If you listen to podcasts, you know that there is a podcast for everything and for everyone. What began as an outlet for people to share their love of family, travel, music, and cooking became a playground for con artists and criminals. Today, you can find podcasts that promote the sale of drugs from illegal pharmacies. Investment scam podcasts target naïve and inexperienced investors. There are also podcasts that promote false information to influence others, which are very popular among conspiracy theorists.
Spotify recently removed hundreds of podcasts that were found to be promoting opioid sales after CNN and Business Insider reported the illegal drug sales to the company. But it is a never-ending battle. The company uses AI and human moderators to search for potential scams yet when one is removed, another is created. An X user sent a scathing tweet to the company’s CEO showing him just how many podcasts on the platform promoted drugs like opioids, benzos, and amphetamines. Podcasts that had been up for months.
Adding to a growing global problem, Spotify is not the only podcasting company out there. There are hundreds. And just like Spotify, companies like Apple, iHeart, NPR, and HubSpot also have strict content guidelines and moderation in place. These companies rely on their team members to flag potential problems then report any suspected criminal activity to legal. There are systems in place. Yet with over 6.5 million podcasts and 584 million podcasts listeners, criminal activity is bound to happen, and someone is bound to fall prey to a con. Remember, there is a podcast for everything and for everyone.