Fraudology Podcast with Karisse Hendrick

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In this solo episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick breaks down a potpourri of recent fraud news stories that are shaking up both the retail and banking sectors. Karisse exposes how organized crime rings are shifting their tactics to outsmart even the tightest security frameworks, highlighting why continuous adaptation is the only defense in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
The conversation explores the mechanics of a highly devious new retail scam targeting major retailers through manipulated HTML price-matching. Karisse provides an inside look at how these groups leverage local code manipulation on personal devices to walk away with hundreds of dollars in real store credit per hit, effectively dodging security measures previously put in place to halt bulk gift card theft.
We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:
The Power and Price of AI Cybersecurity: How major US banks are scrambling to patch thousands of IT vulnerabilities exposed by Anthropic's new preview model, Mythos, which can stitch together low-risk flaws into serious, exploitable threats.
The Reality of AI Replacement Plans: Why CEOs are facing unexpected hurdles with corporate layoffs, balancing the spiraling token costs of running AI agents against the irreplaceable institutional knowledge of human teams.
Biometric Exfiltration from Selfies: The startling reality of "scissor-hand" or peace sign poses in photos, where modern high-resolution cameras and AI tools allow fraudsters to reconstruct permanent fingerprint ridges.
The Scale vs. Quality Shift in Phishing: How AI bots are allowing bad actors to simultaneously launch highly personalized bank impersonation attacks against small community banks and regional credit unions, overwhelming their baseline operational capacities.

Additionally, Karisse dives into the strategic logistics behind these multi-state fraud sprees, detailing how criminals use encrypted messaging apps and overseas reshippers to launder their proceeds. We break down the connection between retail fraud and elder tech support scams, revealing how stolen or victim-funded gift cards feed directly into high-end electronic purchases. Finally, we examine how deep-web dumps of dead credit card data are weaponized by scammers to accurately identify a consumer's specific financial institution before they ever make a call.

In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick welcomes back Marc Evans, a veteran Las Vegas detective and the founder of Fraud Hero. Marc provides an on-the-ground debrief of the rapidly shifting fraud landscape, sharing front-line insights into how criminal organizations are pivoting their tactics as traditional cash-out methods vanish.
The conversation explores the dramatic downfall of major crypto ATM networks, highlighted by the recent bankruptcy of Bitcoin Depot, the country's largest operator. Marc details how local regulations and strict transaction caps have inadvertently decimated the crypto ATM business model , proving just how much of their revenue was quietly subsidized by elder abuse and organized crime. We look at what happens when 9,000 machines go offline overnight and how scammers are reacting to losing one of their favorite liquidation tools.
We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:
The AI Social Engineering Force Multiplier: How threat actors are combining generative AI with classic psychological manipulation to automate hyper-realistic phishing, clone voices, and scale scams to unprecedented levels.
The Cognitive Bias of Automation: Why our increasing reliance on LLMs to summarize emails and messages is actively dulling human critical thinking, causing professionals and consumers alike to miss glaring red flags.
The "Scam Formula" Framework: A breakdown of the universal four-part mechanics—the Hook, the Story, the Urgency, and the Payment —and how the simple mantra of "Pause, Think, Verify" can disrupt a fraudster's spell.

Additionally, Marc dives into the terrifying rise of digital extortion targeting a new demographic: teenagers under 17. We break down the latest FBI IC3 data showing how AI-driven sextortion schemes are uniquely impacting youth across the country , highlighting why fraud education must urgently expand beyond senior citizens to protect the next generation.

In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick comes to you from a beachside work-cation in Florida to deliver an essential debrief on the latest shifts in the e-commerce fraud landscape. Fresh off the Accertify Global Customer Summit, Karisse shares key strategic takeaways on why cybersecurity and fraud teams must break down operational silos as fraud signals increasingly move up-funnel.
The conversation takes a critical look at the limitations of relying on Large Language Models (LLMs) in risk management. Highlighting a recent blunder where a Top 4 consultancy published a 44-page fraud report riddled with completely fabricated citations and footnotes, Karisse and Dr. Nicola Harding explain why "domain expertise" cannot be automated. Because true fraud insights are kept proprietary to protect them from criminals, open-source AI tools are inherently prone to "hallucinating" facts.
We also break down Mastercard's newly announced Scam Merchant Dashboard, which officially goes into effect on July 24th, 2026. This aggressive program places a heavy burden on e-commerce merchants and their acquirers through a multi-trigger framework designed to shut down predatory accounts.
Key pillars of Mastercard’s new program include:
The Authorization Performance Breakdown: A sudden drop in approval rates—such as a 50 percentage point decline or falling below a 30% overall threshold within a 72-hour window—will immediately trigger an investigation.

The New Merchant 5% "Math": For accounts open less than six months, Mastercard is introducing a brand-new metric: combining refunds and chargebacks divided by overall sales. Crossing a 5% threshold over a rolling 30-day period (with at least 500 transactions) risks immediate account review.

The 72-Hour Termination Clock: Once flagged by issuer complaints or network alerts, acquirers have a strict 72-hour window to either prove the merchant's legitimacy or completely terminate their ability to accept Mastercard.

In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick is joined by Robert Siciliano, a world-renowned security analyst, bestselling author, and the architect of the Strategic Human Firewall. While the industry often obsesses over technological solutions, Robert explores why humans—not hackers—remain the ultimate deciding factor in organizational security.
The conversation dives deep into the "Human Blind Spot"—our biological instinct to trust that often overrides digital suspicion. Robert shares his unconventional journey from the streets of Boston to becoming a leading security educator, including the time he bought a working ATM on Craigslist to prove how easily data breaches can be purchased.
We also explore the critical shift from "Security Awareness" to "Security Appreciation":
The Compliance Trap: Why traditional phishing simulations and "check-the-box" training often lead to security fatigue and victim shaming.

The Strategic Human Firewall: How to transform employees from passive targets into active detection layers by filtering intent rather than just traffic.

The Kitchen Table Effect: Why the most effective security training is personal, encouraging employees to protect their families so they naturally protect their companies.

Overcoming Fatalism: A direct look at why people resist security measures like password managers and home alarms, and how to bridge the "Appreciation Gap" through empathetic dialogue.

In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick is joined by a guest she has been trying to bring back to the show for years: Holly Sandberg, a veteran leader in fraud operations, Americas Advisory Board at MRC and the former Director of Trust and Safety at Reverb. As the industry grapples with the rapid rise of Generative AI, Holly and Karisse cut through the "robot takeover" anxiety to provide a grounded, expert perspective on the future of fraud leadership.
The conversation explores the evolving mechanics of AI in trust and safety, detailing why the "human element" remains the ultimate force multiplier for technical models. Holly shares why senior fraud leadership cannot be replaced by LLMs, noting that the critical "domain expertise" required to manage sophisticated fraud—and spot model drift—is not found in open-source data.
We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:
The AI Visibility Strategy: Why volunteering for AI steering committees and working cross-functionally is the best way to prove your indispensability to leadership.
Hallucinations and Data Gaps: A deep dive into the "bias toward certainty" in AI, featuring a hilarious yet cautionary example of "pizza fraud" hallucinations and the risks of depending on LLMs for math and complex policy.
Career Resilience in a Changing Market: Tactical advice on navigating layoffs, the "quiet rehiring" trend, and how to pitch your value for a promotion by focusing on what you will do, rather than just what you’ve done.