Scammers have gone from postal mail and faxes to email and phone calls where you never see the person, but now with AI, you can even have a live video call that seems completely real with deep fake technology. It’s no longer safe to just see a person, but there are other things you can do to know if you’re communicating with the individual they claim to be.

Today’s guest is Anna Rowe. Anna is the founder of Catch the Catfish and co-founder of LoveSaid. She is a Subject Matter Expert in Romance Fraud and Victim Support.

Show Notes:

• [0:55] - Anna shares her background as a teacher and describes how she was catfished in 2015.

• [2:52] - How can you make genuine informed consent when someone is deceiving you at that level?

• [3:45] - A therapist’s suggestion of researching narcissists and psychopaths started her healing journey.

• [5:35] - Anna learned that this type of scam commonly comes from West Africa and the scammers are known as Yahoo Boys.

• [7:44] - Romance fraud can be in person, like with Anna’s experience. But there are romance scams that are online only.

• [9:32] - It is common for romance scammers to also be perpetrating other types of fraud at the same time.

• [11:44] - Pig butchering includes another problem, where scammers themselves are also trafficked.

• [13:59] - A lot of victims don’t realize they are interacting with a scammer for a long time because they aren’t asking for money.

• [17:51] - In years past, Photoshopping an image to appear realistic wasn’t as easy as it is now with AI.

• [19:26] - Blending a new face onto an existing photo can even be used in video.

• [21:15] - Voice cloning is also often used and apps to do this are free.

• [24:24] - Deep fake scammers use content on social media stories and live streams to record long pieces of video.

• [26:20] - This technology is improving quickly, but Anna shares some of the ways you can tell if something is a deep fake.

• [28:51] - There are simple things to check on profiles that you can notice as red flags before getting involved with someone.

• [33:01] - Scammers also really like using cryptocurrency because it is unregulated.

• [34:14] - Scammers build a reality typically by using the 5 C’s of reasons why their spouse is gone.

• [37:30] - There are different strategies to look for certain things as you “become your own detective” on various social media platforms.

• [40:57] - When scammers know that you are “onto them” they know what they can change.

• [43:36] - Every decision a scammer makes is premeditated.

• [46:50] - Scammers will keep you hooked and space away from them could get you in a space of trusting your gut.

• [53:32] - Reverse image searches are extremely helpful.

• [57:50] - Anna describes some of the ways she was able to determine what her scammer was doing.

• [61:10] - Anna was put into an open relationship without her consent.

• [63:05] - Future faking is common in narcissists and psychopaths.

• [64:26] - These scams are really damaging and it is important to not use victim shaming language when discussing it.

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

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