logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
3m 47s

Trailer: Scam Inc

The Economist
About this episode

A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. 


The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank in rural Kansas to uncover a global, underground scam economy built around human trafficking, corruption and money laundering. Can it be stopped?


Available now.


To listen to the full series subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Dune raider: Saudi is a video-game superpower
Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, is a huge video-game fan. Now his hobby is becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry for the kingdom, which is acquiring some of the world’s biggest gaming firms. How Finnish icebreakers became a focus for polar power politics. And ... Show More
19m 57s
Yesterday
Finally, a deal: the fragile peace in Gaza
Donald Trump has brokered an agreement between Israel’s government and Hamas. It’s a momentous breakthrough. Our correspondent analyses what comes next. We launch “The Economist Insider”, our new TV show for subscribers, where senior editors debate the news. And, do red-light mas ... Show More
23m 25s
Oct 8
Liberté, égalité, désordre: chaos in France
France’s newly-appointed prime minister has resigned only weeks into the job. Now President Emmanual Macron has given him 48 hours to come up with a plan for next year’s budget. Can Macron survive the turmoil? As driverless taxis take over San Francisco, what will happen to the h ... Show More
21m 3s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful.  The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank ... Show More
3m 47s
Jan 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It is already more lucrative than the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful.  The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a ... Show More
3m 47s
Jan 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank ... Show More
3m 47s
Jan 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It is probably bigger than the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful.  The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank in ... Show More
3m 47s
Feb 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank ... Show More
3m 47s
Jan 2025
Trailer: Scam Inc
A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful.  The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank ... Show More
3m 47s
Apr 2024
Strange News: The Cybertruck Debacle, Historic Conviction in International Psychic Scam, Loans for the Dead, the Secret World of Extra Passports
Did you know wealthy people can easily buy citizenship in numerous other countries (and they're doing it at an unprecedented rate)? Plus the ongoing Cybertruck debacle. In two different countries, criminals get caught wheeling corpses to banks for loans and withdrawals. The notor ... Show More
59m 51s
Mar 2025
The Sunday Read: ‘The Cryptocurrency Scam That Turned a Small Town Against Itself’
Jim Tucker could hardly believe what he was hearing. It sounded like fiction, a nightmare too outlandish for an unassuming town like his.It was July 2023, and Tucker was hosting a meeting of the board of Heartland Tri-State Bank, a community-owned business in a small Kansas town ... Show More
27m 37s
Apr 2025
Taking Stock of the ‘Sell America’ Trade
Something strange happened in the US financial system earlier this week: the stock market, the bond market, and the value of the dollar all slumped. This volatility andrecent threats to fire Fed chief Jerome Powell are unnerving foreign investors, who are flocking to a new phenom ... Show More
20m 42s
Feb 2025
It could happen to you: introducing “Scam Inc”
Our new podcast series is a shocking look at transnational organised crime: nearly as big as the illegal-drug trade and far more sophisticated than you might think. Beware. After a week that started with bold tariff moves by the Trump administration, what can be gleaned from how ... Show More
24m 25s