Name: How 2 YouTubers Took on Global Fraud Rings
Uploaded: 2026-04-15T05:32:01.000Z
Description: “We never planned to bust scammers—it just happened,” Ashton says, recounting their pivot from filmmakers to full-time scam baiters.

Steve is an investigative reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Steve Ispas is an investigative journalist with The Epoch Times and the host of Epoch TV’s “Bay Area Innovators” program. Steve grew up in Eastern Europe, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35 years. He worked in the tech industry for 15 years at LSI Logic and Rambus, and has been with The Epoch Times in various positions since 2003. His recent coverage includes an in-depth exclusive investigation of the secret Chinese biolab discovered in Reedley, Calif., in 2022.

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In today’s episode, Ashton and Art of Trilogy Media reveal how an accidental phone call with an IRS scammer launched a nine-year crusade against fraud.

“We never planned to bust scammers—it just happened,” Ashton says, recounting their pivot from filmmakers to full-time scam baiters.

From viral YouTube videos to their brand-new Fox Nation series, “Scammed: Getting Even,” the duo breaks down the layers of tech-support scams, romance cons, and AI deepfakes that prey on the elderly.

They share the five-year journey that led to 25 arrests in a $65 million Chinese-Indian crime ring.

Join us for a gripping look at the hustle behind the busts, the red flags everyone needs to know, and why awareness is the ultimate weapon against the cybercrime pandemic.

<em>Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of  NTD.</em>

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