Hi, I’m Chris Parker and thank you for checking out the Easy Prey Podcast—where I interview fascinating guests, both victims, and experts, to provide entertaining and eye-opening information on the important topic of scams and fraud.
It’s not that I think scams are a fun and exciting topic—not at all. But it is a very important topic for you to know about, now more than ever. Statistics show that one in 10 people will fall victim to a scam in North America this year. Every year, billions (with a “B”) of dollars are lost to con artists and crooks.
Let me give you some background on how the Easy Prey podcast came about.
I am the founder of a website called WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, which gets more than 7 million visits every month. An IP address, if you’re wondering, is the number related to the internet connection and your computer whenever, and wherever, you’re online. The same goes for other internet-connected devices too, like your mobile phone and tablet.
“Many of those losses could have been prevented if they had only known what to be on the watch for.” -Chris Parker Share on XMillions of people count on WhatIsMyIPAddress.com when they need to look up their IP address…and I’m glad to help them.
And then there are thousands of people who want more than their IP address. They want help tracking down someone on the internet—someone who scammed them out of their money. Sometimes it’s a few hundred or thousands of dollars. And sometimes it’s their life savings.
It’s always a terribly sad story. They’re embarrassed, devastated and at their rope’s end. Out of desperation, they reach out to me, hoping I can help them find the person who stole their money.
And it hurts when I have to tell them that there’s nothing I can do. It’s virtually impossible to track a scam artist down and WhatIsMyIPAddress.com isn’t designed to do that.
Worse than that, it’s simply too late. Often, even the police can’t help victims get their money back once they’ve been scammed. The money and the scammers are long gone. I can only imagine what it feels like to be in that situation.
“When looking back at the interactions there were plenty of warning signs that were either overlooked or outright ignored.” -Chris Parker Share on XSo, I began reading up on scams and fraud. We started writing more articles about it for WhatIsMyIPAddress.com. And I started appearing as a guest on various podcasts to talk about scams. I even made my first TV appearance to talk about romance scams.
Chris Parker on ABC 15 Phoenix Talking About Romance Scams
It was a start, but I wanted to do more.
I came across a report on a survey of scam victims, conducted by a few well-known North American organizations, including the Better Business Bureau.
The report concluded with this: The likelihood of someone getting scammed drops significantly when they’re aware of the kind of scams are out there, what danger signs to look for, and what to do if they think they’re talking to a scammer.
The report said awareness is power, and that knowledge is the best defense against scams.
That’s when I knew what I could do—I can’t help people after they’ve been scammed, but if I can help them avoid losing money to a scam in the first place, that’s an even better outcome.
“You will hear true stories and actionable advice that will help you, your friends and your family from becoming Easy Prey.” -Chris Parker Share on XMy goal is simple: to open my podcast listeners’ eyes to the different types of fraud out there, and how scams work, and then provide information that could help them avoid being easy prey and becoming a victim statistic.
On the Easy Prey Podcast, I interview experts on tax scams, romance scams, phony lottery winnings, eBay and Craigslist rip-offs, phishing and more. I also talk about other situations where you could be “easy prey” for someone looking to take advantage of you.
And if you've been a victim of a scam, I would love to hear from you. Your story could be on the podcast if it might help prevent someone else from falling into the same trap. Visit easyprey.com/mystory for more information.
