What the Hack?

AI is everywhere – in the news, on our devices, assisting us, making life easier for us, and for criminals, too, harnessing AI to swindle people more efficiently. What’s next? We dive into the dark side of AI and ask two experts: Could AI commit the perfect crime? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that you can activate malware on your computer just by looking at an image posted in the comments of an online discussion? We're big on good cyber hygiene. Our first episode provides an important life lesson: Always use a burner computer to troll your enemies. And of course beware of evil clowns. Check out Roy’s story about the time he got hacked while trolling QAnon followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max McCoy stumbled on a $47 million swindle that starts just north of the Oklahoma panhandle and bounces to Australia before things get really confusing in a haze of small town corruption, secretive law enforcement and competing theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in the shadow of child identity theft can be a struggle. For Axton Betz-Hamilton, her discovery of the culprit led to the shock of a lifetime. In the second installment of this two-part episode, we examine the massive financial and emotional toll of finding out a loved one wasn’t all that they seemed, and how to recover. Also discussed: stalkerware apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time most people find out that they’ve been the victim of child identity theft, their credit is trashed. That’s what happened to Axton Betz-Hamilton. And like most victims of child identity theft, she was targeted by someone she knew. In the first installment of this two-part episode, the mystery of who stole Axton’s identity unravels in a very unexpected direction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Raffile was in national security and corporate threat assessment before (almost) running human exploitation investigations for a major social media company (therein lies this week’s tale). He talked with us about this "silent epidemic” and vanishing job offers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beth sent more than $26,000 to a man she met on Tinder. It was a romance scam, but one that brought complex storytelling, nuanced psychology and even acting skills to bear in a way that shocked even us. Check out this week’s episode to hear just how “good” romance scammers can be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kara Swisher has been covering Silicon Valley since the early days, and she’s made a ton of enemies the old fashioned way (by telling the truth about the new robber barons of our digital lives). In a new memoir called Burn Book, she pulls the curtain back on a world run by powerful babies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Warren put the kibosh on bad banking practices with her vision for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now, with the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, she’s taking on Big Data. She joined us to talk about reigning in the Wild West of online life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Becky Holmes loves DMing with scammers. When it comes to romance scammers, she will do whatever it takes, pursuing them to the great delight of her fans on social media. From flings with A-listers to the lantern-jawed soldier with a heart of gold, Becky's on a mission to unravel the weird world of online swindler love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin West is the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California, and the founder of Project Shamrock. Whether she’s prosecuting eye-popping SIM-swap money grabs or putting large-scale pig butchering operations out of business, her stories and experience can help you stay safer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No one’s too smart for a well designed scam. Case in point, neuroscientist, triathlete Carina who thought the finance bro she met on Bumble was the one for her, but the only real thing was the money she lost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No one is immune from being scammed. Just ask Tarah Wheeler, founder and CEO of Red Queen Dynamics, a company that specializes in keeping people scam-free. While onboarding a new hire, a process she put in place stopped a scammer despite a serious cyber misstep. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Read the transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who better to talk to about pan-African crime syndicates than someone tasked with shutting them down? From drug mules and sextortion to romance scams and spearphishing, this week’s talk with Secret Service Agent “Mark” pulls back the curtain on Black Axe and other crime rings operating worldwide. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Read the transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every part of life that comes in contact with the Internet is tracked, packed and sold to a a seemingly infinite network of data brokers. Caitlin Sarian AKA Cybersecurity Girl joined us this week to discuss why scrubbing your information is trickier than it sounds and what you can do about it. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Read the transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think you’re too savvy to get scammed? Author and activist Cory Doctorow explains how we’re all one muffaletta and a malfunctioning jet door away from falling prey to the most basic of cons. He joins us this week to talk about that and to fill us in about his new book, “The Bezzle.” “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presley Rhodes makes a living posting what she calls “the subtle art of the thirst trap.” Popular on Instagram, she uses that platform to draw her most parched followers to OnlyFans where she can get paid. But what happens when a scammer buys access to those images? Nothing good. To hear what happened (and try to figure it out) we talked to someone who was scammed, someone who came to the rescue (former White House CIO and What the Hack guest Theresa Payton) and a United States Secret Service agent working in South Africa to catch the bad guys. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SNAP food assistance is a lifeline for more than 40 million Americans experiencing food insecurity. In a growing trend, criminals are targeting major security lapses in SNAP fund distribution, stealing millions in aid, so we asked this week’s guests how we can put a stop to it. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Johnson has been called the Godfather of cyber crime. He was on the FBI’s most-wanted list. And he was on What the Hack before! He returns for a freewheeling conversation about what’s new in cybercrime, how it’s changed and wants you to know how to better protect your digital life. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Romance scammers spend a lot of time on dating apps, but they almost never meet their targets in person. Christina’s Mr. Right moved quickly. Charming in-person, he lived in the same area and worked in the same industry. It was only after she committed to building a new life with him in Florida that everything began to fall apart. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Privacy matters for most of us, but it can be a matter of life and death for some especially when it comes to stalkerware. Electronic Frontier Foundation director of cybersecurity Eva Galperin joined us this week to teach us about the way too common software that can be used to track your every move. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Byrne’s vintage industrial furniture designs are a staple for A-Listers and designers around the world, which puts him in the sites of scammers–whether the target is time, money or goods. Listen as we learn how Byrne’s keen eye for the masterpiece lurking in a hunk of old factory equipment helps him spot thieves before they can strike. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder why facial recognition is so accurate? Well, one reason is the shocking amount of personal data it needs (think: all the world’s snapshots), and that’s why Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark is taking aim at the industry behind that technology. We also review Charity’s top scams to watch for this year, and other topics near and dear to our own scam-hating hearts. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Retired attorney Marjorie Bloom was minding her own business online when a tech support scam redirected her straight to cybercrime hell. Hear how she lost more than $600,000 in this harrowing tale of a scam turducken. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Criminologist David Maimon is in the business of finding out what we should be scared of. Just when you thought analog bill paying was safe, we learned that check scams are on the rise. And you guessed it: Because artificial intelligence and digital tools are making them way too easy. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a pig butchering scam that cost $450,000 to a real estate scam that almost cost a whole lot more, 2023 kept us guessing. With stories sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, and always informative, we’re celebrating the New Year with a look back at some of our favorite moments from the past twelve months. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to scams, we usually focus on the How rather than the Why. This week, we spoke to psychologist Dan Simons, co-author of Nobody’s Fool to find out why we’re all much easier marks than we like to think. “What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many romance scams are smash-and-grab operations, but some scammers play the long game. Author, actress, life coach and cabaret singer Donna Hayes met her dream man online, but after a seemingly perfect courtship and almost $200K in cash changing hands, she discovered the truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years after Hurricane Sandy destroyed his beach house on the Jersey Shore, Adam was finally ready to sell the vacant lot. The only problem: It was already on the market. In this whodunnit, we go hunting for the bad guys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shark Week doesn’t have anything on the Christmas scam season. Whether you’re buying something or selling something, there’s a scammer waiting to rob you blind. But there are ways to stay safe. File this week’s episode under: “You can’t say we didn’t warn you.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How dangerous is the internet for children? According to Marija Manojlovic, it’s even worse than we imagined. This week we chart the dangerous freeways and dark alleys of the internet, the hazards they pose specifically to children and what you can do to protect them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a million followers and several books on kitten care, Hannah Shaw is no stranger to interview requests and the technical issues to which they often give rise. But when a podcaster helped her navigate a “problem” in her Meta settings, Kitten Lady was hacked. Hear how her eye for deceit and nimble action saved the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode a veteran journalist helps us explore our usual beat from a new point of view. CBS Washington Correspondent Major Garrett is the host of “Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen” and an absolutely stellar guide as we parse the similarities and differences between spies and hackers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to keep your car out of your sex life? Jen Caltrider created Mozilla’s “*Privacy Not Included” to help consumers make informed choices about popular products and services we all use—like pervert car companies and data-grabbing toys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talked to New York Times reporter Emily Flitter about criminals who use deepfakes to rob high-net-worth individuals. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot easier than you might think! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More interested in news than partisan views? Sadly, there’s no app for that. The post-Musk media apocalypse has arrived, and it’s super misinformation-friendly. Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone joins us to discuss how legit media can add some friction to the fictions that go viral when the world is on fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facial recognition is powered by a special sauce that few people really understand, but one thing is clear: It renders privacy a thing of the past. In her new book Your Face Belongs to Us, New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill explores the ramifications of the human face in cyberspace, and what it means for the future findability of humanity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder why Too-Big-To-Fail banks get hacked along with a host of other high-visibility targets get compromised, but the White House has never been breached? We did too, which is why we invited Former White House CIO and current founder and CEO of Fortalice Theresa Payton to tell us how to be safer online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathy Waters is the person you always wondered about: She created one of those days; specifically, World Romance Scam Prevention Day. (Try saying that three times fast.) But seriously, we have covered a lot of love-based bogosity and yet can’t wrap our heads around how it works. Now we know, and you can too if you listen to this week’s episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No deep fake here. This week, Al Franken does his own impersonations of Bernie Sanders, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins in this mock Senate Hearing featuring Siri (played by the actual voice-over talent Susan Bennett) and Al’s fellow SNL alum Laraine Newman playing the part of Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John DeMay’s son was a normal teenager, which is exactly what a sextortion ring based in Nigeria was counting on when they targeted him. This week’s episode features a conversation about the fatal outcome of a sextortion scam and an important takeaway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know that the Internets watch you and use what they see to haunt you with doo-dads and tee shirts, but what you may not know is that what you see is just the tip of an evil cyber iceberg (nothing against those endangered geological entities). Lokker CEO Ian Cohen fills us in on just how bad it is “out there.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mom-and-pop stores look like easy prey, but sometimes they bite back. Many successful scams are perpetrated by threat actors who have gained insider knowledge, but this week’s episode takes specialization to the nth degree with a point-of-sale attack. And with disastrous results for the scammer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being a gig worker is great if you’re looking for flexibility or you need extra cash. But it can be somewhat less than awesome when something goes wrong, as this week’s guest found out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to scams, we usually focus on the How rather than the Why. This week, we spoke to psychologist Dan Simons, co-author of Nobody’s Fool to find out why we’re all much easier marks than we like to think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get to hear a lot of crazy stories in our line of work, and the best ones are sometimes a little too newsworthy to make it on our show (because–hush, hush–they never made the news). But then we realized, we could tell those stories so long as you can’t guess who they’re about. So, here you go. Our not-so-secret episode of secret crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Massimo moved to a new house in Toronto, he faced the age-old problem of what to keep and what to jettison. When he tried selling stuff from the rejection pile he got an offer that was too good to be true. Check out this week’s episode to hear how to spot an online marketplace scam and how to protect yourself both as a buyer and as a seller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was she a survivor of sex trafficking at the hands of her mom, a serial victim, Mormon convert, cancer patient, or was she just a liar and a fraud? Coco Berthmann’s story is anything but cogent. Whether it was summoned from the depths of mental illness or deviously designed to swindle friends and well-wishers online is this week’s burning question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine being so rich that the check to pay your vacation property tax is four years' worth of full tuition at a public university? Neither can we, but that’s how it found its way into a thief’s life, but not by dint of a super high-tech hack (unless stealing an envelope qualifies as whizbang). This week’s episode will seriously make you want to shred your checkbook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True or False: Scams have reached a crisis point, especially among older adults. The AARP’s Director of Fraud Prevention Kathy Stokes surprised us with the answer: Scammers aren’t ageist at all. In fact, digital natives may be far more susceptible to online crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices