Anatomy of a Scam

Australia faces an epidemic of scams, a daily barrage of dodgy texts, phone calls and emails from anonymous cyber criminals and con artists, domestic and abroad. Financial losses are doubling year on year but the true cost of scams amounts to more than lost dollars, with emotional damage inflicted on individuals, families and businesses. Law enforcement authorities concede we cannot arrest our way out of this problem; education is key. Understanding how scammers target us is the first step towards recognising a scam in the wild and taking the necessary steps to stop it in its tracks. Hosted by Deborah Knight, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Australia, a cyber breach is reported roughly every eight minutes. Often these attacks involve the theft of data prized by scammers: our private, personal information. As a result, scams are rising in frequency and sophistication, fuelled by stolen personal data, and tailored to the intended victim. Understanding how your data can be used against you might help you spot a scam in the wild…  Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Detective Superintendent Matt Craft - NSW Police Cybercrime Squad Commander Katherine Manstead - Director of Cyber Intelligence, CyberCX Troy Hunt - Microsoft VP and founder of HaveIBeenPwned.com   Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of the time we back ourselves to spot a real email from a fake one. But sometimes the signs of a scam are so well hidden, you don’t even think to check. It’s a lesson well learned by champion racehorse trainer Rob Heathcote. When he recently bought his wife a new car, he didn’t plan on buying it twice… Business Email Compromise, the biggest scam affecting Australian businesses. Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Champion racehorse trainer Rob Heathcote AFP Commander Cybercrime Operations Chris Goldsmid CyberCX executive director, digital forensics and incident response, Nick Klein CSIRO Data61 Principal Research Scientist, Dr Marthie Grobler  Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of the GFC, architect Tony Camilleri hoped to rebuild his battered retirement portfolio and was open to investment opportunities. And then his phone rang. A cold call. A confident pitch from a charming stock broker. The kind of call that embodies the adage ‘if it’s too good to be true, well…’ Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Tony Camilleri IFW Global Executive Chairman, Ken Gamble CommBank’s General Manager of Group Fraud, James Roberts NSW Police Force Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject.  Disclaimer: This podcast makes no suggestion that any investment organisation using the name Alexander Capital Management is not legitimate. This is a case where a scam operator appears to have falsely used a name that is similar to existing wealth management firms.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When journalist Jessica Ridley received a call from a man claiming to work for her bank’s fraud detection team, she was convinced help was at hand. The phone calls and SMS messages came from legitimate numbers, verified as belonging to her bank.  But “smart” phones are easily fooled, our trust freely exploited, looks can be deceiving, and in the digital age, the art of deception is alive and well… Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Jessica Ridley David Lacey - Managing Director, IDCARE  Jeremey Fenton - Executive Manager - Consumer, Consent and Numbers Branch, Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Assistant Commissioner Chris Goldsmid - AFP Cyber Operations Commander Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you are hit with a ransom attack, should you pay the ransom?  The short answer is “No”, but the longer answer is “it’s a little more complicated than that…” Warwick Levy runs the independent fashion brand Lonely Kids Club, and when hackers hijacked the brand’s Instagram account, they also took control of its key e-commerce channel. Warwick was told he can have it back “if he did this one thing…” but the ransom demanded was a textbook case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t… Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Warwick Levy - Lonely Kids Club Assistant Commissioner Chris Goldsmid - AFP Cyber Operations Commander Nick Klein - Executive Director - Digital Forensics & Incident Response - CyberCX David Lacey - Managing Director, IDCARE  Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all had a problem solved on the end of a tech support line. So when Vicki receives a call claiming to be from one of the biggest companies in the world, of course she hands over control of her phone.  This ‘help’, however, turns out to be a hijacking. But it doesn't have to play out like this. There are ways to flip the script - to scam the scammers - and even to entertain millions while you do it…. Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Vicki Smith James Roberts - General Manager of Group Fraud Management Services at CommBank David Lacey - Managing Director, IDCARE  Assistant Commissioner Chris Goldsmid - AFP Cyber Operations Commander Kitboga Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After finding the love of her life online, Sharon Armstrong was sure she was headed for her ‘happily ever after.’ Instead, she spent two years in prison. She fell for the wrong guy, believed the wrong stories… And uncovering the psychological tactics used against her, along with those used in many other scams, shows that nobody is immune.  Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: Sharon Armstrong Monica Whitty - Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security at Monash University David Lacey - Managing Director, IDCARE  Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When faced with an arsenal of scams aimed directly at us, we are also faced with one vital question:  How are we defending ourselves? It’s a question asked not just by individuals but by our most trusted institutions too. And between legislation, regulation, occupations and awareness campaigns, the good guys are chalking up wins by finding ways to fight back. Anatomy of a Scam is hosted by Deborah Knight and features: James Roberts - General Manager of Group Fraud Management Services at CommBank John Fogarty - Executive General Manager of Financial Crime Compliance at CommBank Assistant Commissioner Chris Goldsmid - AFP Cyber Operations Commander Detective Superintendent Matt Craft - NSW Police Cybercrime Squad Commander Jeremey Fenton - Executive Manager - Consumer, Consent and Numbers Branch, Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) David Lacey - Managing Director, IDCARE  Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud 24/7. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our fight against scams, we started to heed the warnings and spot the signs – the message was sinking in.  But then we woke up one day in the AI era and the traditional signs of a scam are more scam-ouflaged than ever before. It's hard to spot the signs if you can't trust that what you're seeing is real. In this new season of Anatomy of a Scam, hosts Deb Knight and Trevor Long examine how crooks have taken the traditional scam playbook and turbocharged it with AI, the powerful new technology redefining our digital lives. Note-perfect voice clones, eerily accurate deep fake videos, and dodgy emails written in perfect English: the art of deception is alive and well - and no longer human.  Anatomy of a Scam returns on Tuesday, November 28th. Hosted by Deborah Knight & Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen closely - can you pick the real voice from the AI clone? It's not that easy... As voice cloning technology advances the art of digital mimicry, it opens a Pandora's box of deception, transforming the sound of scams and fraud into an eerily convincing symphony of familiar voices. Featuring: Jennifer DeStefano Shameela Gonzales - Financial Services Sector Lead for CyberCX James Roberts - General Manager: Group Fraud Management Services at CommBank Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the age of AI, looks can be deceiving. Deepfake technology is increasingly being used to create sophisticated, hard-to-detect scams and frauds. So how can we unmask these digital deceptions before we get in too deep? Featuring: Richard 'Dickie' Wilkins - Nine's Entertainment Editor Adam Donnelley - leading Digital Strategist & AI expert Dr Kate Gould - Clinical Neuropsychology, Monash University & Founder of Cyberability Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online marketplaces give you easy access to what you want - but beware, they can also deliver more than you bargained for, whether you're buying or selling... Featuring: Ben - Buy-Sell scam & identity theft victim Heidi Snell - Executive General Manager, National Anti-Scam Centre - ACCC Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you encounter a scam, chances are it's a phishing scam - but what are the odds you'll fall for it? What variables factor into the outcome? And how does technology potentially stack the odds in favour of the scammer? Featuring: Nina Professor Ofir Turel - Professor Information Systems Management, University of Melbourne  Bec Warren - Executive General Manager, Small Business Banking, CommBank Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The desire for riches beyond our dreams can obscure even the most obvious signs of an investment scam, blinding us to the red flags and warnings. It goes some way to explaining why Australians lose more money to dodgy investments than any other type of scam. In this episode, learn to open your eyes, spot the signs, and beware of false profits. Featuring: Joe - investment scam victim Ken Gamble - Executive Chairman of IFW Global Kirsty Dunn - Director of Communications, Tinder Australia Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the age of AI, scammers are now equipped with a new arsenal for exploitation - and we need similarly new defences to match. This raises a pressing question: Are we caught in a relentless, technological arms race against scams? Or is the most effective tool for fighting scams an organic one?  Featuring: Kevin Gosschalk - Founder and CEO, Arkose Labs Professor Dali Kaafar - Executive Director of the Cyber Security Hub, School of Computing, Macquarie University Victor Dominello - Co-Founder ServiceGen, former NSW Digital Government Minister Brendan Goode - Chief Security Officer, Commonwealth Bank Hosted by Deb Knight and Trevor Long, Anatomy of a Scam is made in collaboration with CommBank. Stay CommBank Safe with services that help protect you from scams and fraud. Remember 3 simple steps: Stop. Check. Reject.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.