PUBLISHED: JAN 28, 2025INDEXED: APR 30, 2026, 8:02 AM

Trailer: Scam Inc

Quotes & Clips

5 clips
Drum Tower from The Economist
Jan 28

A Kansas bank CEO lost $47 million to a crypto scam

β€œTo a small town in rural Kansas, where $47 million went missing from the local bank. What do you mean something's wrong with the bank? We never have problems. Over several months, the bank's CEO had quietly put most of the bank's money into some sort of cryptocurrency investment, until the board called him in to explain himself.”

β€” Sue-Lin Wong
Drum Tower from The Economist
Jan 28

The scam industry rivals the global illegal drug trade

β€œThis predatory industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. And it's growing fast. It's probably bigger than the illegal drug trade. Behind it is a dystopian criminal underworld, of forced labor, corruption and intrigue.”

β€” Sue-Lin Wong
Drum Tower from The Economist
Jan 28

Victims are trafficked and enslaved inside scam compounds

β€œWell, in there, people are sold. You are slaves in there. What really disturbed me was how systematized it was, the brutality.”

β€” Unidentified speakers
Drum Tower from The Economist
Jan 28

Scammers chant slogans about crippling Western economies

β€œThey had these slogans that would always chant before we'd start to work every day, and it was something like cripple the US and the European economy.”

β€” Unidentified speaker
Drum Tower from The Economist
Jan 28

Scam operators effectively function as local government

β€œThey're essentially the law enforcement. They're the government.”

β€” Sue-Lin Wong and guest

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Trailer: Scam Inc β€” Drum Tower from The Economist | Quicklets.ai | quicklets.ai