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Hacking Humans: Daily Summaries Delivered
by N2K Networks
Deception, influence, and social engineering in the world of cyber crime.
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- 3 days ago57 min
Scamazon prime.
This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner alongside Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start with some follow-up from Gordy, who has questions about a fairground contest collecting personal information, plus an update on Joe’s backpack. Joe covers the takedown of Xinbi Guarantee, an illicit marketplace allegedly providing services to scam centers, including money laundering, fake investment sites, and other tools for fraud. Maria looks at QR-code scams and a growing wave of rental scams on TikTok, where fake listings use stolen property photos, below-market prices, and upfront fees to target prospective renters. Dave explores a report on how hundreds of ads promoting AI “nudify” tools and other abusive content were able to reach users through Meta’s advertising system. Our Catch of the Day comes from Tim, who received a suspicious board-position offer that appears to have scraped details directly from his LinkedIn profile—and somehow offered him a seat on the board of his own company. Resources and links to stories: U.S. Disrupts Xinbi Guarantee Scam Marketplace, Freezes $52.8 Million in Crypto See a QR code parked somewhere? Don’t scan it…yet! 68% of TikTok rental listings carry scam warning signs Meta Failed to Catch Hundreds of AI Child Abuse Ads. Some Included Images of Real Kids Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.
- 5 days ago6 min
SEO poisoning (noun) [Word Notes]
Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The manipulation of search engine optimization, SEO, to promote malicious sites in search engine results. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/search-engine-optimization-poisoning Audio reference link: Brown, B.E., 2021. The Ending Of The Waldo Moment Explained [Video]. YouTube. URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsWja44-EMg.
- 1 weeks ago53 min
Love, lies, and a fake 49er.
This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner alongside Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start with some follow-up on Joe’s chicken coop, which apparently looks amazing—and we may even get a little into the mechanics behind it. Dave looks at the growing scam crisis in the U.S., including how victims are often targeted a second time by recovery scammers after losing money in the first scam. Joe covers a massive identity-theft operation allegedly offering more than 153 million stolen driver’s license records for sale on the dark web, with investigators working to determine where the data came from. Maria explores a multimillion-dollar romance and investment scam in which a man allegedly posed as an NFL player, using fake identities, relationships, and phony investment accounts to defraud at least 26 women. Our Catch of the Day comes from a listener who clicked a suspicious Calendly link and lived to tell the tale. Resources and links to stories: Scams in the US are at a record high. Yet most victims get no help and some end up losing even more Microsoft Plugs Nearly 1,000 Security Holes Man Posing as San Francisco 49er Charged with Defrauding Over Two Dozen Women Out of More than $1.3 Million "It's hard to feel bad when it's as easy as just Googling it": Jason Kelce left stunned after fake 49er Daejon Love's alleged $1.3M+ romance scam Clicked on Phishing Link From “Calendly” Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.
- 1 weeks ago46 min
Hackers gonna hack back. [OMITB]
Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by her co-hosts N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Keith Mularski, former FBI cybercrime investigator and now Chief Global Ambassador at Qintel. Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. This week, Dave, Selena, and Keith explore the pros and cons of allowing select U.S. companies to conduct offensive cyber operations under strict government guardrails. They discuss what the proposed framework could mean for private-sector security researchers, how researchers have already been operating in this space for years, and where the line between defense and offense gets blurry. They also look at how adversaries such as China and Russia use proxy companies and other private-sector entities to conduct cyber operations—and consider whether giving trusted U.S. companies similar capabilities could strengthen cyber defenses or create new risks.
- 1 weeks ago7 min
catfish (noun) [Word Notes]
Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The practice of crafting a fake online persona for malicious purposes. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/catfish Audio reference link: netbunny, 2013. Catfish - The Movie - Ending Scene [Movie Scene]. YouTube. URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_NIN6zy0U
- 2 weeks ago44 min
I just want to give you $25 million!
This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner alongside Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start with some follow-up from Anne, who writes in to share how much she enjoys the show, how she used the “Shields Up” message with her coworkers, and—most importantly another chicken update! Maria covers a pair of MyChart scams that use fake medical results and bogus Medicare giveaways to steal credentials, personal information, and payment details. Joe looks at two scams—one targeting a business through a massive Amazon fraud scheme and another warning residents about fake invoices designed to steal their money. Dave explores the surprising value of simply replying to a wrong-number text, as scammers use responses to identify active phone numbers and find potential targets for increasingly sophisticated fraud campaigns. Our Catch of the Day promises a piece of a mysterious $25 million overpayment. All you have to do is reply with your phone number and your desired cut—what could possibly go wrong? Resources and links to stories: Health systems warn patients of MyChart phishing scam Woman sentenced after nearly $10M Amazon scam funds luxury lifestyle South Haven warns of invoice scam targeting residents Your polite reply to that text is worth $2 on the dark web Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.
- 2 weeks ago7 min
passkey (noun) [Word Notes]
Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A passwordless authentication protocol based on the FIDO2 standard. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/passkey Audio reference link: Summers, J., 2023. Google Passkeys Have Arrived (here’s how to use them) [All Things Secured Channel]. YouTube. URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFO7JgUx-bU.
- 3 weeks ago57 min
400 episodes and we still have trust issues.
This week, we’re celebrating a pretty big milestone: 400 episodes of Hacking Humans! Along the way, we’ve shared hundreds of stories, scams, lessons, and plenty of memorable Catch of the Days—and we couldn’t have made it this far without you. To everyone who has listened, written in with a story, sent us a Catch of the Day, or simply learned to be a little more suspicious of that weird text message: thank you for being part of 400 episodes of Hacking Humans. We’re glad you’re here to celebrate with us. And now, after 400 episodes, there’s really only one thing left to do: get back to the scams. This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner alongside Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Dave covers celebrity podcast impersonation scams, where fraudsters use personal details, convincing AI-generated personas, and fake production teams to build trust with potential guests. Maria looks at a rental scam that cost a San Francisco renter $18,600 after scammers copied a legitimate apartment listing, showed him the property, and convinced him they were the landlord. Joe discusses new research showing that younger people can be just as vulnerable to scams as older victims, particularly when they're navigating things like jobs, apartments, online shopping, and their first financial accounts. Our Catch of the Day comes from a scammer who apparently discovered the hard way that sometimes the scammer can get scammed. Resources and links to stories: Inside the Fake Celebrity Podcast Scam Fooling Hollywood They escaped south-east Asia’s scam compounds. Then they realised they were still trapped How a ‘savvy’ S.F. renter lost more than $18K in an elaborate real estate scam Jacksonville woman sues VyStar, alleges credit union failed to properly investigate $42K impersonation scam Teens targeted for scams Scammer got scammed Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.
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About Hacking Humans
Deception, influence, and social engineering in the world of cyber crime.
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