The Latest Tips For Avoiding Email Scams

In this episode of All of It, host Alison Stewart reveals that her name and image have been impersonated in a sophisticated email scam targeting authors, promising interviews and social media exposure in exchange for money. The scam has also affected other WNYC shows, including the New Yorker Radio Hour and Brian Lehrer’s program. To discuss the growing threat of digital scams, Stewart is joined by Lily Hay Newman, senior writer at Wired, who breaks down the psychology and mechanics behind modern email scams. Newman highlights how scammers now use 'world building'—crafting believable narratives with clean, well-composed messages—to manipulate victims, often leveraging generative AI to scale their operations across languages and platforms. The episode explores the broader landscape of digital fraud, including the role of pandemic-era shifts that helped industrialize scamming in regions like Southeast Asia, and the rise of 'pig butchering' scams. Listeners share real-life experiences, from compromised email accounts to fraudulent bank calls, underscoring the importance of trusting one’s instincts and seeking human verification. The episode concludes with a compassionate reminder that being scammed is not a personal failure and urges listeners to seek help without shame.