Most people think getting scammed is about missing red flags. It's not. It's about being human.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Martina Dove, a scam psychology expert who spent years researching the exact mechanisms that make fraud work — the psychology of trust, the architecture of manipulation, and why smart people hand over money to strangers.

We talk about what actually makes people vulnerable (spoiler: it's not intelligence), why dating platforms are fraud playgrounds, and what it takes to build systems that protect people instead of just educating them to be smarter. Martina walks us through the Barnum effect, synthetic fraud, and why meeting in person matters more than we think.

This conversation is about taking the shame out of vulnerability. Because if we're serious about building safer systems, we need to start with what actually makes people susceptible — not what we think should protect them.

About Dr. Martina Dove: Dr. Martina Dove is a research and product strategy consultant and scam psychology subject matter expert. Her work focuses on the human side of fraud, exploring the factors that can make people more vulnerable to scams, as well as the persuasion techniques fraudsters use to manipulate their victims.

With a background in user experience research and product strategy, Martina helps organizations design more effective fraud prevention strategies by better understanding user behavior, decision-making, and points of vulnerability.

Martina is especially passionate about destigmatizing fraud victimization and empowering people to recognize and resist scammers' tactics. She is committed to fighting fraud through education and awareness, helping individuals spot even the most sophisticated scam techniques. She has published a book on fraud psychology, actively supports fraud prevention non-profits, and regularly writes for industry blogs on fraud and consumer protection.

Connect with Martina: Website: martinadove.com

Get Martina's Book: The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Fraud-Persuasion-and-Scam-Techniques-Understanding-What-Makes-Us-Vulnerable/Dove/p/book/9781032953908

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