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Nickel & Crime

Nickel & Crime

Written by: Early Warning®
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Winner of two Signal Awards and two W3 Awards, Nickel & Crime goes deep into today’s most devious scams, exposing the psychological tactics and surprising methods used to drain thousands of victims of billions of dollars every year. At a time when financial crime is increasingly sophisticated, we go behind the schemes to understand the often brilliant – and sometimes foolish – crooks’ minds at work, so you can stay alert and avoid becoming their next victim. In season 3, Nickel & Crime returns with new mind-twisting stories… and something more. We’re also taking a peek behind the curtain to see how Early Warning helps keep the U.S. financial ecosystem healthy using technology that can stop these bad actors before they strike. With more focus on what you need to know to spot a scam, alongside our signature immersive storytelling, Nickel & Crime is back to dissect the deception, for your protection. Nickel & Crime is the award-winning financial true crime show brought to you by Early Warning®, a financial services technology leader that has been empowering and protecting consumers, small businesses, and the U.S. financial system with cutting-edge fraud and payment solutions for more than three decades. Through unmatched network intelligence and partnerships with more than 2,500 bank and credit union brands, we increase access to financial services and products, and protect financial transactions. We are the company behind Zelle®, and PazeSM online checkout solution. To learn more about Early Warning, visit www.earlywarning.com. What financial crimes fascinate you? What questions do you have about risk and security? Connect with Nickel & Crime by commenting in the reviews.817569 Economics Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • How To Survive a Scam
    Apr 2 2025

    When people discover that they've been a victim of a scam, it can feel like the world is being pulled out from under them.  The aftermath of a scam is sometimes a very long and painful road to walk, and the worst part is that scam victims are often very much alone on that journey. But there's a growing push to change that.

    We've come to the finale of Season Three of Nickel and Crime, and after so many episodes dissecting the world’s most devastating scams, today we're doing something a bit different: we’re focusing on surviving them.

    In this episode, we're looking at what happens after a scam. We’ll hear from Amisha Datta, a scam survivor who knows first hand how lonely being scammed can feel, and what needs to change with how we help victims. We're also talking to Mel Lanning from the Better Business Bureau about her organization’s incredible work in preventing scams and how they help victims who've been harmed by them.

    About the Show

    Take a deep dive into today’s most devious scams, as we expose the psychological tactics and surprising methods used to drain thousands of victims of billions of dollars every year.

    At a time when financial crime is increasingly sophisticated, we go behind the schemes to understand the often brilliant – and sometimes foolish – crooks at work, so you can stay alert and avoid becoming their next victim.

    In season 3, Nickel & Crime returns with new mind-twisting stories… and something more. We’re also taking a peek behind the curtain to see how Early Warning helps keep the U.S. financial ecosystem healthy using technology that can stop these bad actors before they strike.

    With more focus on what you need to know to spot a scam, alongside our signature immersive storytelling, Nickel & Crime is back to dissect the deception, for your protection.

    About Early Warning

    Nickel & Crime is the award-winning financial true crime show brought to you by Early Warning®, a financial services technology leader that has been empowering and protecting consumers, small businesses, and the U.S. financial system with cutting-edge fraud and payment solutions for more than three decades. Through unmatched network intelligence and partnerships with more than 2,500 bank and credit union brands, we increase access to financial services and products, and protect financial transactions. We are the company behind Zelle®, and PazeSM online checkout solution. To learn more about Early Warning, visit www.earlywarning.com.

    What financial crimes fascinate you? What questions do you have about risk and security? Connect with Nickel & Crime by commenting in the reviews.

    Show More Show Less
    21 mins
  • Post-Disaster Playbook – How Criminals Exploit Disaster Relief
    Mar 19 2025

    In recent years, fires, storms, floods and even pandemics have threatened lives and caused extraordinary damage for millions of people. The good news is that governments, disaster relief specialists, and even ordinary, kind people always move in to help. The bad news is that in many of these emergency situations, scammers see an opportunity to pounce.

    Disasters create a surge of vulnerable people, which, unfortunately, means easy picking for fraudsters. Victims are often overwhelmed, exhausted, and not thinking straight, and relief agencies are trying to help everyone all at once… and this is when the influx of fake charities, identity thieves, insurance scammers, and other nefarious actors arrive on the scene.

    In this episode, we’re examining the calculating crooks behind disaster scams. We’ll look at the many ways scammers capitalize on the chaos of disaster, and how they steal financial support when people need it most.

    About the Show

    Take a deep dive into today’s most devious scams, as we expose the psychological tactics and surprising methods used to drain thousands of victims of billions of dollars every year.

    At a time when financial crime is increasingly sophisticated, we go behind the schemes to understand the often brilliant – and sometimes foolish – crooks at work, so you can stay alert and avoid becoming their next victim.

    In season 3, Nickel & Crime returns with new mind-twisting stories… and something more. We’re also taking a peek behind the curtain to see how Early Warning helps keep the U.S. financial ecosystem healthy using technology that can stop these bad actors before they strike.

    With more focus on what you need to know to spot a scam, alongside our signature immersive storytelling, Nickel & Crime is back to dissect the deception, for your protection.


    About Early Warning

    Nickel & Crime is the award-winning financial true crime show brought to you by Early Warning®, a financial services technology leader that has been empowering and protecting consumers, small businesses, and the U.S. financial system with cutting-edge fraud and payment solutions for more than three decades. Through unmatched network intelligence and partnerships with more than 2,500 bank and credit union brands, we increase access to financial services and products, and protect financial transactions. We are the company behind Zelle®, and PazeSM online checkout solution. To learn more about Early Warning, visit www.earlywarning.com.

    What financial crimes fascinate you? What questions do you have about risk and security? Connect with Nickel & Crime by commenting in the reviews.

    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
  • Evolution of a Scam – The Nigerian Prince and the Yahoo Boys
    Mar 5 2025

    Successful scams never quite disappear – they just shift and change over time, becoming new, slightly different versions of themselves as time goes on. But they all have to start somewhere, and in this episode we’re examining the evolution of one of the most famous scams of all: the Nigerian Prince scam.

    The Nigerian Prince scam is an old, confidence scheme where the fraudster promises a big reward for a small, up-front price. But while that legendary con is now mostly a punchline, it has a fascinating history that goes back more than 100 years. It’s also the framework for more sophisticated and dangerous scams that are draining billions from victims every year.

    Today, we’ll dive into the timeline of the Nigerian Prince scam, and how it has evolved into modern lucrative romance scams. We’ll also get a closer look at the enormous community of perpetrators: Nigeria’s hundreds of thousands of “Yahoo Boys”.

    About the Show

    Take a deep dive into today’s most devious scams, as we expose the psychological tactics and surprising methods used to drain thousands of victims of billions of dollars every year.

    At a time when financial crime is increasingly sophisticated, we go behind the schemes to understand the often brilliant – and sometimes foolish – crooks at work, so you can stay alert and avoid becoming their next victim.

    In season 3, Nickel & Crime returns with new mind-twisting stories… and something more. We’re also taking a peek behind the curtain to see how Early Warning helps keep the U.S. financial ecosystem healthy using technology that can stop these bad actors before they strike.

    With more focus on what you need to know to spot a scam, alongside our signature immersive storytelling, Nickel & Crime is back to dissect the deception, for your protection.

    About Early Warning

    Nickel & Crime is the award-winning financial true crime show brought to you by Early Warning®, a financial services technology leader that has been empowering and protecting consumers, small businesses, and the U.S. financial system with cutting-edge fraud and payment solutions for more than three decades. Through unmatched network intelligence and partnerships with more than 2,500 bank and credit union brands, we increase access to financial services and products, and protect financial transactions. We are the company behind Zelle®, and PazeSM online checkout solution. To learn more about Early Warning, visit www.earlywarning.com.

    What financial crimes fascinate you? What questions do you have about risk and security? Connect with Nickel & Crime by commenting in the reviews.

    Show More Show Less
    27 mins
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