see an investigation using dark web technology showing how criminal syndicates work and the process stolen equipment goes through. Today's guest is Anthony van der Meer. Anthony is a Dutch investigative journalist and filmmaker. As a filmmaker, he has been focusing on the dark side of the digital world since 2015. For his investigations, he dives deep into the world of cyber c...

We've all heard of dating scams, but realizing that most of them are part of larger criminal organizations working 24/7 to manipulate and defraud you can be a bit shocking. Today's guest is Jane Lee. Jane is a Trust and Safety Architect at Sift who specializes in malicious websites, spam, misinformation, account content abuse, and payment risk. Prior to joining Sift, she was on the fraud teams at...

Many believe that cybersecurity is for high tech professionals only. It's important to know that employees at every level can accidentally open the door to your network. Today's guest is Roy Zur. Roy is the founder and CEO of Thrive DX for Enterprise which is a global education company committed to transforming lives through digital skills training and solutions as well as addressing the human fac...

Talking to our aging parents about their finances can be a tough conversation. But there are ways to educate and protect our parents from being taken advantage of by scammers, charities, and other organizations without being seen as controlling or overstepping.  Today's guest is Cameron Huddleston. Cameron is an author, speaker, and award-winning financial journalist. She's the Director of Educati...

On this podcast, we talk a lot about identifying and avoiding online fraud. But in this episode, our guest is going to share his experiences tracking down the individuals, syndicates, and criminal organizations behind pet scams, how they utilize freelancers, and how they launder their ill gotten gains. Today's guest is Jack Whittaker. Jack is a Criminology PhD candidate with a specialization in pu...

Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, and other payment apps are convenient for sending money to family and friends. But are they really safe to be using? Today's guest is Michelle Couch-Friedman. Michelle is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is an experienced consumer reporter, advocate, mediator, author, and licensed psychotherapist. Michelle has also been a columnist, contributing editor, and former...

With financial payment platforms used more regularly to exchange cash between individuals, scammers have become more creative in using them to defraud users. Today's guest is John Breyault. John is the National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. As the director of Fraud.org, John is a nationally recognized expert in fraud, with more than 17 years of ex...

Predators look to take advantage of people during the roughest situations of life. A perpetrator of insurance fraud makes a career out of milking the system thinking it's a victimless crime. Today's guest is Officer Tony Royall. Officer Royall started in the Virginia Department of State Police in 1986. He worked in Accident Reproduction and then became an agent in Narcotics. Officer Royall has now...

The instinct to respond immediately to incorrect, negative, or hurtful comments online almost seems to be hardwired. How we respond can lead to unintended detrimental consequences and lead us down a dark path.  Today's guest is Dr. Robin Kowalski. Dr. Kowalski is a professor of Psychology at Clemson University. She obtained her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina Greensb...

Smishing texts have increased over 60% in just one year. With scammers spoofing caller ID, how can you trust any communication coming onto your phone? Today's guest is Giulia Porter. Giulia is the Vice President of RoboKiller, the app that eliminates 99% of spam calls. Since 2017, Giulia has been leading RoboKiller's vision to create a world without spam calls. And now more recently with spam text...

Can understanding someone's digital footprint really make it easier for it to predict what they'll be doing using AI? Today's guest is Daniel Hulme. Daniel has a PhD in Computational Complexity and works in the field of AI, applied technology, and ethics. He is the CEO and founder of Satalia, a Tedx speaker, and educator at Singularity University.  Show Notes: [0:50] - Daniel has already been inte...

Advertisements can manipulate us and depict a product that doesn't actually work. The challenge is knowing if the technology does what they say it does. Today's guest is Ken from Computer Clan. Ken, or commonly known as Crazy Ken, has been running the Computer Clan YouTube channel since September of 2007. He posts tech videos about rare and retro tech, new tech, and even has a series about scammy...

Working from home has increased the ability for cyber criminals to exploit companies. Listen on for how to be sure that the email you received isn't from someone impersonating someone else. Today's guest is Eric O'Neill. Eric is a security expert and author that presents keynotes internationally about espionage, national security, cyber security, fraud, corporate diligence and defense, and of cour...

The thought of your computer getting a virus implies something biological, but the fear of infection is real. Are there prevention techniques that you need to be implementing now? Today's guest is Ran Levi. Ran has been podcasting since 2007 and started with a podcast regarding history and technology. He is the co-founder of PI Media LTD, helping other people do podcasts. He is the editor and host...

Reusing passwords makes it easier for threat actors to gain access to your accounts. They may not actually be using it to take money. They may be impersonating you to scam others in your network. Today's guest is Joel Hollenbeck. Joel is a cyber security executive with over 25 years experience in multiple disciplines. He is the CTO at Check Point Software Technologies and leads a global team of cy...

All security is personal. It's important for each individual to understand the risk of predators so we can protect ourselves, our data, and our finances. Today's guest is Robert Siciliano. Robert is a security expert and private investigator, number 1 Amazon best-selling author of five books, and an architect of the CSI Protection Certification, a cyber-social identity and personal protection secu...

There's always risk when using technology, but your perception of the exposure will determine how active you are at minimizing the danger. Today's guest is Stephen Cobb. Stephen is a best-selling author and award winning technologist with over 30 years experience in digital security and data privacy. He has authored more than a dozen textbooks on PC and LAN security as well as software usage. As a...

Corporate spies are regularly hired by competitors to help poach employees with the best ideas. Listen on to know if it is happening at your company and how to prevent it. Robert Kerbeck is the founder of Malibu Writers Circle and his essays have been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers including Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times Magazine with one story ad...