In this episode of Risk and Reason, Eli Wachs sits down with Jason Brown, Director of Risk Operations at Imprint and former U.S. Secret Service agent, to explore the evolution of cybercrime and financial fraud. Drawing on nearly 25 years in federal law enforcement, Jason discusses the professionalization of fraud networks, why fraud is fundamentally human, and how AI can act as a force multiplier without replacing human judgment. The conversation also covers synthetic fraud, payment rails, stablecoins, and what the future of risk management looks like in an increasingly digital economy.

Chapters
(00:52) Meet Jason Brown And His Background

(03:44) Building The ECTF And Early Cybercrime

(07:35) Operation Firewall And Carding Markets

(10:06) Teaming Up: Agencies And Corporates

(11:52) AI’s Role And Human Oversight

(14:58) Fraud As A Human-Driven Problem

(17:40) Specialization In Criminal Marketplaces

(19:15) Mule Accounts And Money Movement

(21:06) Secret Service Mandate And Focus

(23:13) New Rails: Stablecoins And Protocols

(24:26) Startups, Speed, And Risk Innovation

(25:19) Why Blockchain Traceability Matters

(27:42) Career Moments And Closing

Follow us on Socials

Jason's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-brown-1a6054ba/

Eli's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint: www.onefootprint.com

Ryan Hunter (Director of Identity & Fraud Strategy at Built Rewards) joins Eli to unpack how fraud is evolving fast — from synthetic identities to first-party scams and global fraud rings that operate like real businesses. They dig into why legacy ID systems keep failing, where the biggest vulnerabilities live today, and what it will take to actually shift the playing field.

Chapters

(00:00) Ryan’s path into fraud strategy

(05:53) How fraud evolved: fake IDs → synthetic → first-party

(10:21) Why SSNs are a broken identifier

(16:38) First-party fraud, credit washing, and detection gaps

(23:29) Fraud’s hidden cost to every consumer

(25:11) Review decisions: phishing, recovery, mule accounts

(29:47) Why fraud stays interesting + geopolitics of fraud rings

Key takeaways

• Fraud hits everyone through higher rates and product costs
• Synthetic + first-party fraud now outpace classic third-party fraud
• Weak national ID infrastructure still fuels modern attacks
• Mule accounts and phone takeovers are major failure points
• Fraud rings are organized, coordinated, and often state-level
• Stopping fraud would unlock huge UX gains across industries

Follow us on Socials

Ryan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrussellhunter/

Eli's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint: www.onefootprint.com