Episode
Confessions of a Fraudster
- Podcast
- Easy Prey
- Published
- Jun 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3295
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.easyprey.com/327
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Summary
Technology keeps changing, but many of the most effective scams still come down to something very human: trust. My guest today is Tony Sales, co-founder of We Fight Fincrime and Underworld TV. Tony has a perspective most people in fraud prevention will never have. Earlier in his life, he was involved in organized financial crime and was once described in the UK press as Britain's greatest fraudster. After years in that world, and after serving time in prison, Tony made the decision to use what he knew to help stop the very crimes he had once been part of. Today, Tony works with financial institutions, governments, law enforcement, and major organizations to help them better understand fraud, social engineering, money laundering, and cybercrime. In this conversation, he explains why criminals are often so effective at exploiting human behavior, why security training can miss the real-world ways scams unfold, and why friction is not always a bad thing when it helps protect people from devastating losses. We also talk about the role of leaked data, call center scams, deepfakes, banking safeguards, and why consumers and organizations both need to think differently about fraud prevention. Tony's message is direct: criminals adapt quickly, and if we want to defend against them, we need to understand how they think. Show Notes: [01:25] Tony Sales shares his background as a former UK fraudster and explains how he now works through We Fight Fincrime to help people understand money laundering, online safety, and human vulnerability. [03:04] Tony describes being drawn into crime as a child, beginning with small thefts before gradually moving into sponsorship scams, credit card fraud, and cloned debit cards. [06:10] After getting caught for identity theft and spending years as a f…