{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Payment Expert Podcast","title":"Crypto’s Dark Side: Scams, Sanctions and State-Backed Crime | Ep. 27","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1377,"description":"From sophisticated investment scams to sanctions evasion and state-backed cybercrime, crypto has become an increasingly important part of the global financial crime conversation.\nIn this episode of the Payment Expert Podcast, Louis Thompsett is joined by Senior Business Journalist Kieran O’Connor to examine some of the darkest corners of the digital asset economy.\nThe pair look at how so-called scam farms build relationships with victims over weeks or months before stealing their money, why stablecoins such as USDT have become so useful to criminal networks, and how stolen funds can be dispersed across multiple wallets and exchanges within minutes.\nThey also examine the human cost behind these operations, including forced scam compounds in Southeast Asia where victims of trafficking are coerced into carrying out fraud.\nThe conversation then moves from organised crime to geopolitics, exploring how sanctioned states including Russia, Iran and North Korea have used digital assets to move money, bypass traditional financial rails and support state-linked activity.\nBut is crypto actually better for criminals than cash?\nThe episode ends by asking whether the permanent, public nature of blockchain transactions could ultimately make crypto one of the most traceable forms of financial crime.\nSubscribe to the Payment Expert Podcast for more news, insight and analysis from across the global payments industry.\nFor the latest payments news, visit Payment Expert.\n#Crypto #Cryptocurrency #FinancialCrime #Stablecoins #Payments","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/x2AisWu-O0-jJGBjbb6bp8_EKOIbCdh06yuEKJ5YS6Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mOGQ4/MGQ1ZjhhNGRjYWY0/NzI0Nzc4NTRmNjU5/MDNlNy5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}