Hacking Humans
Recent Episodes
Navigating dark waters and deceptive currents.
Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe to share her story from listener Chloe, who shared a post she found on a social media platformed called "Bluesky," where a company is asking for photos and videos of your children to help AI smarter. Our hosts share some listener follow up on how a scammer impersonated a government official to deceive a woman into converting her assets into gold bars, resulting in the theft of over $789,000. They also share some follow up from listener Steve to discuss the "No Numbers Project" from episode 300. Joe's story is on regulators investigating whether major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, are adequately addressing Zelle scams by shutting down accounts used by fraudsters. Dave has the story on the FTC warning that scammers are the only ones who promise to remove all negative details from your credit report. Our catch of the day come from listener Benjamin who shares an email they received claiming to know things about him that he would not want getting out.
Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave to share her story on how recent research by security firm Veriti reveals a phishing campaign targeting Trump’s 2024 supporters, soliciting cryptocurrency donations through fake WinRed-branded domains, with limited transactions and some activity traced to China. Dave and Maria share some follow-up from a listener, including suggestions for protecting Dave's father's computer from phishing scams by using LibreWolf browser, UBlock Origin extension, and NextDNS, as well as a listener sharing insights on the pronunciation of "Ports-Muth." Dave's story follows how in June, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was impersonated via deepfake technology in an attempted scam to deceive a Ferrari executive into signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement for a fictitious acquisition, but the ruse was detected and the company emerged unscathed. Dave also goes on to share news about his own home state Maryland and their gift card policy. Our catch of the day come from the scam subreddit and follows a text message where a scammer is trying to intimidate the recipient.
This week we celebrate 300 episodes! Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe and shares a PSA on the CrowdStrike outage. Her story focuses on the Olympics, as this was the first week the Olympics started, and she shares about a recent fraud campaign that is targeting iPhone users in India, posing as India Post through smishing attacks. Our hosts discuss some follow up, from listener Brie, who writes in to share how one police force is helping folks stay safe from scam callers. They also share a story from listener Mark, who writes in about his 77-year-old mom's Facebook account being hacked, and she was tricked into downloading an app and opening her banking app while on a fake customer service call. Dave's story is on Gina Russell, who posed as a psychic and led an elaborate extortion scheme with her family, coercing victims into giving them millions of dollars under threats of harm. Joe has the story of social media giant Meta saying sextortion scams are increasing, with criminals from Nigeria often targeting adult men in the U.S.. Our catch of the day comes from an anonymous listener, who shared a post they found on the social media platform "Shared," about a scammer getting messed with.
Healthcare hassles and hefty heists.
This week, Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe, as they celebrate Maria joining the Hacking Humans podcast every week! Maria's story is from a listener this week who writes in with a story on an IT company that is a third party for a healthcare company, and the dangers that can come from that. Dave and Joe share some listener follow up from Michael, who shares some thoughts on AI. Dave's story follows how a recent study found that 40% of elderly adults in the UK regularly face phone-based fraud attempts, with significant impacts on their mental health and quality of life. Joe follows a Scottsdale couple, Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King, and how they have been indicted for a $900 million fraud scheme targeting hospice patients, receiving $330 million in illegal kickbacks used to purchase luxury items. Our catch of the day comes from listener Jim who writes in with a letter about a concerned beneficiary who received a letter from the FBI about their overdue inheritance with the National Bank of Belgium. The message confirmed the legitimacy of their claim but warned of potential scams by individuals impersonating bank officials.
Welcome to a new age in digital deception.
This week, Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe, as they celebrate Maria joining the Hacking Humans podcast every week! Maria's story is on supplement scams, as there has been a significant surge in health-related supplement scams on social media platforms, utilizing advanced technologies like AI-generated images and deepfake videos to promote fake products endorsed by celebrities and medical professionals. Joe's story follows Airplane WiFi, now essential for many travelers, and how it poses unexpected risks as recent incidents highlight dangers like "evil twin" attacks, urging caution with VPNs and verifying network legitimacy to safeguard personal data midair. Dave has the story on 2 women charged in a romance scheme, defrauding elderly men out of $7 million.
