Episode 2 – 🛠️🧠 Building the Anti-Scammer Playbook 🛠️🧠

Scammers aren’t sloppy — they’re strategic. In this episode, we trace the roots of deception from ancient Greece to modern-day crypto cons. You’ll learn how scam tactics have evolved into a billion-dollar industry that targets our most human emotions: trust, love, and hope. I break down how age, wealth, and vulnerability are exploited — This episode isn’t just history — it’s a wake-up call. Because if we can decode the scammer’s playbook, we can stop playing their game.

Transcript

0:10

Episode two, building the Antis Scammer Playbook. Welcome back to the romance scam Rebellion. Here we don't just share survivor stories. We're exposing the tactics, dismantling the shame, and rewriting the playbook. Ever wonder how a scammer, outsmarts smart people, or turns love into a weapon? That's exactly what we're taking on in this episode. I'm taking you on a journey through time manipulation and through growing consequences. Scamming isn't new, it's as old as money itself. In ancient Greece. Sea merchants would often borrow money to finance their voyages. This was called a bottomy, a type of insurance or loan that would then be repaid with interest once the cargo was successfully delivered. If the voyage failed, however, the merchant would lose both the cargo and their ship in the deal that is, unless they could cheat the system. In about 300 BC, a couple of dishonest merchants decided they would outsmart their lenders. And claim their ship had sunk so they wouldn't have to repay the loan, then secretly pocket the money. But Karma had other plans as they were caught in the act of sinking the ship and drowned trying to escape. This is the earliest recorded scam, but for thousands of years since then, deception has only evolved. If scams didn't work, they would've died out a long time ago. Instead, they've only grown more sophisticated, more targeted. And more profitable. Fast forward to the 16th century and we have one of the earliest known romance scams. It was called the Spanish prisoner scam, where con artists would target businessmen and pose as important wealthy members of Spanish society while claiming to have a huge hidden fortune and a beautiful single daughter that needed to be married, they would tell their victims that she was being held captive. But with a small investment to help free her, not only would they gain access to a massive fortune, they'd also have a wife waiting for them. Sound familiar? These old tricks never went away. These days, they're just digitally supercharged upgrades. Today's scammers still promise wealth and romance, but now they do it through fake profiles, scripted chats and algorithm targeted lies. Same emotional manipulation from old timey, handwritten letters to fake dating apps. The tactics have changed, but the goal has always been the same. Gain your trust, steal your future. Scamming is no longer a one person hustle. It's an industry we're talking about. Organized crime rings complete with training programs, scripts, and even quotas. Some operations are even linked to human trafficking. Forcing captives to run scams under the threat of violence. More on this in a future episode, but make no mistake, these scammers are modern day robber barons running businesses designed to manipulate and exploit human emotion for profit. Let's say you wanna start a business or a scam and you need to identify your target audience. You obviously want to maximize the return on your investments. So who are you going to look at a struggling college student? A young family trying to make ends meet. Probably not. If you're in either one of these categories, it still doesn't give you a free pass to ignore these scammers. There are young people who are targeted differently, and we'll talk more about that in a future episode. Even if your risk is very low, you probably have family members, neighbors or friends you can identify as possible targets for these scams. And they need your help to alert and educate them to the looming dangers. See something, say something. The real jackpot for these scams are those in their mid forties and above, people who have lived, who've lost, and who desire for a second chance at love. These are the people who often have assets, savings, and emotional vulnerability. The perfect storm for scammers to exploit. According to statistica.com, baby boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 hold over 50% of household wealth here in the us. This generation significantly outpaces millennials and Gen Z who face challenges like student loan debt, rising cost of living, and slower wage growth. Also, just remind yourself about how wealth gets passed down. Over the next 25 years in the US alone, more than a hundred trillion dollars will be inherited by younger generations. If scammers siphon that wealth away, can you just imagine the economic consequences? Think about that. If scammers come after your parents or grandparents and take all of their assets, which were meant to be handed down to you, all of that is at risk of being lost. This isn't just about individual loss, it's about families, communities, generational security, and even national security. We're talking about economic collapse in slow motion. This industry is huge and keeps growing. It's worldwide so much bigger than you and me. Scammers don't just steal money, they steal possibility, and if we don't stop them, they'll keep cashing in on our silence. In the next episode, I'll provide some real life examples of actual scammers that hit me up. Move by move like a playbook because once you see the script, you can stop falling for the performance. Self-compassion isn't weakness, it's resistance. I'm Manola Johnson and this is the Romance Scam Rebellion. See you next time.