When Ben Taylor receives a Facebook message from a stranger in Liberia, asking in badly spelled English for financial or business assistance, he quickly assumes it’s a scam. But instead of just ignoring the message, he decides to find out about the person behind it.

In this episode, Matthew Syed explores what happens when you let your guard down and make a leap of trust.

With author and Oxford University trust fellow Rachel Botsman, philosopher Julian Baggini, Ben Taylor and Joel Mentee-Willie.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4