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This week, we launch the final episode of the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit Podcast with WWF: Public-Private Partnership on Environmental Crime. Our guests are Ned Conway, Executive Secretary of the Wolfsberg Group and Chair of the UN Private Sector Dialogue on environmental crime, and Lynn Schlingemann from the World Resources Institute, who coordinates the Dialogues globally. We discuss how the UN Private Sector Dialogues bring together banks, law enforcement, and environmental experts to share intelligence, what concrete outputs emerge from these collaborations, and how financial institutions can engage in effective public-private partnerships to tackle environmental crime.

This week, we launch Episode 9 of the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit Podcast with WWF: Law Enforcement and the Illegal Wildlife Trade Our guest is Kevin Lacks-Kelly, Head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, with over 23 years of experience investigating wildlife trafficking. We discuss how wildlife crime operates as a financial crime, what financial intelligence from banks actually reveals in investigations, the red flags that financial institutions are missing, and how to coordinate financial intelligence sharing across borders when trafficking networks operate in multiple jurisdictions.

This week, we launch Episode 8 of the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit Podcast with WWF: Technology Solutions for Wildlife Crime. Our guest is Sarah Maston, Co-Chair of the Impact Technology Champions Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime and founder of Microsoft's Project 15 Open Platform for conservation and ecological sustainability. We discuss how technology can help detect and disrupt wildlife crime, the role of public-private partnerships in fighting environmental crime, and how innovation can bridge the gap between environmental intelligence and financial crime detection.

This week, we launch Episode 7 of the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit Podcast with WWF: Financial Institution Perspectives. Our guests are Paulina Villalpando and Collin Lobo from HSBC, discussing how a major global bank approaches environmental crime risk in practice. We discuss the evolution of financial institutions' approach to environmental crime, the challenges banks face in detection and prevention, how ESG and financial crime compliance intersect, and practical advice for institutions just starting to address these risks.

In Episode 6, we talk to Adam Farhan, Director at Rimbawatch, and Pamela Avusi, Coordinator of the Papua New Guinea Environmental Alliance, about the challenges and complexities of deforestation in Southeast Asia

We talk to Sasha Lezhnev, Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry, about conflict gold and other minerals in the DRC, and how these minerals connect to the global financial system.

We talk to Melina Risso, Director of Research at the Igarape Institute, about illegal mining in South America. We discuss the convergence of illegal mining with drug trafficking, legal grey areas that complicate mining supply chains, and transparency in the mining sector.

In Episode 3, we talk to Ben Brock, who has worked at TRAFFIC for the last seven years on wildlife crime. We delve deep into a real example of wildlife trafficking, taking an in-depth look at cheetah trafficking from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East. This episode dissects the drivers behind wildlife trafficking, the material impacts on both people and nature, and explores how we might tackle the illegal wildlife trade.   Find out more: https://www.wearethemis.com/uk/resources/environmental-crimes-financial-toolkit

We talk to Chris Batt, anti-money laundering expert about corruption and intersection with environmental crime. We discuss the vulnerabilities of financial institutions to laundered proceeds of environmental crime, key money laundering mechanisms, real life examples of money laundering and corruption in practice, and practical steps financial institutions can take to tackle these issues.   Find out more: https://www.wearethemis.com/uk/resources/environmental-crimes-financial-toolkit   **Correction: The overall value of the timber and criminal proceeds seized in the Brazilian timber crime case was just above $10million.

We speak to John Dodsworth, Head of Deforestation and Environmental Crime Strategy at WWF-UK about the environmental-financial crime nexus. We discuss how environmental crimes converge with financial crimes, practical tools and guidance available in the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit, and recommendations for financial institutions to take action to address their exposure.'

Scam call centres are no longer small, isolated operations. They are highly organised criminal enterprises that use psychology, technology, and global financial systems to steal billions every year. In this episode, we go behind the scenes of scam call centres to uncover how modern fraud operations actually work – from recruitment and scripts to money laundering and digital infrastructure. We break down the tactics used to manipulate victims, the role of organised crime, and why shutting these networks down is far more complex than it appears. This conversation explores: - How scam call centres are structured and operated - The psychology behind social engineering and coercion - Common scam scripts and manipulation techniques - How proceeds of fraud are moved and laundered - Why scam networks are difficult to dismantle - The growing role of technology, data, and AI in financial crime - What regulators, businesses, and individuals need to understand to reduce risk Whether you work in financial crime, compliance, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, law enforcement, or simply want to understand how scams really operate, this episode offers practical insight into one of the fastest-growing criminal threats globally. 🔎 Why this matters Scam call centres sit at the intersection of fraud, money laundering, organised crime, and human exploitation. Understanding how these operations function is critical to protecting consumers, strengthening compliance frameworks, and disrupting criminal networks at scale.

In this episode, we unpack how uncertainty, data gaps, and fragmented intelligence are creating new opportunities for financial crime, fraud, and environmental exploitation across global markets. Joining the conversation is Emily Hsu, Financial and Environmental Crime Researcher, who explores how weak governance, limited transparency, and uneven access to information allow criminal networks to operate across borders — from illicit supply chains and environmental crime to financial fraud and organised criminal activity. The discussion examines how criminals exploit: Knowledge gaps in high-risk jurisdictions Weak regulatory enforcement and oversight Complex global supply chains Limited data sharing between public and private sectors We also explore why financial institutions, regulators, and compliance teams must rethink traditional risk assessments — moving beyond static checklists towards intelligence-led, context-driven analysis that reflects real-world risk. Subscribe for more expert discussions on financial crime, fraud, corruption, sanctions, and emerging risks!

How did Burkina Faso become one of the most viral political stories on social media, despite limited internet access at home?   In this episode, Henry Wyard, Senior Policy Analyst, and Finlay Taylor, Junior Investigations Analyst, unpack how Burkina Faso has found itself at the forefront of modern disinformation warfare, AI-driven propaganda, and scam ecosystems operating across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and beyond. The discussion explores the global online campaign surrounding military leader Ibrahim Traoré — examining how bot networks, AI-generated videos, deepfakes, click farms and fabricated economic “success stories” are reshaping public perception far beyond West Africa.   Key topics covered: How AI has transformed propaganda into scalable, anonymous influence campaigns The role of bots, click farms and astroturfed engagement Fake gold mining claims, deepfake world leaders and AI-generated music propaganda The geopolitical narratives tying Burkina Faso, Russia and anti-Western sentiment Why West Africa’s mineral wealth makes it a strategic disinformation battleground The collapse of democratic norms and the fallout from ECOWAS sanctions How disinformation fuels fraud, scams and financial crime risk This episode breaks down how modern propaganda works, why it spreads and what it means for geopolitics, financial crime and global security, using Burkina Faso as a case study in the future of influence operations.    Perfect for viewers interested in:  Disinformation | AI & propaganda | Financial crime | Cyber-enabled fraud | Geopolitics | Africa security | OSINT | Risk & intelligence  Podcast: Burkina Faso & The Cutting Edge of Propaganda   Based on analysis by Finlay Taylor   Subscribe for more deep-dive investigations into financial crime, risk and global influence operations.

Themis FinCrime Podcast: Fraud Alongside the release of The FinCrime Times, Themis presents a five-part podcast series uncovering the evolving world of fraud, from AI-driven deception to cross-border scam economies. Hosted by Henry Wyard, Senior Policy Analyst at Themis, each 20-minute episode dives into one of the magazine’s feature stories, with the authors themselves joining to unpack their research, perspectives and real-world implications. In the first episode, Henry speaks with Jennifer Downie, AI and Fraud Researcher at Themis, about her article ‘Pig Butchering Investment Scams: The Victims on the Other Side of the Bitcoin.’ Jennifer discusses how these scams intertwine human trafficking, organised crime and emerging technology, revealing the disturbing human cost behind one of the fastest-growing fraud typologies in the world.

Join us as Aine McParland, Financial and Environmental Crime Researcher at Themis, engages in conversation with Olivia Dakeyne, Associate Director of Themis' Insight Team, and John Dodsworth, Drivers Initiative Lead at WWF-UK, as they delve into the recently published report by Themis and WWF-UK titled 'Financial Crimes and Land Conversion: Uncovering the Risk for Financial Institutions.' Tune in to gain insights on the critical issue of land conversion and its far-reaching implications for financial institutions. Learn more about the broader Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit, an initiative being developed in partnership with WWF-UK, designed to address these challenges directly.