Fraudology Podcast with Karisse Hendrick

In this episode of the Fraudology podcast, Karisse Hendrick is joined by Matt Vega, Chief Fraud Strategist at Sardine, to explore how artificial intelligence has fundamentally altered the threat landscape for financial institutions and online retailers.
First, Matt reveals the alarming ease with which AI can now be used to orchestrate phishing campaigns. Using advanced tools like Vercel’s v0, Matt demonstrates how he can clone a legitimate website—complete with branding, functional images, and login flows—in less than five minutes. He explains how attackers use these replicas to execute sophisticated "man-in-the-middle" attacks, tricking victims into handing over two-factor authentication (2FA) codes to gain fully authenticated access to accounts.
Later in the episode, Matt and Karisse dive into the rise of "polymorphic" AI attacks. These autonomous agents are capable of adapting their behavior in real-time to bypass bot detection and security thresholds as soon as they are implemented. Matt also discusses "dust trailing," a tactic where fraudsters spread large volumes of small transactions across hundreds of platforms to make traditional human investigation cost-prohibitive.
In this episode, we discuss:
The 5-Minute Phish: How AI models use simple screenshots and prompts to create pixel-perfect clones of banks and government agencies.
Polymorphic Attacks: The emergence of autonomous AI agents that instantly adapt to security controls, making traditional bot mitigation obsolete.
The Power of Basics: Why "low-tech" solutions like card-to-name matching and behavioral biometrics remain the most effective tools against high-tech fraud.
Threat Intelligence: Best practices for proactive defense, including beacon technology, "hidden watermarks," and strategic domain acquisition.
Upcoming Events: Details on meeting Matt and the Sardine team at the upcoming MRC conference in Las Vegas.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai
In this solo episode, Karisse Hendrick checks in from a hotel room in San Diego at the Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) conference to share urgent intelligence from the front lines of e-commerce fraud before the full chaos of conference season begins.
First, Karisse explores two sophisticated new fraud trends that are leaving even seasoned investigators scratching their heads. She breaks down the rise of the "Two-Victim ATO," a unique spin on account takeover where fraudsters leverage the "legacy" and trust of an active account to bypass security, only to hit it with a completely different person's stolen credit card. Then, she dives into a high-tech trend hitting digital gift card retailers: Malware-driven session hijacking. Karisse discusses how fraudsters "piggyback" on a legitimate customer's active session and device to commit a second, high-value theft—making it nearly impossible for traditional fraud systems to flag as a separate entity.

Later in the episode, Karisse discusses the "scary" new frontier of Agentic AI. She shares insights from recent tests by major retailers showing that autonomous shopping bots are beginning to make purchases that are currently indistinguishable from human behavior, creating a massive "Know Your Agent" (KYA) challenge for the industry.

In this episode, we discuss:
The Two-Victim ATO: Why fraudsters are adding new payment methods to active, high-history accounts instead of just using cards on file.
Session Hijacking & Malware: How bad actors are using VPNs and malware to "replay" or continue a legitimate customer's session to buy high-value gift cards.
Agentic AI & KYA: The difficulty in identifying AI-initiated transactions and why current device ID technology can't tell the difference between a human and a bot.
Upcoming Events: Details on the Merchant Advisory Group, and the first annual Merchant Fraud Alliance Conference in Chicago this October.

Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.
Connect with her on LinkedIn
She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai
In this solo "vacation" episode, Karisse Hendrick checks in from the island of Maui to catch up on the latest in the fraud world before the chaos of conference season begins.
First, Karisse explores a hilarious yet alarming trend in artificial intelligence: AI Hallucinations. Reading from a recent article by Frank McKenna, she highlights how Google’s AI summary tool is confidently inventing absurd fraud schemes—from the "Donkey Scam" involving miniature donkey rescues to the bizarre "Clown Smile Scam" in the dentistry industry. While the examples are funny, Karisse discusses the serious integrity risks that arise when AI refuses to say "I don't know" and instead presents fiction as fact to analysts, journalists, and students.
Later in the episode, Karisse dives into a deeper, more personal topic: The difference between a Fraud Professional and a Fraud Fighter. She shares "core memory" stories—including taking a fraud emergency call from the middle of a family corn maze—to illustrate the relentless drive and "addiction to the hunt" that defines a true fraud fighter.
In this episode, we discuss:
The AI Information Gap: Why Google’s AI summaries are creating "fake" fraud types like hot dog fraud and snowman schemes.
Content Integrity: Karisse’s concerns about AI models using creator content without proper citation or compensation.
The Fraud Fighter Identity: How to recognize if you have fraud prevention in your DNA and why it matters when building a team.
Upcoming Events: Details on the Merchant Advisory Group, the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) in Vegas, and the first annual Merchant Fraud Alliance Conference in Chicago this October.

Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.
Connect with her on LinkedIn
She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai
In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick welcomes back elite fraud fighter and Stratovera CEO Robert Capps to discuss the shifting power balance in the age of AI. Robert shares a fascinating "thought experiment" where he used Large Language Models (LLMs) to reverse engineer obfuscated JavaScript, proving that even non-technical attackers can now identify and dismantle complex front-end fraud tools in real-time.
The conversation dives deep into the "Build vs. Buy" debate, with Robert cautioning organizations that the true cost of building internal tools isn't just the initial code—it's the ongoing "immune response" required to fight an AI-powered adversary that never sleeps.
From the "radioactive decay" of legacy device ID to the necessity of designing "entropy" into system responses, this episode is a masterclass in modern fraud strategy.
Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.
Connect with her on LinkedIn
She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai
In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick is joined by Jay Jones, a copywriter turned globally recognized external threat and impersonation risk consultant known as "The Profiler". After being unexpectedly laid off in late 2023, Jay became a target for sophisticated scammers on LinkedIn, sparking a new mission to protect job seekers and corporations alike.
Jay breaks down the "Scammer Pipeline," a three-tiered lifecycle ranging from quick resume harvesting to long-term identity theft and financial draining. They dive deep into the psychology of "Layoff PTSD" and how fraudsters exploit the "fight or flight" response of vulnerable job seekers. Jay also shares how he has helped take down over 46,000 fake jobs and exposed the alarming trend of hijacked high-authority profiles being used to bypass trust. Tune in to learn how both individuals and companies can defend themselves against the evolving landscape of recruitment fraud.
Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.
Connect with her on LinkedIn
She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.