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By Michael B
The Anatomy of Modern Romance Scams examines how long-term, attachment-driven deception operates beneath what are commonly called “romance scams.”
These scams don’t begin
... moreThe podcast currently has 38 episodes available.
The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

First of all, thank you for listening in. Hoping this helps individuals and families understand romance scams. If you have questions or want something to be discussed specifically, please comment or go to my website michaelbreinig.com to privately message me. All the best to you... What happens when the scam is over - but the pain continues? The messages may stop and the deception may be exposed, but the consequences of a modern romance scam do not end with the final transaction. In this episode, I speak directly about "The PIt." The one in your stomach that remains because of - the grief, shame, financial devastation, damaged relationships, and loss of trust in your own judgment. When those consequences collide with a job loss, illness, or other pressures, even an ordinary setback can feel like additional proof that life will never recover. The weight of it is all is tremendous. The scammers constructed their web one strand at a time: attachment, anticipation, trust, secrecy, and isolation. Rebuilding happens the same way—but in reverse. Each honest conversation, real relationship, daily responsibility, and request for help adds a strand to a new web — one designed not to trap you, but to catch you. The recovery net. The first web was built to bind you. The next can become your safety net. Just as intentional, but this is one you build, also one strand at a time. Build it soon. Build it strong. Start now... This is an ongoing podcast series that explores the anatomy of modern romance scams and introduces practical tools designed to help you recognize, avoid, and recover from these crimes. The AOM Framework™ Your Personal Rulebook — Gave a foundation for this, but please, build your own personal rules to recognize danger, make better decisions, and protect yourself before a scam ever takes hold. Always validate. The Scammer's Playbook — Learn how scammers build trust, create dependency, and manipulate their victims. The Four S's — Secrecy. Silence. Shame. Seduction. The 15/30 Rule — Stop. Step back. Evaluate before you act. Pattern Recognition — Recognize where the scam is going before it gets there. DBW: Delete. Block. Walk. — Protect yourself. Walk away. This is critical. Learn More: Books available to read, keep, or pass on. 📘 DING... "Hello Dear, Did You Miss Me?" https://a.co/d/0eaBEMlu 📗 The Reality Behind Romance Scams: The Playbook https://a.co/d/0aV7btcS 🌐 Website: michaelbauthor.com 🎥 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbubG0gxfo If these episodes helped you, please follow, and share them with someone you care about, and help spread awareness. Until next time... Delete. Block. Walk. And al...

First of all, thank you for listening in. Hoping this helps individuals and families understand romance scams. If you have questions or want something to be discussed specifically, please comment or go to my website michaelbreinig.com to privately message me. All the best to you... What if the Romance Scam Playbook isn't just manipulating your mind? What if it's also exploiting the biology that helps human beings form real relationships? In Episode 37, we explore the biological side of romance scams—dopamine and anticipation, oxytocin and social bonding, cortisol and adrenaline during stress—and how these responses can interact with psychological manipulation to create an extraordinarily powerful attachment. Using Jessica as an example, we follow the progression from a simple “Good morning, beautiful” to anticipation, attachment, dependency, stress, relief—and eventually a relationship powerful enough to compete with logic itself. This episode also introduces a new framework: The Four Pillars of a Romance Scam — Attachment, Dependency, Control, and Override. And it addresses one of the hardest questions victims and families ask: “If you knew something was wrong, why didn't you stop?” The answer may be far more complicated than simply recognizing the red flags. People are educated and aware enough to recognize the extraction. It's time we learn how to recognize the construction. The construction of an INTIMATE relationship that NEEDS to be in place before an extraction request enters the picture. The deception may be fake. The human response is real. This is critical to understand. This podcast has now surpassed 2,000 downloads on just one channel. This one. There is more! Thank you to everyone listening, sharing, and helping get this message in front of the people who need it, or will need it. Keep sharing. Keep talking. Keep getting the message out. Here is a link to the article I was speaking about. Please take the time to read it. I know it will facilitate greater understanding of the biological changes that take place in a romance scam victim and why the scammers playbook and script are designed to elicit these chemical reactions: https://fightcybercrime.org/blog/how-cybercriminals-hack-the-human-brain/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=f84ce5def9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_07_14_06_20_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-0373822c57-517049651 Stay informed. Keep listening. Keep sharing and always, always...stay safe. This is an ongoing podcast series that explores the anatomy of modern romance scams and introduces practical tools designed to help you recognize, avoid, and recover from these crimes. The AOM Framework™ Your Personal Rulebook — Gave a foundation for this, but please, build your own personal rules to recognize danger, make better decisions, and protect yourself before a scam ever takes hold. Always validate. The Scammer's Playbook — Learn how scammers build trust, create dependency, and manipulate their victims. The Four S's — Secrecy. Silence. Shame. Seduction. The 15/30 Rule — Stop. Step back. Evaluate before you act. Pattern Recognition — Recognize where the scam is going before it gets there. DBW: Delete. Block. Walk. — Protect yourself. Walk away. This is critical. Learn More: Books available to read, keep, or pass on. 📘 DING... "Hello Dear, Did You Miss Me?" https://a.co/d/0eaBEMlu 📗 The Reality Behind Romance Scams: The Playbook https://a.co/d/0aV7btcS 🌐 Website: michaelbauthor.com 🎥 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbubG0gxfo If these episodes helped you, please follow, and share them with someone you care about, and help spread awareness. Until next time... Delete. Block. Walk. And al...

First of all, thank you for listening in. Hoping this helps individuals and families understand romance scams. If you have questions or want something to be discussed specifically, please comment or go to my website michaelbreinig.com to privately message me. All the best to you... $21 billion lost in 2025 in the US alone. This is a 37 percent increase in the 2024 numbers. Just how much gets unreported...no one truly knows. In this episode, we step away from the mechanics again, because here to face a hard truth - No one is coming to fix this. Romance scams continue to grow because they exploit trust, emotion, and timing — and most educational systems in place are reactive...not proactive. This isn’t about intelligence or age. It’s about how easily trust can be engineered before logic catches up. The solution isn’t out there formally, but it can be and we cannot wait for it. Waiting means opportunity - for the scammers. The solution has to come from us as individuals, as families, as friends and as collogues. Education and awareness truly are the main ingredients for prevention. Please join me in our next discussion, Episode 18, when we will return to more detailed mechanics of how Romance Scams truly work. To learn more, please read: https://a.co/d/09c3hEAj This is an ongoing podcast series that explores the anatomy of modern romance scams and introduces practical tools designed to help you recognize, avoid, and recover from these crimes. The AOM Framework™ Your Personal Rulebook — Gave a foundation for this, but please, build your own personal rules to recognize danger, make better decisions, and protect yourself before a scam ever takes hold. Always validate. The Scammer's Playbook — Learn how scammers build trust, create dependency, and manipulate their victims. The Four S's — Secrecy. Silence. Shame. Seduction. The 15/30 Rule — Stop. Step back. Evaluate before you act. Pattern Recognition — Recognize where the scam is going before it gets there. DBW: Delete. Block. Walk. — Protect yourself. Walk away. This is critical. Learn More: Books available to read, keep, or pass on. 📘 DING... "Hello Dear, Did You Miss Me?" https://a.co/d/0eaBEMlu 📗 The Reality Behind Romance Scams: The Playbook https://a.co/d/0aV7btcS 🌐 Website: michaelbauthor.com 🎥 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbubG0gxfo If these episodes helped you, please follow, and share them with someone you care about, and help spread awareness. Until next time... Delete. Block. Walk. And al...

First of all, thank you for listening in. Hoping this helps individuals and families understand romance scams. If you have questions or want something to be discussed specifically, please comment or go to my website michaelbreinig.com to privately message me. All the best to you... In this short episode of The Anatomy of Modern Romance Scams, I take a moment to say thank you for listening, for sharing, and for helping bring awareness to something that impacts so many people and families. As we continue this series, the goal remains the same — to break down how these scams really work so they can be recognized earlier. I also want to highlight the work being done by April Helm and encourage you to explore additional resources focused on education, prevention, and support. This is a brief pause before we go deeper into the mechanics of modern romance scams. Stay with me and thank you for listening and sharing... Book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/08jwHDsn This is an ongoing podcast series that explores the anatomy of modern romance scams and introduces practical tools designed to help you recognize, avoid, and recover from these crimes. The AOM Framework™ Your Personal Rulebook — Gave a foundation for this, but please, build your own personal rules to recognize danger, make better decisions, and protect yourself before a scam ever takes hold. Always validate. The Scammer's Playbook — Learn how scammers build trust, create dependency, and manipulate their victims. The Four S's — Secrecy. Silence. Shame. Seduction. The 15/30 Rule — Stop. Step back. Evaluate before you act. Pattern Recognition — Recognize where the scam is going before it gets there. DBW: Delete. Block. Walk. — Protect yourself. Walk away. This is critical. Learn More: Books available to read, keep, or pass on. 📘 DING... "Hello Dear, Did You Miss Me?" https://a.co/d/0eaBEMlu 📗 The Reality Behind Romance Scams: The Playbook https://a.co/d/0aV7btcS 🌐 Website: michaelbauthor.com 🎥 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbubG0gxfo If these episodes helped you, please follow, and share them with someone you care about, and help spread awareness. Until next time... Delete. Block. Walk. And al...

First of all, thank you for listening in. Hoping this helps individuals and families understand romance scams. If you have questions or want something to be discussed specifically, please comment or go to my website michaelbreinig.com to privately message me. All the best to you... One of the most damaging myths about romance scams is this: “Only stupid people fall for them.” That belief isn’t just wrong—it’s dangerous. Because it creates a false sense of security and prevents people from recognizing what’s actually happening… until they’re already in it. It hinders healing. Romance scams don’t begin with money. They begin with connection. Attachment is built first… reinforced over time… and by the time financial decisions enter the picture, logic is no longer leading. This episode breaks down why thoughtful, capable, emotionally engaged people get pulled into these situations—and why it has nothing to do with intelligence. It has everything to do with sequence. If you’ve ever believed “that could never happen to me”… this episode is for you. https://a.co/d/0bBhI46s This is an ongoing podcast series that explores the anatomy of modern romance scams and introduces practical tools designed to help you recognize, avoid, and recover from these crimes. The AOM Framework™ Your Personal Rulebook — Gave a foundation for this, but please, build your own personal rules to recognize danger, make better decisions, and protect yourself before a scam ever takes hold. Always validate. The Scammer's Playbook — Learn how scammers build trust, create dependency, and manipulate their victims. The Four S's — Secrecy. Silence. Shame. Seduction. The 15/30 Rule — Stop. Step back. Evaluate before you act. Pattern Recognition — Recognize where the scam is going before it gets there. DBW: Delete. Block. Walk. — Protect yourself. Walk away. This is critical. Learn More: Books available to read, keep, or pass on. 📘 DING... "Hello Dear, Did You Miss Me?" https://a.co/d/0eaBEMlu 📗 The Reality Behind Romance Scams: The Playbook https://a.co/d/0aV7btcS 🌐 Website: michaelbauthor.com 🎥 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbubG0gxfo If these episodes helped you, please follow, and share them with someone you care about, and help spread awareness. Until next time... Delete. Block. Walk. And al...
The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.