Inside the $16B scam industry (REPRISE)

Today we’re bringing you one of our favorite shows of 2025, all about scams and how to avoid them.

Three months ago, we sat down with Bob Sullivan, host of the AARP podcast The Perfect Scam, to learn about the 16 billion dollar scam industry. According to Sullivan, fraudsters are getting more creative and more technologically advanced – especially since the advent of artificial intelligence tools. No longer can you rely on misspelling to identify a fake text from Wells Fargo. All you can count on now is that flood of texts, calls, and messages on social media will keep coming. 

According to Eric O’Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence operative and author of Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime, law enforcement struggles to stem the flood of frauds given the technological sophistication and global nature of scam networks. Investigators say many of these operations come from overseas, particularly in large “scam farms” across Southeast Asia. Meaningful legislation addressing the epidemic of spam has stalled for similar reasons. 

It’s easy to dismiss scam victims as gullible or naive, but anecdotal evidence and financial data underscore just how easy it is to be taken in. So how can you avoid being taken for a ride? And why isn’t congress and law enforcement doing more to stop this flood of fraudsters?