What happens when investigators follow a scam all the way to the people behind it?

In this episode of Scam Rangers, host Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock and former prosecutor, and cybercrime researcher Paul Raffile to hear the incredible story of their investigation into financial sextortion.

Erin and Paul created a decoy social media profile posing as a teenage boy and quickly became targets of a sextortion scam. They followed the digital trail, built a blueprint of the network, and traveled to Nigeria to find the people behind it.

There, they interviewed scammers, worked with local partners and law enforcement, explored the role of juju rituals in some scam operations, and ultimately confronted the suspected scammer they had tracked.

“We came here to find you. We’re two investigators.”

What they discovered raises bigger questions about how we fight scams. Detection and prevention matter , but what about deterrence and consequences? When the scammers themselves were asked what could stop more people from committing these crimes, their answer was striking: more arrests.

In this episode

 * Inside a real-world financial sextortion investigation
 * Following the trail from social media to Nigeria
 * Building a blueprint of the criminal network
 * What scammers revealed about how they operate
 * The role of juju rituals in some scam operations
 * Confronting the suspected scammer
 * Why deterrence and enforcement matter
 * What law enforcement and industry need to do differently

About the guests

Erin West is the founder of Operation Shamrock and a former Deputy District Attorney who spent 26 years prosecuting crime, including eight years investigating high-tech and cryptocurrency-enabled crime. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinnordbywest/

Paul Raffile is a cybercrime researcher specializing in transnational organized crime and financial sextortion, with a background in government intelligence, corporate intelligence and digital investigations. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffile/

About the host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI, the company behind ScamRanger. With more than 15 years in fraud prevention and cybersecurity, she is an Ambassador for the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and host of Scam Rangers, exploring how we can better protect people and fight scams. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

To learn more about RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/

Confronting the Yahoo Boys: A Blueprint for Fighting Back, A conversation with Erin West and Paul Raffile

What if one of the biggest reasons we’re struggling to fight scams is that we don’t fully understand the scale of the problem?

In this episode of Scam Rangers, Ayelet Biger-Levin welcomes back Ken Westbrook, founder of Stop Scams Alliance and former CIA analyst, to discuss why scams should be treated as a national security threat, and why doing that starts with better data.

Ken shares the story behind Stop Scams Alliance’s collaboration with Gallup and what the new research reveals about scam victimization in America. The findings paint a troubling picture: roughly one in four Americans report having been scammed, nearly three-quarters of victims say the experience negatively affected their mental health or well-being, and 98% of U.S. adults believe scams pose a threat.

The conversation goes beyond the numbers to explore what needs to happen next: the role financial institutions can play in scam intelligence and reporting, how technology and AI can strengthen defenses, the need for greater public-private collaboration, and what it would actually mean to treat scams as a national security priority.

In this episode:

 * Why traditional reporting doesn’t capture the true scale of scams
 * What the Gallup research reveals about victims and the impact of scams
 * Why financial institutions could play a larger role in scam intelligence
 * How AI is changing both scam attacks and defenses
 * Why stronger collaboration across government and industry is critical
 * Why we need consistent measurement to know whether we’re actually making progress

Link to the Gallup survey: https://www.gallup.com/analytics/711827/scams-in-america.aspx

About Ken Westbrook

Ken Westbrook is the founder of Stop Scams Alliance, a nonprofit bringing together stakeholders across the scam ecosystem to improve how the U.S. prevents and responds to scams. Before founding the organization, Ken spent 33 years at the CIA as an analyst — experience that now shapes his approach to understanding and combating scams as an organized, evolving threat.

Stop scams Alliance: https://www.stopscamsalliance.org/

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the founder and CEO of RangersAI and host of the Scam Rangers podcast. A fraud and cybersecurity expert with more than 20 years of experience, she has held leadership roles at companies including IBM, RSA Security and BioCatch.

Through Scam Rangers, Ayelet brings together experts from financial services, technology, behavioral science, law enforcement and policy to explore how scams work, why people fall victim, and what we can do to build greater scam resilience.

www.rangersai.com

Follow Ayelet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

You Can't Fight What You Don't Measure, A conversation with Ken Westbrook, Founder and CEO of Stop Scams Alliance

For years, the banking industry focused on one goal: reduce friction. Every extra interaction with a customer was viewed as something to avoid.

But scams have changed the rules.

When criminals manipulate customers into authorizing payments themselves, transaction monitoring alone can't tell the whole story. The missing piece is context—and the only person who has it is the customer.

In this episode, Ayelet sits down with Kate Pundik, Fraud Risk Management Program Manager at Valley Bank, and Juliana Bogotinoska, FVP and BSA Officer at Bankwell, to discuss why proactive customer engagement is becoming one of the most powerful tools in modern fraud prevention.

Together, they explore how banks are rethinking trust, why customer outreach is no longer viewed as unnecessary friction, and how partnering with customers can improve fraud detection, strengthen relationships, and prevent losses before money moves.

In this episode, you'll learn:

 * Why scams require a completely different fraud prevention strategy than traditional account takeover.
 * Why the customer often has the one piece of information banks cannot see: intent.
 * How customer outreach helps prevent account takeover, check fraud, scams, and money mule activity.
 * Why reaching out to customers is becoming a better customer service experience—not simply another security control.
 * How financial institutions are building trusted communication channels with customers.
 * Why fraud, AML, risk, technology, marketing, and customer-facing teams must work together to protect customers.
 * How AI is changing both scam tactics and the way banks must respond.
 * Why the future of fraud prevention is built on partnership, trust, and communication.

Key takeaway

The future of fraud prevention isn't simply about detecting suspicious transactions. It's about building trusted relationships with customers, giving them the confidence to make safer decisions, and creating a partnership where banks and customers work together to stop fraud before money moves.

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and the Stop Scams Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and industry leaders to advance a more human-centered approach to scam prevention.

Follow Ayelet on LinkedIn to continue the conversation and learn more about the work being done to build scam resilience.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

The Trust Layer: Why Banks Must Partner with Customers to Stop Scams

Most of us believe that if someone is being scammed, all they need is proof.

Show them the evidence. Point out the red flags. Explain the facts.

But what if that's not enough?

In this episode of Scam Rangers, I sit down with Ayleen Charlotte, survivor of the Tinder Swindler and founder of SAFE (Scam Awareness & Fraud Education), to explore what really happens when someone isunder the influence of a scammer and why breaking that manipulation requires much more than facts.

Ayleen shares her personal journey from victim to advocate, including the emotional aftermath of discovering that the relationship she believed in never existed. We discuss how scams reshape the way people think, why victims often defend the scammer, and what banks, investigators, frontline teams, and even family members need to understand if they truly want to help.

This conversation goes beyond one remarkable story. It challenges many of the assumptions we've made about scam prevention and highlights why understanding human psychology is just as important as understanding fraud.

What You'll Learn

 * Why scam victims can't always be convinced with facts alone.
 * How manipulation changes the way people think, process information, and make decisions.
 * The different stages of the "scam spell" and why interventions must adapt to each stage.
 * Why fraudsters intentionally position banks and loved ones as the enemy.
 * What organizations can do to become more victim-centered and trauma-informed.
 * How Ayleen transformed her lived experience into SAFE, a training platform helping financial institutions, law enforcement, and organizations better support scam victims.

Featured Guest

Ayleen Charlotte is an international speaker, fraud awareness advocate, and founder of SAFE (Scam Awareness & Fraud Education). Following her experience as one of the victims featured in The Tinder Swindler, she dedicated her career to helping organizations better understand the psychology of manipulation and improve how they support scam victims through victim-centered, trauma-informed education.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayleen-charlotte-09a338256/

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and the Stop Scams Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and industry leaders to advance a more human-centered approach to scam prevention.

Follow Ayelet on LinkedIn to continue the conversation and learn more about the work being done to build scam resilience.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

Why You Can't Break a Scam With Facts Alone, A conversation with Ayleen Charlotte, Founder S.A.F.E. 

What does the future of fraud prevention look like from the perspective of someone who has spent two decades helping scam victims?

In this episode of The Scam Rangers Podcast, Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Amanda Shute, Senior Risk Manager, External Fraud Oversight, whose career began on the front lines as a bank teller helping customers after devastating scams. That experience shaped her belief that fraud prevention isn't just about stopping transactions. It's about helping people navigate trust.

Together they explore how AI is changing the scam landscape, why traditional awareness campaigns often fail in emotionally charged moments, and what financial institutions can do to build customer resilience before a payment is ever made.

From relationship-building and victim advocacy to synthetic trust and real-time intervention, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on the human side of fraud prevention, and why trust may become the industry's most important security control.

In this episode you'll learn:

 * How Amanda's career on the teller line shaped her approach to fraud prevention
 * Why scam victims lose more than money. They lose trust
 * The role financial institutions can play in rebuilding customer confidence
 * What "synthetic trust" means in the age of AI-generated scams
 * The new warning signs of AI-driven social media fraud
 * Why awareness alone isn't enough once emotions take over
 * How banks can evolve from fraud recovery to customer resilience
 * Why collaboration across institutions is becoming essential
 * What the new FinCEN 314(b) clarification means for information sharing
 * Why every fraud professional should continuously learn from peers across the industry

Why this episode matters

Scams are no longer simply attacks on accounts—they're attacks on trust. As AI enables criminals to create increasingly convincing stories and identities, financial institutions face a new challenge: helping customers make better trust decisions before manipulation succeeds.

Amanda offers a practical roadmap for how fraud leaders can rethink prevention—not just through stronger controls, but by building trusted relationships, creating meaningful interventions, and putting the customer experience at the center of their strategy. You can learn more about her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandashute/

About the Host - Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/

People Act on Who They Trust, Not What They Know -  Amanda Shute on Customer Trust, AI Manipulation, and the Future of Fraud Prevention

What makes someone vulnerable to a scam?

Many people assume scams only happen to people who are uninformed, careless, or less tech-savvy. But what if the real attack surface isn't technology at all?

What if it's trust?

In this episode of Scam Rangers, Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Tracy Hall—author, advocate, and survivor of one of Australia's most notorious romance fraud cases. After losing her life savings to a professional con artist who spent eighteen months building trust and creating a false identity, Tracy transformed her experience into a mission to educate, advocate, and drive change.

Together, they explore how manipulation works, why intelligence alone doesn't protect us from scams, the dangers of victim-blaming, and what organizations, governments, and individuals can do to build scam resilience in an increasingly digital world.

This conversation goes beyond romance fraud. It's about the psychology of trust, the human side of scams, and why resilience, not fear, is one of our most powerful defenses.

In This Episode

 * How professional scammers build trust over time
 * Why scams are fundamentally about manipulation, not technology
 * The "long con" and how criminals create believable worlds
 * Why intelligent, successful people can become scam victims
 * The role of vulnerability, life transitions, and emotional context
 * Tracy's journey from victim to advocate
 * The impact of victim-blaming on reporting and recovery
 * The importance of lived experience in shaping scam prevention strategies
 * How organizations can improve scam awareness and education
 * Why trust has become the new attack surface

About Tracy Hall

Tracy Hall is an author, speaker, scam awareness advocate, and survivor of one of Australia's most high-profile romance fraud cases. Following the publication of her book, The Last Victim, Tracy has become a leading voice in scam awareness, victim advocacy, and consumer education, working with organizations, governments, and communities around the world to improve understanding of scams and fraud.

Key Takeaway: Scams don't target intelligence. They target trust.

And in a world where trust has become the attack surface, awareness alone isn't enough—we need scam resilience.

Resources

 * Learn more about Tracy Hall and The Last Victim: https://a.co/d/08gE6hm4
 * Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyhall1975/

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/



When Trust Becomes the Attack Surface: Building Scam Resilience in a World of Manipulation, a conversation with Tracy Hall

In this episode of Scam Rangers, host Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Charles E. Wallace Jr., author of The Caregiver's Game: The Caregiver's Game: Unraveling Financial Deceit in the Shadows of Dementia. Charles turned into a fraud investigator after his mother fell victim to financial elder abuse. Together, they pull back the curtain on the subtle, malicious ecosystem of caregiver grooming, which drained hundreds of thousands of dollars right under the noses of family members and financial fiduciaries.

Charles discusses the "paradox of modern banking", how digital transaction networks fail to capture age-based vulnerabilities or notice when an elderly person's life savings are systematically bled dry through discount retail stores and unauthorized credit accounts. From the devastating isolation tactics used to separate his mother from her family to discovering a trail of prior victims left by the very predator hired to protect her, Charles explains why the financial industry must shift away from administrative silos and move toward behavioral, real-time transaction monitoring.

We also explore the gaps in standard Adult Protective Services investigations and why Charles believes banks need to give families better collaborative dashboard tools to monitor and protect generational wealth before it’s too late.

A link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Caregivers-Game-Unraveling-Financial-Dementia/dp/B0G322349C

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/

The Predator Next Door: Unmasking the Invisible Threat of Eldercare Fraud, A conversation with  Charles E. Wallace Jr., author of The Caregiver's Game

In this episode of Scam Rangers, Ayelet sits down with fraud researcher and professor David Maimon to unpack some of the most alarming scam trends emerging today,  from abandoned identity fraud and synthetic identities to AI-powered romance and investment scams.

They discuss how criminals are targeting former immigrants, children, and deceased individuals whose identities are no longer actively monitored, and how those identities are being sold and exploited for loans, bank accounts, and fraud rings.

The conversation also dives into a disturbing evolution in romance and investment scams: criminals are no longer just stealing victims’ savings, they are strategically targeting people with strong credit profiles and home equity to maximize returns through HELOC fraud and investment manipulation.

Finally, Ayelet and David explore how AI is beginning to automate scam operations at scale, including experiments with conversational AI agents capable of running fully automated “pig butchering” investment scams.

Key Topics Covered

 * Abandoned identities and identity reuse fraud
 * Synthetic identity marketplaces on Telegram
 * Romance scams evolving into large-scale financial exploitation
 * HELOC targeting and victim profiling
 * AI-powered scam conversations and agentic AI
 * DeepSeek guardrail concerns
 * The future of fraud prevention and scam mitigation

About the Guest

David Maimon is a cybercrime researcher focused on fraud ecosystems, financial crime, identity fraud, and online scam operations. His work explores how criminals operate across Telegram, darknet forums, and emerging AI systems to scale fraud operations. David is a Professor at Georgia State University and Head of Fraud Insights at SentiLink

Listen now and stay ahead of the latest scam tactics shaping the future of fraud.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maimon-29343632/

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/



Powered by AI, Targeting Money We Don’t Yet Have: The New Scam Playbook, A conversation with David Maimon, Professor at Georgia State University 

In this episode, Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Jamie Simmons to explore how scams have evolved from traditional fraud into a global, AI-driven threat rooted in human psychology.

From his early days as a park ranger to leading fraud prevention at Capital One, Jamie shares why fighting scams today requires a shift toward prevention before manipulation happens and not just stopping payments after the fact.

🔑 Key Takeaways

 * Scams are not just fraud—they’re social engineering at scale
 * Impact spans all age groups and all financial products
 * The real opportunity is moving “left of boom”—before money moves
 * Stopping scams requires collaboration across banks, telecom, and tech
 * Data sharing is essential—but still limited by policy
 * Treating people as victims (not mistakes) is critical to progress

💡 Standout Insight: “We’re not going to win by just stopping payments. That’s too late.”

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder of RangersAI and host of Scam Rangers, where she brings together leaders across industries to tackle the human side of scams—combining fraud expertise, psychology, and real-world prevention strategies.

🔗 Resources

 * Global Anti-Scam Alliance https://gasa.org/
 * National Elder Fraud Coordination Center - https://www.fightelderfraud.org/

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/

From Forest Ranger to Scam Ranger: Building a National Security Approach to Scam Prevention, A conversation with Jamie Simmons, Head of Fraud Prevention, Investigations and  Riak Management at Capita lOne

Scams don’t start with transactions. They start with trust.

In this episode of ScamRangers, Ayelet Biger-Levin sits down with Amy Nofziger, Senior Director of Fraud Victim Support at the AARP Fraud Watch Network, to explore the human side of scams, and what’s changed over the past two decades.

Amy and her team receive ~450 calls a day from victims and concerned individuals. And what they’re seeing is clear:

The losses are bigger. The manipulation is deeper. And the emotional impact is often devastating.

This conversation dives into:

 * Why scams are fundamentally human problems, not just fraud problems
 * How criminals exploit trust, emotion, and purpose
 * The rise of long-term relationship scams and financial grooming
 * What victims actually need and why trauma-informed support matters
 * How awareness, reporting, and collaboration are finally starting to shift the tide

These are the most relevant and valuable links for this episode:

 * AARP Fraud Watch Network (main resource):
   https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/
 * Fraud Watch Network Helpline (call support):
   https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/helpline/
 * AARP BankSafe (for financial institutions):
   https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/banksafe/

🎙️ About the Guest

Amy Nofziger leads fraud victim support at AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, where she has spent over two decades helping individuals navigate the aftermath of scams. She oversees a national helpline, volunteers, and programs focused on education, prevention, and recovery.

📣 Call to Action

If you’re in a financial institution, fintech, or fraud prevention role, this episode will change how you think about scams.

👉 Share this episode with your team
👉 Start thinking earlier in the scam journey
👉 And help shift the industry toward prevention

About the Host

Ayelet Biger-Levin is the Founder and CEO of RangersAI and the host of Scam Rangers, a podcast exploring the human side of scams and the people working to protect consumers from financial and emotional harm.

Through her work at RangersAI and her leadership within the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Ayelet partners with financial institutions, policymakers, and advocates to elevate scam prevention beyond controls and technology toward trust-based, customer-centric protection.

Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn and reach out to learn about her additional activities in this space:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/

RangersAI: https://www.rangersai.com/

The Emotional Front Lines: Supporting Victims and Fighting Fraud with AARP, A conversation with Amy Nofziger, Senior Director of Fraud Victim Support at the AARP Fraud Watch Network

Scam Rangers - A podcast about the human side of fraud and the people who are on a mission to protect us. We will hear from activists, researchers, prosecutors, human trafficking experts and other adv

Scam Rangers · Zencastr

Scam Rangers

Scam Rangers - A podcast about the human side of fraud and the people who are on a mission to protect us. We will hear from activists, researchers, prosecutors, human trafficking experts and other advocates, telling the story of scams and scam victims from their perspectives. Most importantly - we can learn what we can do about it. If you are enjoying this show, subscribe, and follow me on LinkedIn for more information and news about online scams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin/