About this episode
You think you'd never fall for a scam until you meet someone like Kitboga. He's a software engineer who's turned his curiosity about online fraud into a full-time mission to outsmart scammers and protect the people they target. His YouTube channel, The Kitboga Show, has millions of followers and nearly a billion views, thanks to his mix of humor, empathy, and clever ways of exposing how scams really work. In our conversation, Kit opens up about how this all started, what it's really like to spend hours pretending to be a scam victim, and how organized crime has turned fraud into a massive global business. He shares what's changed over the years and why those old "red flags" don't always work anymore and how new tools like deepfakes and AI have made deception harder to spot than ever. Kit also talks about his newest project, Serif Secure, a free tool he created to help people clean and protect their computers after a scam attempt. He's honest, thoughtful, and a little funny even when the subject is dark. By the end, you'll see just how much one person can do to fight back. Show Notes: [01:15] Kit explains how he got into "scam baiting" and why protecting victims became personal. [03:05] He shares how streaming scam calls to friends unexpectedly turned into a viral mission. [06:07] Kit recounts nearly falling for a Discord impersonation scam himself. [09:17] We discuss how deepfakes and AI are changing what a "red flag" looks like online. [11:31] Scammers now use real services like PayPal and DocuSign to appear legitimate. [13:11] Kit explains how long-term investment and "pig-butchering" scams draw people in slowly. [15:51] Fraudsters are now going after 401(k)s and retirement funds instead of small cash grabs. [17:00] We examine how fake phone numbers and online ads make verification harder than ever. [19:56] Kit talks about the emotional toll of scam-baiting and why he sometimes needs a break. [21:51] We reflect on why decades-old scams, like Nigerian letters, still thrive today. [23:57] The scale of organized fraud is compared to global industries worth trillions. [25:41] Kit admits scams will never truly disappear—only evolve with new technology. [26:44] We learn how his team uses automation to detect and map out scam networks. [30:24] Kit describes juggling live streaming with scam calls and the role humor plays in coping.
