About this episode
A ruthless (and ruthlessly efficient) industry is using digital tools to supercharge one of the world’s oldest behaviors. We look at how the industry works, and ask the scam-fighters what they’re doing about it. SOURCES: Kati Daffan , former assistant director at the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Marketing Practices. Marti DeLiema , assistant professor of social work at the University of Minnesota. Mark Frank , professor of communications at the University at Buffalo. RESOURCES: " Cambodian Scam Tycoon Wanted by U.S. Extradited to China ," by Gabriele Steinhauser (Wall Street Journal, 2026). " The Rise and Fall Of Accused Cambodian Scam Kingpin Chen Zhi ," by Low De Wei (Bloomberg, 2026). " Protecting Older Consumers 2024-2025 ," by the Federal Trade Commission (2025). " Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show ," by Jeff Horwitz (Reuters, 2025). " Exposed to Scams: What Separates Victims from Non-victims? ," by Marti DeLiema, Emma Fletcher, Christine Kieffer, Gary Mottola, Rubens Pessanha, and Melissa Trumpower (Stanford Center on Longevity, 2019). " Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria? ," by Cormac Herley (Microsoft Research, 2016). Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2013). FTC Fraud Reporting Portal . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.