‘Not so Happily Ever After’: Romance and the Psychology of a Scam

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.