Freakonomics Radio
A ruthless (and ruthlessly efficient) industry is using digital tools to supercharge one of the world’s oldest behaviors. We look at how the industry works, and ask the scam-fighters what they’re doing about it.
- SOURCES:
- Kati Daffan, former assistant director at the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Marketing Practices.
- Marti DeLiema, assistant professor of social work at the University of Minnesota.
- Mark Frank, professor of communications at the University at Buffalo.
- RESOURCES:
- “Cambodian Scam Tycoon Wanted by U.S. Extradited to China,” by Gabriele Steinhauser (Wall Street Journal, 2026).
- “The Rise and Fall Of Accused Cambodian Scam Kingpin Chen Zhi,” by Low De Wei (Bloomberg, 2026).
- “Protecting Older Consumers 2024-2025,” by the Federal Trade Commission (2025).
- “Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show,” by Jeff Horwitz (Reuters, 2025).
- “Exposed to Scams: What Separates Victims from Non-victims?,” by Marti DeLiema, Emma Fletcher, Christine Kieffer, Gary Mottola, Rubens Pessanha, and Melissa Trumpower (Stanford Center on Longevity, 2019).
- “Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?,” by Cormac Herley (Microsoft Research, 2016).
- Thinking, Fast andSlow, by Daniel Kahneman (2013).
- FTC Fraud Reporting Portal.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
485. “I’ve Been Working My Ass Off for You to Make that Profit?”
The more successful an artist is, the more likely their work will later be resold at auction for a huge markup — and they receive nothing. Should that change? Also: why doesn’t contemporary art impact…
484. “A Fascinating, Sexy, Intellectually Compelling, Unregulated Global Market.”
The art market is so opaque and illiquid that it barely functions like a market at all. A handful of big names get all the headlines (and most of the dollars). Beneath the surface is…
How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis? (Ep. 444 Replay)
Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve the second? And does the…
483. What’s Wrong With Shortcuts?
You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math and Life, the mathematician Marcus…
482. Is Venture Capital the Secret Sauce of the American Economy?
The U.S. is home to seven of the world’s 10 biggest companies. How did that happen? The answer may come down to two little letters: V.C. Is venture capital good for society, or does it…
481. Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?
A new book by an unorthodox political scientist argues that the two rivals have more in common than we’d like to admit. It’s just that most American corruption is essentially legal.
480. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a…
479. The Economist’s Guide to Parenting: 10 Years Later
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to talk — and they have…
478. How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt?
Arthur Brooks is an economist who for 10 years ran the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most influential conservative think tanks in the world. He has come to believe there is only one weapon…
477. Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?
Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the fire. Stephen Dubner investigates.