Erin West and Scamnetic CEO Al Pascual discuss the growing issue of scams and the development of innovative technology solutions to combat them. They explore the importance of technology in monitoring communications, verifying identities, and providing evidence to help individuals recognize scams.

Their conversation also highlights how AI and deepfake technology is making scams more effective and the need for a comprehensive approach to scam prevention that involves education, technology, and community support.

Episode 38: #whatifwecould actually slow the global scam epidemic?

This is a candid conversation about incentives, liability, human behavior, and why small, imperfect steps today beat perfect solutions that never arrive.

In this episode of Stolen, Erin West shares an update she never expected to give.

Months ago, Erin was in regular contact with a young man from Uganda who had been trafficked into a scam compound in Cambodia. Beaten, confined, and forced to scam victims around the world, he disappeared in late September—leading Erin to fear the worst.

Then, a WhatsApp message arrived.

This episode unpacks what happened next—and why his “release” from the compound is not the happy ending it might sound like. Erin pulls back the curtain on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Cambodia right now: thousands of trafficking victims suddenly pushed onto the streets with no money, no valid documents, no clear path home, and constant fear of arrest.

This is the other side of the scamdemic—the side we don’t talk about enough. The human cost. The broken systems. And the hard truth that shutting down scam compounds without a plan doesn’t equal freedom.

A raw, urgent update from the front lines of a crisis that is far from over.

The future of AI education isn’t coming from a boardroom—it’s coming from a high school classroom. Erin West speaks with student innovator Adya Tewari.

In this episode of Stolen, Erin West talks with cybercrime expert Gary Warner about the solution he helped build through Intelligence for Good—a nonprofit that provides solutions by identifying scam websites, tracing crypto wallets, and disrupting transnational fraud at scale.

Gary explains how this model works in practice: his team uncovers fake investment platforms, extract wallet addresses, and feed that intelligence directly to crypto exchanges, analytics firms, and law enforcement partners—resulting in wallets being flagged, transactions blocked, and scam operations forced to rebuild from scratch.

This is what real disruption looks like: not awareness alone, but making scams slower, more expensive, and harder to run. If you’re looking for a practical, scalable response to pig butchering scams and organized cybercrime, this episode shows what’s actually working.

In this episode of Stolen, Erin West is joined by researcher and investigator Jake Sims to break down the unprecedented arrest and deportation of Chen Zhi, one of the most powerful scam kingpins operating out of Cambodia. They unpack how years of investigative journalism, evidence gathering, sanctions, and sustained pressure led to real accountability—and why this case matters for the global fight against pig butchering scams, human trafficking, and transnational organized crime. Erin and Jake also discuss what the arrest didn’t solve, the intelligence gaps it leaves behind, and what governments, media, and the private sector must do next to dismantle scam states for good.

Even scam-savvy families aren’t immune.

In this episode of Stolen, host Erin West—former prosecutor and national expert on transnational fraud—shares a deeply personal story: how her own family member was devastated by a Publisher’s Clearing House scam, despite doing “everything right.”

From coached gift card purchases at Target to fake FBI agents, burner phones, and an unrelenting flood of follow-on scams, Erin walks listeners through how modern fraud actually works—and why education and awareness alone are failing victims.

This episode breaks down:

How Publisher’s Clearing House scams really operate

Why seniors remain vulnerable even with safeguards in place

How scammers maintain psychological control over victims

What happens after the first scam—and why victims are relentlessly retargeted

Why 2026 must be the year we move from awareness to real, scalable solutions

Erin also lays out what’s next: the technologies, partnerships, and cross-industry collaboration that can stop scams before they reach our loved ones.

If you think “this would never happen to my family,” this episode is for you.

In this episode of Stolen, Erin West sits down with sextortion expert Paul Raffile to expose the fastest-growing and most lethal online scam targeting teen boys. They break down how financially motivated sextortion works, who’s behind it, why cases are exploding, and what parents, platforms, and law enforcement must do now to stop it. This is a conversation every parent needs to hear.

Jane thought she was talking to Amazon, her bank, the FTC, and the Social Security Administration. She wasn’t.

In this episode of Stolen, host Erin West breaks down a highly sophisticated phone scam that nearly wiped Jane out—and explains why this can happen to smart, cautious people. You’ll hear exactly how the scam worked, why it felt real at every turn, and how one bank manager asking a single question stopped it before it went even further.

This episode exposes the psychology behind modern financial fraud, the danger of shame and silence, and why survivor stories are one of the most powerful tools we have to stop the scamdemic.