In this eye-opening episode of Stolen, host Erin West sits down with anti-money laundering expert Alison Jimenez to discuss the rapidly growing crisis of financial sextortion targeting teenage boys. Learn how this transnational crime works, how scammers move money, and what parents and financial institutions can do to protect children.

What You'll Learn:

• How financial sextortion schemes target teenage boys through social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat
• The shocking statistics: 1 in 3 American teenage boys have been targeted, with complaints rising from 139 in 2021 to over 36,000 in 2024
• How scammers use peer-to-peer payment apps (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Apple Pay) and gift cards to extract money from victims
• The cryptocurrency trail: how money moves from U.S. victims to criminal organizations in Nigeria and West Africa
• Red flags parents should watch for in their teen's payment apps
• Why "safety by design" matters for financial products targeting minors
• Practical steps financial institutions can take to add friction to these schemes

Expert Insights: Alison Jimenez breaks down the financial infrastructure behind sextortion scams, explaining money mule operations, Bitcoin transfers, and the regulatory landscape. She shares actionable recommendations for parents, including privacy controls, parental notifications, and how to talk to your kids about this threat.

Key Takeaways for Parents:

• Most payment apps automatically enroll teens in services like Zelle without opt-out options
• Scammers typically demand around $300 per victim using peer-to-peer payments or specific gift cards
• The crime moves quickly—from initial contact to blackmail can happen in minutes or hours
• Only 10-20% of scammers actually share images if victims don't pay, but the psychological harm is severe

Whether you're a parent, work in financial services, or care about protecting children online, this episode provides crucial information about one of the fastest-growing crimes affecting American teens today.

In this powerful episode, former prosecutor Erin West lays out an urgent call to action after three and a half years of fighting the pig butchering crisis. Drawing from her 26+ years in law enforcement and recent travels to scam compounds in Southeast Asia, Erin delivers a sobering truth: things aren't getting better—they're getting exponentially worse.

Erin presents seven critical pillars for defeating the scamdemic, from reframing how we talk about victims (these are PhD holders, bank presidents, and doctors—not "stupid people") to demanding accountability from American companies enabling these crimes. She explains why this isn't just fraud—it's a humanitarian disaster involving hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims and a national security threat involving the mass transfer of generational wealth into the hands of Chinese organized crime syndicates.

This episode coincides with the release of the Aspen Institute's "United Against Fraud" report and introduces Operation Shamrock's innovative victim reporting portal through TRM Labs. Whether you're in law enforcement, tech, finance, or simply a concerned citizen, Erin explains exactly what role you can play in this fight.

In this episode of Stolen, Erin West sits down with legendary scambaiter Jim Browning, the YouTuber who infiltrates scam call centers and exposes criminals to millions of viewers. Together, they dig into how scammers trick victims through robocalls, fake tech support, and crypto ATMs—and reveal how Browning uncovered a pig butchering compound in Dubai that led to one of the largest scammer raids in history. From the inside workings of call centers in India to global networks run by organized crime, this conversation shines a light on the tactics scammers use, the human cost of fraud, and what it takes to fight back.

👉 If you’ve ever wondered how scammers really operate—or how one man managed to terrify call centers around the world—this is the episode you don’t want to miss.