Mario Bekes ON: The Importance of Information in Combating Fraud.

The Picture of Wealth

In this episode, Dustin interviews Mario Bekes, founder of Insight Intelligence Group, about his background and his passion for protecting people from fraud and ransom. Mario talks about his upbringing in a communist household as well as his experience in the military and how it led him to start his own company. He emphasizes the importance of information as the most valuable commodity and advises clients to know their sources and validate information before making decisions. Mario also discusses the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments, phone scams, and hacking attempts, urging listeners to be vigilant and not fall for common tactics. He shares valuable insights on how to protect oneself from online scams and fraud and encourages listeners to chase their dreams and not be afraid to take risks. Mario is the founder of Insight Intelligence Group spanning 30 years. He acts as an architect and designer of solutions in corporate investigations, human intelligence, and surveillance techniques within both government and corporate sectors. In addition, he is also a podcast host on LIFE: The Battlefield, which has just been titled the Guinness World Record for Longest Audio Only Live-Steam. What we discuss: [00:00:00] Mario talks about his parents, who were typical communist products, and his mother, a professional thief. He also shares how his parents kicked him out of the house at age 14. [00:01:38] Mario talks about his passion for protecting people from fraud and ransom, which led him to found Insight Intelligence Group in 2003. [00:05:28] Mario talks about how he joined the special forces and fought in the Croatian War of Independence for 1800 consecutive days, as well as his total 10 years in the military. [00:07:48] Mario talks about his difficult childhood. [00:11:07] Mario discusses his motivation for creating his investigative company and combating financial crime and fraud. [00:15:11] Mario emphasizes the importance of information and validation in decision making, especially when it comes to buying products or services. [00:16:16] Mario explains the importance of validating information sources and applying legal methods to obtain non-public information. [00:18:46] Mario shares his concerns about the non-regulated space of cryptocurrency and warns listeners to be careful when investing. [00:22:58] Mario warns listeners about the increasing number of SMS scams and recent hacks of large companies, emphasizing the importance of being cautious with personal information. [00:24:18] Mario explains how COVID-19 created a perfect storm for fraudsters to use their imagination and deceive people through mass approaches like carpet bombing and recording every stroke on old software. [00:26:52] Mario talks about how corporations spend a lot of money protecting data, but the biggest problem is the war from home. [00:31:23] Mario emphasizes the importance of prevention and how to train staff to prevent fraud. He shares an example of how information leakage happens on a plane and how his company helps in preventing such incidents. [00:32:38] Mario advises against sharing personal information on social media, including wealth, location, and business details. [00:33:34] Mario Shares the story of when he broke the world Guinness book record for the longest streaming podcast, which lasted for 55 hours and 26 minutes. Episode resources: Mario Bekes | Website Mario Bekes | Instagram Mario Bekes | Spotify Mario Bekes | Insight Intelligence