Hacking Humans

This week, our hosts Dave Bittner and Joe Carrigan, are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines, while our other host, Maria Varmazis is at a conference. We begin with some follow-up, as Joe reflects on the density of gold. Then, Dave shares some heartfelt and moving words about the recent passing of his father. Dave's story follows how confusion sparked by Trump's erratic tariff policies is fueling a global surge in cyber scams, phishing sites, and crypto cons, as threat actors exploit the chaos to mislead, defraud, and manipulate online users. Joe has two stories this week, the first is about the "blessing scam," a con that targets older Chinese women with promises of spiritual cleansing that ends in financial ruin. The second covers a new FTC rule requiring companies to make subscription cancellations as easy as sign-ups, cracking down on deceptive practices. Our catch of the day this week comes from MontClair University, as they are warning of a phishing scam offering a “free 2014 Airstream Sport 16′ Travel Trailer.” Resources and links to stories: Trump Tariff Confusion Fuels Online Scams Oklahoma woman charged with laundering $1.5M from elderly women in online romance scam A new ‘jackpotting’ scam has drained more than $236,000 from Texas ATMs — but who foots the loss? Opportunity To Own A Free 2014 Airstream Sport 16′ Travel Trailer Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A broad class of attack vectors, where an attacker supplies input to an applications command interpreter that results in unanticipated functionality.  CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/owasp-injection Audio reference link: “APPSEC Cali 2018 - Taking on the King: Killing Injection Vulnerabilities” YouTube Video. YouTube, March 19, 2018.

This week, while Dave Bittner is out, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start off with a lot of follow up on listener feedback this week! Justin shares a thought about how to track gold deliveries with a simple sting operation involving an AirTag. Xray Specs offers a fun response to a theory about scanning plates and running Python scripts, stating they receive similar emails despite not owning a car. Jim Gilchrist recounts his experience with E-ZPass and unpaid tolls, explaining how a failed transponder led to a replacement and noting the prevalence of scam toll messages. Joe shares two gripping stories this week, one being on how the FBI is seizing $8.2 million from a massive romance scam involving cryptocurrency, and second is on a Maryland woman losing millions in a growing "pig butchering" scheme, with the FBI warning that many more victims are at risk. Maria's story is on an East Hartford woman caught up in a federal sweepstakes scam targeting the elderly. The suspects, including one local resident, allegedly stole millions. What did they do, and how did they get caught? Our catch of the day comes from a user on Reddit who shares a message they got from billionaire, and owner of Tesla, Elon Musk. Resources and links to stories: FBI Cracks 'Pig Butchering' Scam on Dating Sites Maryland woman loses millions in crypto "pig butchering" scam as FBI warns of more targets East Hartford Woman Bilked Elderly In Fake Sweepstakes Scam: Feds Elon Musk Vows To Hand Out $1 Million Checks This Weekend: What To Know Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. Code that fails to protect sensitive information.  CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/owasp-cryptographic-failure Audio reference link: Vandana Verma. “OWASP Spotlight - Project 10 - Top10.” YouTube Video. YouTube, January 4, 2021.

This week our hosts, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. First, we start off with some more follow-up on EZ passes, along with the newest iteration, as Kailey Cornick shares that scammers target phone numbers rather than actual toll users, sending her SUN pass scam texts tied to her old Florida number. Dave shares the story of Palo Alto's Unit 42 researchers uncovering a massive campaign distributing thousands of fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms via websites and mobile apps, using brand impersonation, Ponzi-like schemes, and domain fronting to deceive victims, primarily in East Africa and Asia. Maria follows the story of a Queens man arraigned for allegedly scamming a 72-year-old Newton woman out of over $480,000 by posing as a DEA agent and coercing her into transferring her assets under the threat of arrest. Joe came across a Facebook video featuring an AI-generated ad falsely claiming Kelly Clarkson endorsed a weight loss product. These deceptive ads use AI to create convincing deepfakes, making it appear as if celebrities are promoting products they’ve never actually supported. Our catch of the day comes from listener Connor, who flagged a phishing email pretending to be from the Social Security Administration. The email urges the recipient to click a link to view an "important update," but the repetition of the message and a suspicious logo placeholder suggest it's a phishing attempt designed to steal personal info. Resources and links to stories: Investigating Scam Crypto Investment Platforms Using Pyramid Schemes to Defraud Victims Man Arraigned After Posing as Government Agent to Scam Senior out of Over $480,000 'I have terminal cancer and lost my life savings to whisky barrel scammers' Casks and Kegs Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.