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Easy Prey

Easy Prey

By: Chris Parker
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 Chris Parker, the founder of WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, interviews guests and tells real-life stories about topics to open your eyes to the danger and traps lurking in the real world, ranging from online scams and frauds to everyday situations where people are trying to take advantage of you—for their gain and your loss. Our goal is to educate and equip you, so you learn how to spot the warning signs of trouble, take quick action, and lower the risk of becoming a victim. Politics & Government True Crime
Episodes
  • Only 10 Seconds to Expose a Scam

    Only 10 Seconds to Expose a Scam
    Jul 9 2025

    What if you could stop a scam in real-time before the damage is done? In this episode, I’m joined by Nick Stapleton, an investigative journalist and the face behind Scam Interceptors, the BAFTA award-winning BBC series that exposes online fraud and steps in to protect victims as scams unfold.

    Nick brings a decade of undercover documentary experience to his current mission: fighting digital deception and empowering everyday people to stay safe. He shares jaw-dropping stories from the front lines, including the near miss that almost caught him off guard, and breaks down the complex operations behind everything from romance scams to global scam compounds.

    As the author of How to Beat Scammers, Nick also gives practical advice on how to recognize red flags and build your own defense against a rising tide of fraud.

    Show Notes:
    • [01:06] Nick presents a show called scam interceptors for the BBC. He also does scam advice on a chat show called Morning Live. He also wrote a self-help book about How To Beat Scammers.
    • [01:59] We learn how Nick got into the space. He began in investigative journalism and hidden camera work and now 5 years later Scam Interceptors is his full-time job.
    • [06:17] He came very close to becoming a victim of a scam, because a lot of scammers try to get him.
    • [14:30] About 300,000 accounts a day get hacked on Meta.
    • [15:10] There are things you can enable on Meta to help protect your account.
    • [16:43] In the UK scammers rarely go to prison.
    • [17:18] When he first started the series the scale of some of the scam operations out there really shocked him.
    • [18:43] There can be 200 people working in a scam call center.
    • [20:52] A lot of the people who run pig butchering scams are indentured slaves.
    • [24:12] They would even hire models to have video conversations with potential scam victims.
    • [25:22] Why local governments don't break up these scam centers.
    • [26:38] It's difficult to motivate the authorities when the victims aren't from that country.
    • [29:21] APP refunds in the UK. In most cases we need to be aware and protect ourselves.
    • [30:52] Assume everything out of the blue is fake. Come from a position of skepticism.
    • [35:04] When investigations go wrong filming the show and they lose people to scams.
    • [39:10] When the show first began, sometimes the people they were trying to stop from being scammed thought they were the scammer.

    Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

    Links and Resources:
    • Podcast Web Page
    • Facebook Page
    • whatismyipaddress.com
    • Easy Prey on Instagram
    • Easy Prey on Twitter
    • Easy Prey on LinkedIn
    • Easy Prey on YouTube
    • Easy Prey on Pinterest
    • Nick Stapleton
    • Scam Interceptors
    • Nick Stapleton - Instagram
    • Nick Stapleton - LinkedIn
    • Nick Stapleton - Facebook
    • How to Beat Scammers: The Complete Guide to Keeping Yourself Safe from Fraud
    • Morning Live
    • Scam Clinic Podcast
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • Gambling, Lies, and Millions Stolen from Celebrities

    Gambling, Lies, and Millions Stolen from Celebrities
    Jul 2 2025
    What happens when the drive to succeed masks deep emotional wounds and addiction? In this episode, Jonathan Schwartz shares a powerful and painfully honest account of how his life unraveled. Once one of Hollywood’s most trusted financial advisors, Jonathan worked with icons like Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Gwyneth Paltrow. On the surface, he had it all. But underneath the success was a secret struggle with gambling and drug addiction that led him to steal millions from the very clients who trusted him most. His fall from grace was dramatic and public, ending in a prison sentence and the loss of everything he had built. But that wasn’t the end of his story. Today, Jonathan is sober and rebuilding his life with purpose. As Program Director at Altus Rehab, he now helps others find their own way out of addiction and shame. His story is raw, real, and full of hard-earned wisdom for anyone who has ever felt like they couldn’t ask for help. Show Notes: [01:30] Jonathan is a different person from who he was. He grew up in Upstate New York and his father left when he was four. His mom had a lot of stress and took it out on him which created childhood trauma.[03:34] Accounting was the subject that he was good at.[05:02] Eventually, his cousin gave him a job working in Los Angeles for celebrities.[06:33] In 2004, he became a partner in GSO business management. He got a break when Linkin Park was looking for someone in business management. Their success opened up the floodgates.[08:37] He began getting more and more A-list clients.[09:04] In 2010, he became addicted to gambling.[10:01] This eventually led to embezzlement from his celebrity clients. He placed the bet with this bookie everyday for 6 years.[13:48] He ended up embezzling about 7 million dollars.[14:12] When he stopped gambling he had suicidal ideation.[17:05] He always intended to pay the money back.[19:37] Jonathan shares a time when the bank wanted to call Alanis. [21:03] There was a point when his partners started to notice something wasn't right.[22:04] In 2015 he was fired by Alanis, but he continued to give his attention to his A-list clients.[24:42] He didn't want to expose anyone to the fact that he was committing crime. He never told a soul.[25:07] The dark secret was eating him inside, and he also had to deal with his unresolved trauma.[27:12] How Jonathan had to come clean with his wife, because he was scheduled for a lie detector test.[28:48] After failing the test, he was facing 23 years in prison. He negotiated a four to six year plea agreement.[31:14] He ended up being released early because of COVID.[32:11] He struggled to get a job and ended up going back to school, and now he's a marriage and family therapist with an emphasis on addiction and trauma.[34:00] In prison he had the opportunity to reflect on his bad decisions and read a lot of books.[36:33] He's proud to be sober and a nerd. His trauma is resolved, and he gets to help people in treatment not make the same mistakes that he made.[41:34] Celebrities today need to understand not to trust their business manager so quickly and to make sure that they're proactive in their financial affairs and that they're asking for source documents.[42:11] Audit your business manager with some level of frequency.[48:43] Don't go out and spend all your money. Treat your first dollars as your last dollars.[50:56] Jonathan has a book coming out in about 12 months. Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. Links and Resources: Podcast Web PageFacebook Pagewhatismyipaddress.comEasy Prey on InstagramEasy Prey on TwitterEasy Prey on LinkedInEasy Prey on YouTubeEasy Prey on PinterestJonathan Schwartz - InstagramJonathan Schwartz - Altus RehabJonathan Schwartz - LinkedInAltus RehabGamblers Anonymous
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Human Side of Fraud: Empathy, Education, & Evolution

    Human Side of Fraud: Empathy, Education, & Evolution
    Jun 25 2025

    People used to think fraud was something that happened in the shadows, rare, distant, and mostly affecting big companies. But after talking to PJ Rohall, it’s clear that fraud is evolving fast, and it’s showing up in places most of us don’t even think to look.

    In this episode, I sit down with PJ Rohall, Head of Fraud Strategy and Education at SEON and co-founder of About Fraud. PJ’s work is all about staying ahead of scammers and helping businesses and individuals understand how fraud actually works. From synthetic identities and AI-powered scams to account takeovers and refund fraud, he breaks it all down in a way that’s both eye-opening and surprisingly accessible.

    We talk about how fraudsters think, what makes people vulnerable, and why collaboration is one of the best defenses we have. PJ shares practical tips, real-world examples, and some of the patterns he’s seeing that everyone should be aware of. Whether you run a business or just want to better protect yourself online, this conversation might change the way you think about trust, technology, and the digital world we live in.

    Show Notes:
    • [00:52] PJ Rohal is a co-founder of About Fraud and Fraud Fight Club, which is our in conference, in-person experience. He started that back in 2017, but his fraud prevention journey started back in 2011.
    • [02:45] He began studying finance and business. He had some mental health issues and was open to trying something different when he saw a job for a fraud analyst.
    • [06:22] His experience transferred really well into the entrepreneurial journey.
    • [11:13] It's in the best interest of everyone to collaborate and share tips and tricks when trying to prevent fraud.
    • [13:05] Everybody is open or vulnerable to being a victim of a scam. There shouldn't be a stigma around it.
    • [14:51] It's powerful to see even tech savvy people being victims of scams.
    • [17:20] How a contextually relevant scam could actually get you.
    • [21:16] It's PJ's dream to get outside of his bubble and help educate the community the best he can.
    • [23:43] Two-factor authentication codes have changed, because they give warnings and instructions for the consumer now.
    • [28:45] People with platforms could get the word out about the risk of scams.
    • [34:30] Getting fighting scams to the front and center is a challenge.
    • [36:57] Handling calls from people who've lost large amounts of money in a scam. Having a psychologist or people who understand human behavior would really help with this journey.
    • [40:39] Banks and financial institutions are starting to think differently about handling these issues.
    • [41:05] There's also a lot of technology on the market that's designed for scams.

    Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

    Links and Resources:
    • Podcast Web Page
    • Facebook Page
    • whatismyipaddress.com
    • Easy Prey on Instagram
    • Easy Prey on Twitter
    • Easy Prey on LinkedIn
    • Easy Prey on YouTube
    • Easy Prey on Pinterest
    • PJ Rohall - LinkedIn
    • SEON
    • About Fraud
    • Fraud Fight Club
    • PJ@about-fruad.com
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins

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