A ruthless (and ruthlessly efficient) industry is using digital tools to supercharge one of the world’s oldest behaviors. We look at how the industry works, and ask the scam-fighters what they’re doing about it. SOURCES: Kati Daffan, former assistant director at the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Marketing Practices. Marti DeLiema, assistant professor of social work at the University of Minnesota. Mark Frank, professor of communications at the University at Buffalo. RESOURCES: "Cambodian Scam Tycoon Wanted by U.S. Extradited to China," by Gabriele Steinhauser (Wall Street Journal, 2026). "The Rise and Fall Of Accused Cambodian Scam Kingpin Chen Zhi," by Low De Wei (Bloomberg, 2026). "Protecting Older Consumers 2024-2025," by the Federal Trade Commission (2025). "Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show," by Jeff Horwitz (Reuters, 2025). "Exposed to Scams: What Separates Victims from Non-victims?," by Marti DeLiema, Emma Fletcher, Christine Kieffer, Gary Mottola, Rubens Pessanha, and Melissa Trumpower (Stanford Center on Longevity, 2019). "Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?," by Cormac Herley (Microsoft Research, 2016). Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2013). FTC Fraud Reporting Portal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
