A collection of Bob Sullivan’s various podcasts.
By any measure you can find, fraud is soaring in the U.S. and around the world. I spent an hour on WHYY radio recently discussing the causes for this, but I can boil it down to one concept: big, uncaring companies have dehumanized customers and employees alike, creating a perfect [Keep reading]
UPDATE 10/31/2025 — With SNAP benefits about to be suspended due to the government shutdown, I checked the “theft scoreboard” to see if there’d been any improvement in this situation. In fact, it’s grown worse. More than $100 million was stolen in the most recent quarter, and the total is [Keep reading]
It’s a dark, cluttered room full of bookshelves, each shelf jam-packed with laptop computers. There are dozens of them humming away, lights flickering. And each one has a Post-It note attached with a single name on it. And there’s a pink purse just hanging off the side of one of [Keep reading]
Many years ago, a very smart book editor I worked with (Jill Schwartzman at Dutton now) gently admonished me because I failed to include resources for consumers in my tirades about the mistreatment of consumers. So was born concepts like “Red Tape Tips” I’d include at the end of my [Keep reading]
“I believe that a good lawyer has to acknowledge what the law in the system can do, but also what the law in the system cannot do. And that is brought into relief by this case. The law is primarily reactive. It is often playing catchup, and in the case [Keep reading]
Organized digital criminals have found another vulnerable group to attack: artists. Using the confusion and buzz around crypto and NFTs, they are approaching artists with tempting partnership offers — we’ll make and sell NFTs of your work, and you’ll earn tidy commissions. But after months of promising messages, and alleged [Keep reading]
“Lost pet. Help find Fido!” I’m sure you’ve seen signs like that taped on telephone polls, plastered all over bulletin boards at coffee shops, maybe even popped into your mailbox. There’s just something about lost pet signs that always make my heart sink. I immediately picture a family, worried sick, [Keep reading]
Jordan: Please, bro….It’s over. You win, bro. Dani: Okay. Goodbye. Jordan: I am KMS RN….which stands for, I’m killing myself right now….because of you. Dani: Good. Do that fast or I will make you do it. I swear to God. And that message … was the last one that he sent to [Keep reading]
How relentless and cruel are online criminals? I recently heard a story about an elderly victim whose family took his phone and Internet access away so he could not longer talk to the criminals who were stealing his money. So they hired a taxi driver who traveled an hour to [Keep reading]
You can invest in anything, so of course, you can invest in whisky. I was surprised to learn recently how “easy” that is, however. And, like all things that seem easy, there’s a catch. As with all non-traditional investments, there is little regulation. And when there’s little regulation, there are [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan