Rewriting the Fraud Conversation to Focus on Empathy (Susan Ralston)

Episode 68: Susan Ralston outlines the evolution of fraud and why she considers it a human, emotional crime whose victims deserve empathy over judgement. Erin West meets with Tower Federal Credit Union VP and COO to talk about changing the fraud conversation to focus on empathy. Susan’s career started at a grocery store cash register and evolved into decades of frontline fraud-fighting experience. We need to put our banker hats down and be human. — Susan Ralston, Tower Federal Credit Union Susan traces the transformation of fraud from small-town check washing to organized, transnational scam operations that exploded after COVID-19. She explains why considers fraud to fundamentally human, emotional issue. And she shares how her team trains credit-union staff to spot red flags, avoid judgment, and slow suspicious transactions before it’s too late to help the member. The victimization isn’t just money. It’s trust, it’s loved ones, it’s people’s dreams that are being taken away. — Susan Ralston, TFCU   Get the episode notes and video.     Episode Sponsors: Thank you to our Stolen podcast sponsors, ‪BioCatch and Scamnetic.‬   Subscribe to Stolen for straight truth, survivor-centered storytelling, and bold conversations about the scamdemic and the people fighting back.