Stolen Podcast

Scams, cryptofraud, investment fraud, celebrity impersonation, romance baiting, sexploitation, crypto ATM fraud, job scams, toll scams, human trafficking... Stolen is a weekly podcast that uncovers the global rise of the transnational scam industry. Stolen investigates the global rise of digital crime — and the people caught in the crossfire. Join host Erin West — prosecutor, cybercrime investigator, global keynote speaker, and your guide into the dark corners of the internet. Hear from law enforcement, cyberfraud experts, and the survivors who’ve lived through the crimes. These are the voices behind the head

Stolen Podcast is a education podcast hosted by Erin West, with 69 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Erin West hosts Stolen Podcast, a education show with 69 episodes published.

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  Episode #66

  The Last Mile: Why Banks Alone Can't Stop Pig Butchering Investment Scams (Lenny Gusel)

  Aug 12, 202655 min

  Episode 66: Erin West invites 20-year fraud-fighting veteran Lenny Gusel of Feedzai — former Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Robinhood fraud leader — to talk about why banks are the last line of defense against pig butchering scams, not the first. They dig into behavioral biometrics, why financial institutions can't even share fraud data within their own organizations, and why the real fix isn't more regulation — it's getting people to actually share information. Get the episode notes and watch the video. Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.

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  Episode #65

  Scam Victim Traces $700,000 to 2 Scammers in China (Don)

  Aug 5, 202632 min

  Episode 65: Don was a retired engineer building his dream home when a Facebook "friend of a friend" request turned into a years-long journey into the world of investment scams. In this episode of Stolen, host Erin West and Don trace how a slow-building pig butchering scam that began in late 2021 cost him $700,000 — and how he ended up doing the investigative work law enforcement couldn't, or wouldn't. Don walks through the grooming process, the moment a single click handed scammers full access to his crypto wallet, and how he chased his stolen money through Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and Gemini. He and Erin dig into what happened next: Don obtained records identifying two Chinese nationals — then spent years trying to get the US Secret Service and police in China, Singapore, and Laos to act on the evidence he'd gathered. Erin also reflects on what Don's case — and others like it — reveal about a fraud crisis and the challenges of law enforcement as it continues to grow. Episode notes and video: https://operationshamrock.org/podcast/stolen -- Episode Sponsors Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, ‪ BioCatch and Scamnetic .‬ --- Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.

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  Episode #64

  His Mom Was Told Her Daughter Was Kidnapped (Patrick Coughlin)

  Jul 29, 202650 min

  When Patrick Coughlin's mother Beth got a call telling her that her daughter had been kidnapped and would be killed unless she paid up, it wasn't real — but it was terrifyingly convincing. In this episode of Stolen, host Erin West sits down with Patrick, a former national security and cybersecurity expert, to unpack how that "grandparent scam" changed the course of his career. Patrick walks through the moment-by-moment terror of the scam call, why AI-powered voice cloning is making these attacks more personal and harder to detect, and what he learned mapping out the criminal ecosystems behind them. He and Erin dig into the structural failures enabling fraud at scale — under-resourced law enforcement, telecom systems built to connect calls (not verify them), payment rails that make stolen money nearly impossible to trace, and social media platforms with little incentive to intervene. Patrick's response wasn't just to write about it — his book, Dark Side of the Boom: How Scammers Hijack the AI Revolution, breaks down the "five families of fraud." He also co-founded Savvy Security, building consumer tools like Scamwise (a free scam-checking tool) and an in-call AI assistant that gives people a second opinion during a live phone call. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 02:33 – Patrick's background in counterterrorism and cybersecurity 03:35 – The call: his mom, Beth, receives a fake kidnapping scam 08:01 – Where these scams are coming from 09:03 – The "five families of fraud" by region 11:08 – Why Patrick decided to write the book 14:13 – How the money moves — payment rails and crypto 15:26 – Why telecoms can't verify calls, only connect them 17:09 – Chasing ghosts: why law enforcement struggles to investigate 19:33 – Regulation vs. relationship-building across borders 20:34 – Why law enforcement is exponentially under-resourced 22:29 – Rethinking cybersecurity products for everyday families 25:26 – The mission behind Savvy Security 28:03 – Why we don't talk about this the right way 28:34 – A national security issue, not just a consumer one 33:14 – Social media's business incentives (and the Reuters/Meta story) 35:15 – Inside Patrick's product: Scamwise and Savvy Security 40:36 – Where to find the book and the app 41:15 – Looking ahead: the "deepfake decade" 44:53 – Final thoughts: what real progress would look like Try the free tool: scamwise.com Download the app: Savvy Security (Apple App Store & Google Play) Get the book: Dark Side of the Boom: How Scammers Hijack the AI Revolution — available on Amazon and Bookshop.org Prefer to watch? Find Stolen on YouTube. Episode notes: https://operationshamrock.org/podcast/stolen Episode Sponsors Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, Biocatch and Scamnetic https://www.biocatch.com/ https://scamnetic.com/ Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.

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  Episode #63

  We Went to Nigeria to Hunt Sextortion Scammers (Paul Raffile)

  Jul 22, 202656 min

  Erin and researcher Paul Raffile spent six days on the ground investigating the criminal network behind sextortion, a scam that has been linked to over 60 teen suicides worldwide. What they found: a Yahoo Plus voodoo ritual performed to "charm" a real US target, a room full of masked scammers who freely discussed their tactics, and — after days of OSINT work — a real scammer they tracked down and confronted directly. This episode is the debrief: the investigation, the fear, the breakthroughs, and what it actually takes to hold these criminals accountable from 6,000 miles away. If you or someone you know is being sextorted: don't pay, screenshot everything, block the account, and report it to NCMEC's CyberTipline and IC3.gov. Use Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org) to help prevent images from circulating. This episode discusses sextortion and teen suicide. If you're struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text. Episode Sponsors Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, ‪BioCatch and Scamnetic.‬ https://www.biocatch.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=stolen-q425 https://scamnetic.com/partner/?utm_source=stolen&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q4 --- Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.

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  Episode #62

  From Blueprint to Action: Turning a Scam Prevention Strategy Into Policy (Kate Griffin)

  Jul 15, 202646 min

  In this episode, host Erin West sits down with Kate Griffin of the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program to unpack how she brought together 80 organizations — from banks to tech companies to nonprofits — to build the first-ever national blueprint for fighting scams. Kate walks through how the project came together, the four key focus areas the task force identified (data sharing, law enforcement collaboration, consumer awareness, and measuring the problem), and why getting competitors and cross-sector players to agree on anything is harder than it sounds. She also shares what's next: Aspen's new Scam Prevention Initiative, aimed at turning that 70-page strategy into real, actionable change — including work already underway with Congress, where dozens of bipartisan bills have been introduced this session alone. This conversation offers a rare look behind the scenes at the slow, often invisible work of building consensus on one of the biggest financial crimes of our time. Episode notes: https://operationshamrock.org/podcast/stolen Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, ‪BioCatch and Scamnetic.‬ https://www.biocatch.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=stolen-q425 https://scamnetic.com/partner/?utm_source=stolen&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q4 --- Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.

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