Tell me what's on your mind.

In our last episode, I told you about social engineering -- how a con artist's patter can convince you to do anything. But sometimes props are needed to make that tale seem more real.

In this episode we talk about the devices and distractions tricksters use to keep you from noticing your money is slipping from your fingers.

Tell me what's on your mind.

Nearly all scams are built around the technique of social engineering. Con artists know how to manipulate you, what buttons to push and allow you to believe you made a choice you never had.

In this episode, we explore the techniques of social engineering and why we're all vulnerable to them.

And you'll hear a scammer confess to her crime and said she took advantage of an elderly couple because they were "good people."

Tell me what's on your mind.

We're ready to go back to school with Scams & Cons classes that begin Sept. 11.

Enjoy the long weekend, then it's back to the fun!

Tell me what's on your mind.

It's time for our summer break so I can prepare new episodes for season 9. Listen in as I give you the details and respond to some listener notes.

Have a great summer and make some time away from the news to have some fun. You deserve it!

Tell me what's on your mind.

If you bought tickets to a pop-up taco museum restaurant in San Antonio, you got scammed. If someone wants to hook you up with a priest who does exorcisms, beware. But we begin with the story of a brand new scam called call merging. It involves merging your phone call with a scammer and a bank’s two-factor authentication system, stealing your secret code.

Tell me what's on your mind.

More than 60 hotels are conned by a man who dirtied rooms with roaches and condoms, and scammers are showing up at people’s doors to collect money they say they are owed. And I want to tell you the tale of a gambit that I can't call a con, but it's a great way to lose your money.

Tell me what's on your mind.

We're all vulnerable to scams, but we don't have to be willing victims. Today I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago -- tell you just what to do to thwart scammers.

Tell me what's on your mind.

A new scam is moving across the country that can capture the information on your credit card's chips, plus Minnesota legislators are considering a law that would reimburse victims of scams.