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? Join investigative journalist Vicky Baker as she explores the human side of fraud, uncovering the stories, tactics, and decisions behind today's most
“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 context, and fraudsters know exactly how to exploit all three. Welcome to the new season of What the Fraud, and to our brand-new host, investigative journalist Vicky Baker. This season, we're looking at the personal side of fraud: the human moments behind the headline numbers. Our special guests this week are Nick Harris, Head of Financial Crime, and Iain Orpen, Head of Fraud…
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 others, the psychology behind manipulation, and the moments when a lie becomes believable. In season six, What The Fraud? looks beyond the technology and headline figures to explore the personal side of fraud. Why do we trust someone who is trying to steal from us? What makes any of us vulnerable? And what would it take to stop the crime before the money moves? The new season of…
“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 this special episode of What the Fraud?, recorded live at Seamless Africa in Johannesburg, Chantal Lamprecht from Sumsub sits down with leaders across telecoms, mobile money, and digital banking to unpack how fraud actually works on the ground in Africa, and what it will take for the industry to stay ahead. Our guests include: Kgabo Seopa (Managing Executive: Products &…
"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 alongside it. In this special episode of What The Fraud? , recorded live at Seamless Africa in Johannesburg, Chantal Lamprecht from Sumsub sits down with leaders across crypto, legal, and iGaming to unpack how fraud actually works on the ground in Africa, and what it will take for the industry to stay ahead. Our guests include: John Jacobs (Head of Financial Crime, VALR) on why crypto…
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 decentralization ever become trusted infrastructure? In this episode of What The Fraud, Tom sits down with the hosts of Crypto in America: Eleanor Terrett, Jacquelyn Melinek, and Gerald Gallagher, for a special crossover episode closing out Season 5. Together they unpack the Genius Act and Clarity Act and what they actually mean for stablecoins, market structure, and consumer…
"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 goes out, and by then, it's often too late to get it back. This week's guest is Apurva Shrivastava, Product Lead for Global Payments Product at Amazon. He breaks down why payout fraud is one of the most underestimated risks in the industry, and why "we caught it at onboarding" isn't enough on its own. We cover the three phases of cash-out fraud: Account farming, waiting for a…
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 1 focused on AI transformation at scale, this episode digs into invisible banking, digital identity, agentic commerce, and the regulatory frameworks needed to make cross-border payments work safely. Direct from the Sumsub booth, Thomas Taraniuk, Head of Partnerships at Sumsub, speaks with leaders from across the financial services ecosystem about what trust looks like when…
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 deploy AI at scale, build trust with users, fight increasingly sophisticated fraud, and keep growing without getting left behind? Direct from the Sumsub booth, Thomas Taraniuk, Head of Partnerships at Sumsub, speaks with leaders from across the financial services ecosystem about the forces reshaping the industry: from agentic AI and stablecoins to merchant fraud blind spots…
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 explore how fraudsters gain access to trusted accounts, why account takeovers are becoming harder to detect, and how businesses can respond. From behavioural monitoring and AI-driven scams to the balance between security and customer experience, they discuss the warning signs, emerging threats, and practical steps organisations can take to stay ahead. Whether you're working in…
“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. Institutions are no longer just exploring blockchain… they are actively rebuilding how money is moved, secured, and governed. In part 2 of this special episode of What the Fraud? , Anastasia Shvechkova, Sales Director Americas at Sumsub, sits down for conversations with leaders from across the industry at the Sumsub booth at Consensus Miami, exploring how this transformation is…
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 conversation focuses on what it takes to scale digital assets safely in the real world. Direct from the Sumsub booth at Consensus Miami, Anastasia Shvechkova, Sales Director Americas at Sumsub, speaks with experts from across the ecosystem about the challenges shaping the next phase of digital finance, from compliance and payments to trust, scale, and user adoption. Our guests…
“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, it’s one of the largest betting events on the planet. And where volume, velocity, and global participation collide, fraud doesn’t just appear… it accelerates. Our guest this week is Ludovico Calvi, Honorary President of ULIS, United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports. With decades of experience across betting operations and international integrity networks, Ludovico shares how fraud…
“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 attacks. But one of the fastest-growing threats now comes from inside the perimeter: legitimate customers exploiting refunds, disputes, chargebacks, subscriptions, and reimbursement systems for personal gain. Our special guest this week is Richard Bromley, Head of Fraud and Disputes Risk at Monzo Bank. Drawing on years of experience at the sharp end of fraud prevention, Richard…
“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 designed to stop them, exploiting workflows, reverse engineering systems, and operating at machine speed. In this episode, we explore how fraud has shifted from human deception to system manipulation, and why traditional defences are struggling to keep up. Our special guest this week is Maikel Ninaber, Head of Risk and Resilience for EMEA at Mastercard. Drawing on his experience…
"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 millions of people. But as they gain access to our accounts, finances, and personal data, a new question emerges: how do you tell a legitimate agent from a hijacked one? Our guest this week is Mick Amelishko, AI advocate and Senior Engineering Manager at Sumsub, who lives at the intersection of AI development and fraud risk every single day. Mick breaks down what AI agents…
“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, these identities can pass onboarding checks, behave like legitimate users for months or even years, and then suddenly “bust out”, leaving businesses with significant losses. Our special guest this week is Steve Lenderman. Drawing on decades of experience investigating fraud, Steve shares how synthetic identities are created, how they evolve over time, and why this threat has…
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 Fraud? series on the widening global fraud landscape in iGaming. Kris Galloway, iGaming Product Evangelist at Sumsub, took over hosting duties and he was joined by: Daniel Xavier, COO, BetMGM Brazil Andrew Wright, Managing Director UK & Ireland, LeoVegas Group Adrianna Samuels, Vice President - Senior Client Partner | Gaming, Globant Torben Friis, Manging Director - Global Head of…
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 across borders. This is Part 1 of 2 special episodes of the What The Fraud? podcast, recorded live at ICE Barcelona. Guest host Kris Galloway, iGaming Product Evangelist speaks with Olabimpe Akingba, Head of Responsible Gaming at pawaTech, Ludovico Calvi, Honorary Presidentof United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports, and Sarah Gardner, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at UK…
"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, deepfakes and quantum computing are making it impossible to tell what's real anymore? Our guest in this episode is Alex Wood, counter fraud expert, international keynote speaker, part of the BBC Radio 4 Scam Secrets team and, in a former life, a prolific fraudster who spent 20 years defrauding victims of millions before serving three prison sentences and turning his life…
"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 beat our defences are in." The fraud landscape is undergoing a complete transformation. Whilst overall fraud attempts have dropped by 50%, the attacks that do occur are nearly three times more sophisticated than last year. We're witnessing the rise of coordinated, AI-powered professional operations that combine multiple attack vectors simultaneously. Our guest is Artem Popov,…
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, criminals are exploiting the gaps between them at an industrial scale. This is part two of two special episodes recorded live at the WTF? Summit in Singapore. Host Thomas Taraniuk sits down with T Raja Kumar, former president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Holly Fang from the Singapore FinTech Association, and Pasi Koistinen, CISO at Coinhako, to discuss what happens when…
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 launder proceeds through mule networks faster than banks can respond, APAC is becoming ground zero for a new kind of financial warfare. Recorded live at the WTF? Summit in Singapore, this is part one of two special episodes bringing together frontline defenders. Host Thomas Taraniuk sits down with Hassan Ahmed from Coinbase Singapore, Karthik Ramanathan from Mastercard, and Caryn…
"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 your doorstep." We think of fraudsters as criminals behind laptops, draining accounts without conscience. But what about that free lunch you claimed on your delivery app or the refund you knew wasn't deserved? Could you be part of the problem too? As the on-demand delivery industry explodes, it's creating new opportunities not just for convenience, but for fraud at every…
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 Shvechkova, sits down with five operators who are scaling trust without slowing growth. Recorded live at Money20/20 USA, this episode brings insight from leaders at Standard Chartered, Ebanx, ACAMS, Adyen, and Nubank. We dive into the modernization of dollar infrastructure, tackling fraud in emerging markets, evolving AML standards, breaking down data silos, navigating Web3 compliance,…
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 of What the Fraud? , Sumsub’s Sales Director, Americas, Anastasia Shvechkova, steps in as host to pull highlights from the show floor, in partnership with the C-Suite podcast team. This special episode brings together leading voices from Gusto, Bluevine, MoneyGram, and Worldpay for Platforms. They discuss how AI is reshaping fraud, why trust is becoming the new competitive…
“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 sophisticated and AI gives fraudsters new tools, crypto platforms are under increasing pressure to protect users and preserve trust. In this episode, we unpack how fraud is evolving across the crypto space, what collaboration looks like between exchanges and law enforcement, and why education is still the strongest defence. Our guest in this episode is John Kothanek, Vice President for…
“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 “crime-as-a-service” are reshaping the fraud landscape, and why awareness and collaboration are our strongest defences. Our special guests this week are Jessie Apple, Group Head of FinCrime Compliance & Risk and UK MLRO at Wise, Co-Chair, ACAMS UK Chapter and Aaron Wilson, Product Leader, Fraud & Victim Prevention at Wise, who share how the company partners with law enforcement,…
"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 grows more sophisticated, financial institutions are turning to agentic AI: systems that don’t just analyse data, but act on it to detect and prevent fraudulent activity at scale. In this episode, we explore how these AI agents are reshaping compliance and fraud prevention, and what that means for human oversight and operational efficiency. Our special guest this week is Will…
“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, the need to earn and protect trust has never been greater. In this episode, we dive into why trust is at the centre of digital identity, how businesses can build it, and what happens when it breaks. Our special guests this week are Eddie Moxon-Garcia, Product Marketing Lead at Sumsub, and Nikolai Suhharnikov, Head of Technical Presales at Sumsub. Together they share insights from…
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 the people in the know - the experts, the insiders, the ones on the front line, to unpack the big questions, cut through the noise, and make sense of the biggest issues in digital fraud. Don't want to miss an episode? Follow the show now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
About What The Fraud?
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? Join investigative journalist Vicky Baker as she explores the human side of fraud, uncovering the stories, tactics, and decisions behind today's most
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