Scam Rebel: Looking for Clues (Formerly Romance Scam Rebellion)

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I used to believe that when somebody wanted to connect with me online, they actually were who they presented themselves to be.

This is my fractured fairytale. What's yours?

In this Season 3 finale of Romance Scam Rebellion, I take a closer look at the beliefs we carry about scams, vulnerability, intelligence, love, and trust—and how those beliefs can leave us more vulnerable than we realize.

After three seasons of speaking with victims, investigators, advocates, prosecutors, psychologists, and even people who were trafficked into scam compounds and forced to deceive others, one thing has become painfully clear: intelligence alone doesn't make us immune to deception.

The belief that “it could never happen to me” can be one of the most dangerous fractured fairytales of all.

This episode explores why preparedness—not intelligence—is one of our strongest tools against scams, how to recognize our own blind spots, and how we can help protect the people we love.

Because maybe the question isn't whether you're smart enough to spot a scam.

Maybe the question is: Are you prepared?

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Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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There is an uncomfortable truth we may not want to consider, but it's very much a reality for many.

In this powerful episode of Romance Scam Rebellion, Shadrack shares his extraordinary story of being trafficked from Uganda to Cambodia after accepting what he believed was a legitimate IT job.

Instead, he was drugged, taken to a remote scam compound, and forced to participate in romance scams targeting Americans and Canadiana. Shadrack describes the violence, fear, and coercion he experienced—and his eventual escape from the compound.

His story challenges what we think we know about the people behind online scams and reveals another layer of human trafficking that is happening inside Southeast Asian scam compounds.

This is Shadrack's story.

My email: [email protected]

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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Are Bitcoin ATMs helping stop scams—or helping scammers get paid?

In this episode of Romance Scam Rebellion, I sit down with Paul Tarantino, CEO of Byte Federal, to hear the case for Bitcoin ATMs from someone in the industry.

We talk about fraud prevention, scam warnings, wallet screening, AI, refunds, fees, regulation, and the claim that Bitcoin ATMs primarily serve the unbanked and underbanked.

Paul makes some compelling points—but did he change my mind about Bitcoin ATMs?

Listen to the conversation and hear my answer at the end.

More importantly: did he change yours?

#RomanceScamRebellion #BitcoinATM #CryptoScams #ScamPrevention #FraudAwareness

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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Last episode, Heather Rovet told us how Jace, the man she thought she'd build a life with, turned out to be a career con man and criminal, living a double life under her own roof. In part two, the story gets even more unbelievable.

We pick up as the Canadian justice system moves at a maddening crawl, as Jace vanishes to move in with his next target just weeks after leaving Heather's home, and as Heather turns amateur investigator, tracking down his other victims and piecing together a pattern of theft, fraud, and manipulation that stretches back decades.

Then, just as his criminal trial is finally set to begin, Jace does something so brazen it adds obstruction of justice and jury tampering to his growing list of charges,  serious enough to potentially keep him behind bars for years.

Heather also opens up about what it took to rebuild: a solo healing trip to Thailand, the moment she watched The Tinder Swindler and vowed to one day meet its subject, and how she's since connected with a growing network of women who've survived men just like Jace — and are done staying silent.

This isn't just the rest of Heather's story. It's a case study in how the system so often fails victims of fraud — and what it takes to fight back anyway.

📺 Watch part one: [link]
🎬 Watch the documentary: RomCon: Who the F** Is Jason Porter? On Amazon Prime

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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A chance meeting. An instant connection. A relationship that felt good, and real.

In Part One of this two part conversation with Heather Rovet, Heather shares the remarkable true story behind the documentary Rom Con: Who the F**k is Jason Porter? What began as a whirlwind romance with a charming, successful man slowly unraveled into a web of deception, manipulation, and betrayal.

Heather recounts how they met, why she trusted him, the subtle warning signs she couldn't yet see, and the shocking discoveries that changed her life forever.

Her story is a powerful reminder that romance scams don't just happen online, and that anyone can become the target of a skilled predator.

If you've ever wondered how intelligent, successful people become victims of deception, this episode is for you.

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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When most people picture a romance scam, they imagine fake profiles and strangers hiding behind a screen. Tracy Hall's story is different, and in some ways more terrifying. The man she knew as "Max Tavita," a charismatic chief investment officer, was real. He met her in person, spent nearly two years building a relationship with her, took vacations with her, met her daughter... and turned out to be someone else entirely.

His real name was Hamish McLaren, one of Australia's most notorious career con men, a serial fraudster who spent roughly three decades and stole an estimated $70 million from victims around the world under a series of fabricated identities. Tracy learned the truth the same way the rest of Australia did: watching a Crime Stoppers video of his arrest. She lost her life savings of $317,000, and became the final victim in a criminal case involving 15 people and $7.6 million.

In this conversation, Tracy shares how the relationship was built slowly and deliberately over 18 months, how Hamish mirrored her values and interests to seem like the perfect match, how her retirement savings were siphoned into an account that was never actually in her name, and the massive gaps she discovered in victim support once financial crime, unlike violent crime, offered her almost no assistance to recover.

We also talk about what it means that Hamish's prison sentence which ended in July 2026.  What she's doing now as one of Australia's leading voices in fraud prevention, and the very real threat of teenage sextortion she's since uncovered while trying to protect her own daughter online.

Tracy's book, The Last Victim, is now available in the US — link below.

📖 Get the book: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Victim-betrayal-unbreakable-relationship-ebook/dp/B0CS9JG381

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Last-Victim-Audiobook/B0CWB6FPC1?srsltid=AfmBOopSUsJgBeTCdE9o3hp5fPEgavDKuvEoUxH1z96pqRAG9SCOljYh

 🔗 Follow Tracy: LinkedIn / Instagram: https://tracyhall.com.au/instagram

 🎧 Related: "Who the Hell is Hamish?" podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/who-the-hell-is-hamish/id1451470931

https://open.spotify.com/show/1NpAwUFhZUsO8FkifAxgWt

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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What started as one woman's effort to protect her mother's friend turned into a decade-long fight against romance scammers on a national and international scale. In this episode, Kathy Waters, co-founder of Advocating Against Romance Scammers (AARS)  shares how a stolen military photo led her to uncover an entire network of fake profiles, and how that discovery reshaped her life.

Kathy talks about tracking down the real man behind the stolen photos, meeting with lawmakers in Washington D.C., speaking before the United Nations, and helping launch World Romance Scam Prevention Day,  all while working a full-time job. We dig into why social media platforms keep failing to remove fake accounts, the fight to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and why survivors are so often blamed instead of believed.

This is a conversation about persistence, compassion, and what it really takes to hold powerful platforms accountable.

Resources mentioned:
Learn more or find support at AARS' website: advocatingforu.com

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

Send us Fan Mail

Romance scams, pig butchering (we agree to disagree on this term), cryptocurrency fraud, and transnational organized crime have become a multi-billion-dollar global industry. But one former prosecutor has made it her mission to fight back.

In this episode of The Romance Scam Rebellion, I sit down with Erin West, former Deputy District Attorney and founder of Operation Shamrock, to discuss the criminal networks behind today's most sophisticated scams—and what it will take to stop them.

We explore how organized scam syndicates operate across international borders, why cryptocurrency has become their preferred payment method, and how law enforcement, financial institutions, and the private sector are beginning to work together to disrupt these criminal enterprises.

We also discuss:

How scam compounds operate
Why victims should never be blamed
The role cryptocurrency plays in modern fraud
How Operation Shamrock is bringing global partners together
What governments, banks, and technology companies can do to better protect consumers
Practical steps everyone can take to avoid becoming the next victim

This isn't just another conversation about scams—it's about understanding the global ecosystem that allows them to thrive and the people working tirelessly to dismantle it.
If you or someone you know has been affected by a scam, you're not alone. Education is one of the most powerful tools we have, and conversations like this are an important step toward protecting others.

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone you care about. Together, we can make it harder for scammers to succeed.

Erins podcast:  https://www.operationshamrock.org/podcast/stolen 

Operation Shamrock web page:  https://www.operationshamrock.org/

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

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I'm calling her AARP's Fraud Whisperer, and for good reason. Kathy Stokes, Senior Director of Fraud Prevention Programs at AARP's Fraud Watch Network, has spent years on the front lines helping everyday Americans recognize, resist, and report scams before it's too late. In this episode, Kathy walks us through the fraud tactics targeting people right now — from phone impersonation scams to AI-generated voices designed to sound like someone you trust — and explains why even the most cautious people get fooled.
But this conversation goes beyond awareness. Kathy shares the full scope of what AARP is doing to fight back — from pushing for state legislation to ban or regulate crypto ATMs, to advocating for safe, responsible AI that protects consumers rather than exploits them. We also dig into the powerful resources AARP makes available to anyone who needs help — including the free Fraud Watch Network Helpline, confidential victim support groups, and fraud prevention workshops happening across the country.
If you or someone you love has ever been targeted by a scam — or you simply want to be better prepared — this episode is for you. Because the best defense starts with three simple steps: Pause. Reflect. Protect.
 
Here are links of places you can look to for help and education.

aarp.org/fraudtips


Pause Reflect Protect
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/pause-reflect-protect/

Words Matter
https://www.aarp.org/lp/fraud-narrative-change/?cmp=RDRCT-FRD-CONSUMER-NARRATIVE-LP-2024

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.

Send us Fan Mail

What if the person sending you those messages wasn't a willing criminal at all?

For years, we've been told to picture online scammers as heartless fraudsters sitting behind computer screens, stealing life savings without remorse. But the truth is often far more complicated.

In this gripping episode of The Romance Scam Rebellion, S. Clariba shares his extraordinary story of being trafficked from Africa to Southeast Asia and forced to work inside a scam compound. Trapped by organized crime, he was given an impossible choice: scam innocent people or face brutal consequences himself.

His story exposes the hidden human trafficking network behind the global scam industry and challenges everything we think we know about who the real victims are.

This conversation is not about excusing fraud. It's about exposing the criminal organizations that exploit vulnerable people on both sides of the screen—those who lose everything to the scams and those who are coerced into carrying them out.

Listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussions of human trafficking, coercion, violence, and psychological trauma.

This is not an isolated story. It is part of a rapidly growing pattern of human trafficking that fuels one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world. 

If you are able, please consider supporting the work of Action Against Trafficking, please email me at [email protected] and I'll provide the link where you can contribute.

If this episode resonates with you, please like and suscribe so you don't miss any episodes.

Support the show

Romance Scam Rebellion is entirely self funded. If this content has helped you, educated someone you love, or simply made you more aware of these crimes — please consider supporting the mission. Every contribution helps me continue this work and get one step closer to rebuilding what was taken from me:  You can donate at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-after-a-romance-scam-at-69

Email me at [email protected] if you have a story you need to tell.