The Fight of My Life — Season 2: Escaping Scam City

Episode 3: The Dance

Date: May 26, 2025
Podcast by Cadence Productions

Episode Overview

This episode, “The Dance,” delves into the harrowing operations of romance and cryptocurrency scams from both sides of the deception. The story centers on Ava, a Cambodian woman coerced into becoming a scammer for survival, and Shai Plonsky, an American single dad who becomes a victim of a romance scam, losing his life savings. The episode intricately weaves their stories, revealing not just the mechanics of pig butchering scams, but the emotional devastation and loss these schemes inflict on both the exploited laborers and their targets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ava’s Backstory and Descent into Scam City

• Ava’s Childhood Hardship

  • Raised by her grandmother after her parents’ separation and abandonment ([01:19])
  • Started working at 14 to survive: packing snacks, washing cars ([01:19])
  • Dreamed of becoming a nurse to care for the elderly ([00:30])

• Single Motherhood and Economic Despair

  • By 24, Ava was raising three children alone ([01:40])
  • Worked long factory hours, feeling like a “robot to find money” ([02:01])

• Hope and Love Amidst Adversity

  • Found a legitimate job at a Cambodian casino, met Micah, a kind co-worker ([03:31])
  • Their relationship blossomed despite language barriers; Micah learned Thai for Ava ([04:16])
  • COVID pandemic and her grandmother’s death forced Ava back to Thailand, struggling for work ([05:28])

• Desperation Leads to the Scam Compound

  • Tempted by a Facebook job post, Ava moved with Micah for seemingly better prospects ([05:28], [07:29])
  • She is quickly confronted with the grim reality of scam city:

    “I had the feeling of going to a bookstore and buying a book about doing good and morals...and then when I opened the book, it’s pornography. It was shocking to me.” — Ava ([07:29])

Inside the Scamming Machine

• How the Scams Work

  • Ava and others forced to create false identities (“as beautiful as a fairy”) on dating apps ([11:20])
  • Every morning:

    “I got up in the morning and then the first thing I was asked to do was open up Tinder and then like and match.” — Ava ([11:20])

  • Targets are moved to encrypted apps like Line for unsupervised conversations ([11:48])

• Scripted Love and Manipulation

  • Scammers (like Ava) use pre-written scripts for emotional grooming ([13:13])
  • Video calls now sometimes use deepfake tech, blurring truth and identity ([15:46])

• Victims Handover Process

  • Once victims express interest in investing, they’re handed to more specialized operators ([18:11])
  • The scam’s hallmark: initial small wins, “get a little money out and treat yourself,” to build trust ([20:27])

Shai’s Story: The Victim’s Perspective

• Profile of a Target

  • Shai Plonsky, Thai massage teacher in California, father, vulnerable post-divorce ([08:38], [09:13])

• The Dance Begins

  • Meets “Sandy” on Facebook Dating; initial rapport, shared interests ([09:57], [14:44])
  • Daily chats build connection—

    “There was sort of like a poetic way ...that I liked. And it just started with...just little messages going back and forth.” — Shai ([13:39])

• Grooming Phase

  “When we talk to someone, we call it grooming. And we usually groom for a month before they can go on trading.” — Ava ([15:36])

• Money Enters the Conversation

  • After trust is built, Sandy offers trading tips, encourages Shai to try cryptocurrency investing ([17:01], [17:34])
  • Shai puts in some crypto, sees artificial profits, is encouraged to deposit more ([18:54], [20:13])
  • Eventually, he deposits his life savings, believing he's made $45,000 ([22:21])

  • “According to what it said in the account, I think I’d probably made about $45,000...life changing money...” — Shai ([22:21])

The Scam Unravels

• Discovery and Devastation

  • Shai’s friends spot the scam, prompting him to google “pig butchering,” which matches his experience ([26:18])
  • When trying to withdraw funds, he's told to deposit more as “tax”; realizes it’s all false ([27:39])

  • “It felt like, like being stabbed in the heart. And like a poison, like. Like a dark, dark poison was, like, spreading, you know, like, in me of, like, what have I done? What am I going to do.” — Shai ([30:13])

• Scammer Side Trauma

  • Ava, forced to scam, witnesses victims fall into despair:

    “When they have lost their money? They will tell me, oh, I don’t want to live anymore...At that point, I felt like a dog locked in a small cage. And I was forced to wake up and greet people and do things that I believe if someone had done to me would be horrible.” — Ava ([30:33])

  • After her partner Micah’s attempt to escape is discovered, both are extorted for $20,000 ransom:

    “Micah was crying and he said, please let us go. How much can I pay you?” — Ava ([38:11])

Systemic Scale & Suffering

• No One is Immune

  “There’s no such thing as an unscammable person, just the wrong script.” — Narrator ([25:27])
  “It hits your neighbor and your cousin, and, you know, that’s. That’s the commonality that it hits everybody.” — Erin West ([25:46])

• Double Destruction: For Victims and the Forced Scammers

  • Victims lose money, stability, even relationships
  • Workers lose hope, agency, and often physical safety ([32:08])
  • For those who resist, the cost is “way, way higher...health, physical safety, and...tragically...life.” — Producer ([32:08])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ava’s First Impressions of Scam City

  “I had the feeling of going to a bookstore and buying a book about doing good and morals...and then when I opened the book, it’s pornography. It was shocking to me.” — Ava ([07:29])

• On Grooming and Manipulation

  “It’s not easy, actually, to make someone love you.” — Ava ([12:43])
  “They are scoping out exactly how much money that victim has and where it’s located.” — Erin West ([17:22])

• Victim’s Realization

  “This person was sold a dream. They really had it in their mind that their life was going a certain way...and then it gets ripped off them and the effects are devastating.” — Erin West ([23:27])

• Scammer’s Confinement

  “At that point, I felt like a dog locked in a small cage.” — Ava ([30:33])

• Micah’s Defiance

  “‘What if they hurt you? What if they kill you?’ And he said, ‘If they hurt me, if they kill me, then so be it, because this is like being dead anyways.’” — Ava ([39:11])

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Ava’s Life & Childhood: ([00:04]–[01:40])
• Meeting Micah & Falling in Love: ([02:19]–[05:02])
• COVID Hits & Ava’s Desperation: ([05:28])
• First Day at Scam Compound: ([07:29])
• How Pig Butchering Scams Work (Erin West): ([10:12]–[13:13])
• Shai Ensnared in the Scam: ([14:44]–[22:21])
• Victims’ Emotional Fallout/Realization: ([26:18]–[30:13])
• Ava’s Experience as a Forced Scammer: ([30:33])
• Micah & Ava Caught Trying to Escape: ([34:34]–[39:11])

Tone and Style

The episode is raw, personal, and unsparing. Firsthand accounts from both the exploited scammer Ava and victim Shai bring a human face to a global criminal industry, mixing investigative reporting with narrative storytelling. Emotional vulnerability and honesty pervade the narrative.

Conclusion

“Escaping Scam City | The Dance” uncovers the intimate mechanics and heartbreak of romance scams, showing the dual devastation: victims lose savings, trust, and hope, while the exploited workers lose their agency, safety, and humanity. Both Ava and Shai’s stories illustrate how, given the right script and the wrong circumstances, anyone can be caught in the dance — and the only way to break free is by exposing its steps.

For anyone affected or interested in learning about the realities behind online scams—from motivation to heartbreak—this episode is a poignant, essential listen.