Podcasts · Technology · News

What The Fraud?

Sumsub

57 episodes

Why do smart people fall for scams? How do fraudsters earn our trust? And why do their tricks keep working, even when we know the warning signs?

More about the show

Join investigative journalist Vicky Baker as she explores the human side of fraud, uncovering the stories, tactics, and decisions behind today's most compelling scams.

From romance fraud and identity theft to AI-powered deception and online manipulation, What The Fraud?, a podcast by Sumsub, brings together real-life stories and expert perspectives to understand how fraud works, why people fall victim, and what we can do to stop it.

Because fraud isn't just about technology or money. It's about people, trust, and the ways both can be exploited.

What The Fraud? — where digital fraudsters meet their match.

Don't want to miss an episode? Follow the show now.

CREDITS

From Sumsub and This Is Distorted

Presented by Vicky Baker

Produced by Faye Lyons-White, This Is Distorted

Editor – Dave Reilly, This Is Distorted

Executive Producer – Alex Jungius, This Is Distorted

Executive Producer – Mila Varavina, Sumsub

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. Is Anyone Too Smart to Be Scammed?

    · 42 min

    “Is anyone too smart to be scammed… or are we all just one bad moment away?” We all like to think we'd spot a scam a mile off. But vulnerability has far less to do with intelligence than with timing, emotion, and…

  2. Season 6 of What The Fraud?

    · 0:53 · Trailer

    Meet Vicky Baker, the new host of What The Fraud? from Sumsub. An investigative journalist specialising in fraudsters and con artists, Vicky is fascinated by the stories beneath the scams. The trust people place in…

  3. Building Trust in Africa’s Digital Economy

    · 48 min

    “Customers don't choose between security and convenience. They expect both." Africa's payments, banking, and digital commerce ecosystem is expanding at extraordinary speed, and fraud is scaling right alongside it. In…

  4. The New Front Lines of Financial Crime in Africa

    · 44 min

    "The fraudsters have the same AI tools we do. The difference is who uses them faster." Africa's payments, banking, and digital commerce ecosystem is expanding at extraordinary speed, and fraud is scaling right…

  5. Bury the Blockchain: Crypto's Fight for Trust

    · 50 min

    Cryptocurrency didn't invent financial fraud, but it changed how money moves and how criminals exploit it. Now, with new US legislation on the table, the industry faces a bigger question: can a system built on…

  6. Cash Out: Fraud's Final Act

    · 51 min

    "What happens when the moment of truth isn't onboarding - it's the moment the money moves?" Businesses pour resources into KYC, fraud modelling, and onboarding checks. But fraud doesn't really happen until the money…

  7. Designing for Trust in the Age of Agents — Money20/20 Europe

    · 54 min

    For Part 2 of our special coverage from Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, we continue the conversation on AI, trust, and fraud with a fresh set of leaders from across digital banking, payments, and regulation. Where Part…

  8. Adapt or Fall Behind - AI & Fraud Insights from Money20/20 Europe

    · 33 min

    Recorded live on the floor of Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, this special episode of What the Fraud? brings together some of the sharpest minds in fintech to tackle the questions that matter most right now: how do you…

  9. Account Takeover: When Trust Gets Hijacked

    · 43 min

    Account takeovers have become one of the biggest challenges in fraud prevention. In this episode of What The Fraud, Tom is joined by Suz Lynch, Head of Financial Crime, and Paul Marsden, Head of Risk at Monavate, to…

  10. Building Crypto Infrastructure — Insights from Consensus Miami

    · 31 min

    “What does it really take to move digital assets from hype to institutional infrastructure?” At Consensus Miami 2026, one theme stood out clearly: digital finance is moving from experimentation to infrastructure.…

  11. Scaling Trust in Crypto — Insights from Consensus Miami

    · 33 min

    In Part 1 of our What the Fraud? special from Consensus Miami 2026, we explore how crypto is moving beyond early adoption and into mainstream finance. From regulation and compliance to payments and user growth, the…

  12. Fraud at the World Cup: When Volume Turns into Vulnerability

    · 53 min

    “What happens when the world’s biggest sporting event becomes the perfect environment for fraud to scale?” World Cup Betting KYC: https://sumsub.link/21f The World Cup isn’t just a global celebration of football,…

  13. Gaming the System: The Rise of First Party Fraud

    · 49 min

    “What happens when the fraudster isn’t a stranger… but your own customer?” Fraud Prevention Course: https://sumsub.link/2qi Businesses spend millions verifying identities, onboarding users, and preventing external…

  14. When Systems Become the Target: The New Era of Fraud

    · 46 min

    “Fraud is no longer about convincing a human… it’s about feeding a system.” Fraud is evolving fast. No longer limited to fake documents or stolen identities, today’s attackers are targeting the very infrastructure…

  15. Know Your Agent: The New Frontier of Fraud Prevention

    · 50 min

    "What happens when an attacker gains control of your AI agent and the outside world believes everything it does... is you?" AI agents are already booking travel, managing calendars, and handling day-to-day tasks for…

  16. Synthetic Identities: When Data Becomes a Persona

    · 43 min

    “What happens when a fraudster doesn’t steal an identity… but builds one from scratch?” Synthetic identities are one of the fastest-growing threats in financial crime. Built from fragments of real and fabricated data,…

  17. iGaming Fraud Insights – ICE Barcelona Part 2

    · 40 min

    Fraud in iGaming is shaping how operators grow, how regulators respond, and where investors place bets. Recorded live at ICE Barcelona in partnership with the C-Suite Podcast, this is Part 2 of our special What The…

  18. iGaming Fraud Insights – ICE Barcelona Part 1

    · 39 min

    Unlicensed operators and AI-enabled fraud are scaling faster than most safeguards. Regulators, operators, and tech providers are being forced to rethink what “player protection” actually means, and how to enforce it…

  19. An Ex-Fraudster's Guide to Staying Safe

    · 46 min

    "We can't possibly think of victims as being stupid." We often think of fraud victims as gullible or careless. But what if the real story is about ruthless targeting by increasingly sophisticated criminals? What if AI,…

  20. Inside Sumsub's 2025 Identity Fraud Report

    · 50 min

    "Last year, only one in 10 fraud attempts were sophisticated enough to fool modern verification systems. This year, that number's nearly tripled. Amateur fraudsters are out and professionals who know exactly how to…

  21. APAC Fraud Insights: Singapore WTF? Summit - Part 2

    · 39 min

    The fraudsters have already figured out what most financial institutions haven't yet: silos don't work. While your fraud team, cyber team and compliance team operate independently with separate tools and data,…

  22. APAC Fraud Insights: Singapore WTF? Summit - Part 1

    · 34 min

    The financial crime battlefield is shifting. What used to be separate fights against fraud and money laundering has merged into one coordinated attack on the global financial system. As scammers drain accounts and…

  23. Glovo's Fraud Playbook: From Free Lunches to Money Laundering

    · 45 min

    "Fraud is a lot more popular today than it was 10 years ago simply because today you can advertise fraud on TikTok, Snapchat, whatever platform, and you can just have tutorials on how to gamify anything you want at…

  24. When Growth Meets Guardrails at Money20/20 Part 2

    · 37 min

    Fraud got faster. Your strategy has to be smarter. So what do leaders who rethink risk do to stay ahead? For part two of this special episode of What the Fraud?, Sumsub’s Sales Director, Americas, Anastasia…

  25. Fast Payments, Hard Trust: AI and Fraud at Money20/20 Part 1

    · 36 min

    Fast payments raise hard trust questions. Live from Money20/20 USA in Las Vegas, we sat down with leaders reshaping fraud, AML, and compliance, turning the AI hype into an operational reality. For this special episode…

  26. Inside Coinbase: Hunting Crypto Scammers

    · 48 min

    “When I get in my car every day to go somewhere, I put my seatbelt on… Same thing with being online. What we need people to do is before they turn that laptop on… make sure you’re safe.” As scams grow more…

  27. The Wise Approach to Fraud Prevention

    · 41 min

    “Fraudsters are preying on human emotion… and it clearly works.” Scams are becoming more personal, more emotional, and more sophisticated. In this episode, we explore how social engineering, investment scams, and…

  28. Agentic AI: Redefining Fraud Defence

    · 40 min

    "The main thing that agentic AI is going to be good at is pulling together data from multiple sources… metadata, images, device intelligence, and reconciling it to spot subtle fraud signs humans might miss.” As fraud…

  29. Fraud, Digital Identity, Trust. Where do we go from here?

    · 47 min · S4 E1

    “Trust may sound soft, but in practice it’s the hardest currency there is… and in a world of AI, bots, and fraud, trust can make or break a platform.” As AI grows more complex and cybercriminals more sophisticated,…

  30. Season 4 of What The Fraud?... Coming Soon

    · 0:38 · Trailer

    Season 4 of What The Fraud is coming this month. As AI gets more complex, and cyber-criminals keep finding new ways to exploit it, these conversations matter more than ever. Join host Thomas Taraniuk as he speaks to…

  31. Fraud on wheels: Fighting the Growing Threat of Mobility fraud

    · 37 min · S3 E9

    “You don't need to hack an Uber, you just need €200 and a Telegram account, and you can just buy the whole new profile.” The cars we drive and rent are now becoming a new frontier for cyber crime. From ghost drivers…

  32. The Business of Trust: Making security your competitive edge

    · 40 min · S3 E8

    “In the tech space, in the platform space, there are a ton of other disruptive brands out there. So if you're not keeping your customers safe, if you're not protecting their trust, there are other options for them to…

  33. Keeping Payments Safe at Scale – Money20/20 Special Part 2

    · 43 min · S3 E7

    In our second episode of What the Fraud?, recorded live at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, we dive into how leading fintech voices are tackling the growing challenge of sophisticated, borderless fraud. From embedding…

  34. Bank Leaders on AI, Fraud & Trust – Money 20/20 Special Part 1

    · 58 min · S3 E7

    In this special episode of What the Fraud?, recorded at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, we sit down with five senior leaders shaping the future of modern banking, payments, and risk. From AI-driven fraud to embedded…

  35. Pig Butchering: Inside the Billion-Dollar Scam Factories

    · 44 min · S3 E6

    “Imagine a campus with 35 buildings, but they are all for the purpose of scamming. It was a walled in, locked down facility where hundreds, thousands of people were in the business of scamming people all over the…

  36. Insider Fraud: The Enemy Within

    · 51 min · S3 E5

    “99% of employees are good employees - it’s the 1% that hurts” When we talk about the risk of fraud to a business, it doesn’t always come from hackers or outsiders - it often starts inside the building. Insider…

  37. Fraud Risks in Real-Time Payments

    · 31 min · S3 E4

    “I think from a prevention perspective, a little friction at the beginning is not necessarily a bad thing.” Real-time payments have become the bedrock of modern life. Whether you’re splitting dinner or closing a…

  38. $20 to Millions: Fraud’s True Cost

    · 49 min · S3 E3

    “If cybercrime were a country today, it would have the third largest economy on the planet.” Fraud is no longer just a crime - it has become a global business with software at its heart. With Fraud-as-a-Service…

  39. ID Future: Reusable, Secure, Real?

    · 50 min · S3 E2

    “Governments worldwide are recognizing that paper-based identification just doesn't cut it for a digital-first economy.” Nations across the world are racing to roll out digital identity systems, promising greater…

  40. Crypto Fraud 2025: How to Stay a Step Ahead

    · 41 min · S3 E1

    “You’ve got organized hacks, and it's getting harder and harder to know what you're clicking on, if that's real or not.” Crypto is at a tipping point, and while demand is growing, fraud is up 48%, regulations are…

  41. 2025 Fraud Trends: How Businesses and Consumers Can Fight Back

    · 39 min · S2 E8

    “Your intuition is designed to make you comfortable, not necessarily correct.” In this season finale of What The Fraud?, we’re looking ahead to the year that could define the future of fraud prevention. Sharing his…

  42. Fraud Fuelling Digital Inequality

    · 36 min · S2 E7

    "Why are we trying to change the 3% of people who stammer in the UK? Why aren’t we educating the 97% of people who don’t?” Fraud isn’t victimless — it’s a powerful engine for bias, hitting marginalised communities…

  43. Fraud in the Digital Age: Who’s Responsible?

    · 40 min · S2 E6

    "We don’t treat fraud as importantly as money laundering.” Who should be responsible for preventing and addressing fraud in the digital age? This is what Thomas is exploring today with Jessica Cath, Financial Crime…

  44. Identity Fraud 2024: Key Stats & Insights

    · 37 min · S2 E5

    “For an expense of about $1,000 per month, the damage that a fraudster can cause to businesses is upwards of $2.5 million.” In this special episode of What The Fraud?, Thomas is joined by Ilya Brovin, a growth…

  45. Uncovering the Latest Fraud Tactics in iGaming

    · 36 min · S2 E4

    “The AI model thinks that the user is going to commit fraud at one point. So, it’s mitigating fraud before it even happens, which sounds quite crazy to me.” In this episode of What The Fraud? Thomas is joined by Kris…

  46. Combating APP Fraud in Fintech

    · 31 min · S2 E3

    "You ultimately become a victim of your own success because you’re doing really well as a business but scrambling around trying to make sure your compliance can keep up.” In this fact-filled episode covering APP…

  47. Crypto Fraud: Protecting Yourself in 2024 and Beyond

    · 38 min · S2 E2

    “For those genuine bodies that are out there—work with us and try to get rid of your fear because we’ve got the same fears and we’re trying to stop them.” In this episode of What The Fraud? we dive into the evolving…

  48. Should Fraud Prevention Be Part of a Cybersecurity Strategy?

    · 37 min · S2 E1

    “I let them know... You messed with the wrong parent.” Welcome back to What The Fraud? In the first episode of series two, Thomas Taraniuk is joined by world-leading cyber threat intelligence analyst, Charity Wright.…

  49. Psychology of a Fraudster

    · 28 min · S1 E8

    “Many people barter their souls for the allure of booze, babes, and bucks!” In this final episode of What The Fraud? Tom and fraud expert Sophia Carlton get right to the root of the problem – what drives a person, or…

  50. Crypto Fraud

    · 30 min · S1 E7

    “The fact that we have seen organized crime move much more into this space... It's not just your individual doing something bad. This is big business.” In this season’s penultimate episode of What The Fraud?, host…

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