Scams & Cons
Jim Grinstead
Why would anyone give thousands of dollars to a Nigerian prince? Or play Three Card Monte – it’s a well-known scam? Or be lulled into a marriage with someone you’ve never met face-to-face.Scammers and con artists do it all the time and the Scams and Cons podcast pulls the curtain back and tells you how it is done.Trust us. You should subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.
- 12 minutes 24 secondsGeorgia banks exempt from protecting you from scammers
In this week's news, Thailand takes the unusual step of cutting off electricity to 500,000 people to stop scammers and con artists are staging car crashes to collect insurance money.
Plus, Georgia exempts banks from protecting customers from scammers even though they say they want a law requiring them to do so.
Listen at ScamsAndCons.com or wherever you get podcasts.
3 April 2025, 5:00 am - 31 minutes 51 secondsDeep fakes: Am I who I say I am?
Is this written by me or an AI? Will you hear my voice or an AI voice in this podcast? (Spoiler, you'll hear both)
AI voices and images are so easy to create these days that it's easy to throw someone into a money-gushing panic if they get a phone call from a friend claiming to be in trouble.
The key is not to try and recognize the voice, but to recognize the scam. We'll tell you how and it's not that difficult to learn.
27 March 2025, 6:00 am - 12 minutes 33 secondsScammers pretend to be TV news anchor to rob previous victim
A man got taken by a scammer and called a local TV station for help. The scammers weren't caught, but they later called the man back, pretending to be the anchor and tried to shake him down again.
It didn't go well for the scammers.
Hear this story and more on Scams & Cons News
20 March 2025, 6:00 am - 26 minutes 11 secondsCommunities of scammers are roaming the country
Groups of con artists roam the country, sweeping into a community and taking it for all they can until the police get wise.
They're called Travellers and we'll tell you how they work and why they are different from other scammers.
13 March 2025, 6:00 am - 13 minutes 1 secondThe pigeon drop is revived to steal expensive jewelry
The pigeon drop -- and oldie, but a goodie -- is misdirecting people so their new expensive purchases can stolen and fake Amazon customer service agents targeted a woman and tried to clean out her bank accounts.
Support the podcast6 March 2025, 7:00 am - 19 minutes 17 secondsCan scam victims get justice?
If you've been scammed, will you get your money back? Will you get justice? The answer, unfortunately, is no.
While it may be your life savings, the amounts are generally too small and police have such limited resources that they can't help. Your best hope is that your scam was part of a much larger operation that police can get resources to chase.
This week we tell you while justice is so elusive and that the best defense is a good offense. Protect yourself.27 February 2025, 7:00 am - 11 minutes 55 secondsScammers are using Amber Alerts to steal info on your child
Your child is safe at home, but scammers are calling to get info about them to put into a state "registry." It's a scam ... don't fall for it.
Hear this story and more on Scams & Cons News.20 February 2025, 7:00 am - 22 minutes 23 secondsScammers do stupid things, too. Let us tell you about them.
It's easy to think of a scammer as a slick, sophisticated character, ready to outsmart your every move.
Not so fast.
Scammers do stupid stuff too, and we're here to tell you about them. Listen in for a good laugh and relief that they aren't as clever as we think they are.13 February 2025, 7:00 am - 14 minutes 3 secondsOne bad click wipes out a life's savings and a scammer took the money, but kept the pictures
In the early days of computing, we were afraid that if we pushed one wrong button, we'd lose all our work -- and that frequently happened.
Nowadays, the risk isn't so high and total losses are rare, but scammers have figured out how to convince you to push just one button that allows them to steal your money and anything else personal on your computer.
We'll tell you about that and about a former TV anchor who was arrested for taking money intended for the poor.
Listen at ScamsAndCons.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support the podcast6 February 2025, 7:00 am - 3 minutes 17 secondsWelcome to Season 8
We're kicking off season 8 with a look at some really stupid scammers, then come back by asking if victims can ever really get justice.
The news is back with some changes and we'll be taking several dives into how AI is being used by scammers and con artists.
Plus, beginning this season, you'll be able to text me with your comments, questions or anything that's on your mind. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks for listening!30 January 2025, 7:00 am - 15 minutes 45 secondsREPLAY: Time travelers are scamming thousands
People are coming back from the future. Some want computers to help solve problems for which the need ancient software, while others need some cold, hard cash to survive in this primitive world of ours.
People are handing money over to these con artists without asking a simple question: Why are future IT people too stupid to keep their technology up-to-date and they need to travel back in time so we can fix it for them?
Support the podcast23 January 2025, 7:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App