When a romance fraud expert, bestselling author, and professional scam-troll meets two cybersecurity pros obsessed with deepfakes and social engineering, you get one of the most eye‑opening – and strangely funny – episodes we’ve ever recorded.

In this episode of Simplifying Cyber, British author Becky Holmes (aka “Death to Spinach” and author of Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You) joins Aaron Pritz and Cody Rivers to unpack the murky world of online romance fraud, celebrity imposters, and how emerging AI and deepfake tech are supercharging social engineering.

We cover:

How Becky accidentally fell into the world of romance scams during lockdown by trolling “handsome soldiers” in her DMs

Why smart, successful, emotionally stable people still fall for romance fraud — and why the “it could never be me” mindset is so dangerous

The brutal impact of victim blaming and victim shaming in romance scams, and how media narratives make reporting even harder

What really happens behind celebrity scams (including fake Keanu Reeves, “meet and greet” offers, and wild opening lines from fraudsters)

How scammers use emotional hot states, urgency, fear, and love to bypass even strong rational defenses

Why shame is one of the most powerful tools in a scammer’s arsenal — in both personal and corporate cyber attacks

The parallels between romance fraud and corporate phishing, smishing, and business email compromise (BEC)

How security teams often “tech-splain” and bury the message in jargon normal people will never read

Why user awareness, empathy, and culture are just as critical as firewalls and MFA

Then it gets real. Aaron and Cody put Becky in the middle of a live deepfake and AI demo using publicly available tools — starting with a fake kidnapping video, escalating into nightmare spinach scenarios (she really hates spinach), and ending in her “dream” deepfake wedding. Along the way, they show how shockingly easy it is to:

Deepfake a real person from a single photo

Clone a voice with just a few seconds of audio

Create emotionally manipulative video pleas that could fool friends, parents, or grandparents.

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