Hacking Humans

Latest Episodes:

I'm a scammer and need support. Feb 20, 2025

Show notes

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. We start off with some follow up from listener Dave who writes in with a call for help after a good friend of his, who fell victim to a dream job scam. They also have a discussion after the Washington Post shared an article on scammers are remorseful and how they have a support group. Maria has a quick follow up from last week, talking about deepfakes, this week, she talks about Kim Jong Un. Dave has a romance scam story this week, talking about how the loneliness epidemic is causing issues. Joe has two stories this week, the first is on a thief using a homemade barcode ring to scam Walmart self-checkouts. Joe's second story is on new protection methods that are out, giving us game changing anti-scam laws. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit after a user posted a conversation they had with a scammer that got a bit out of hand.

Resources and links to stories:

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

cybersecurity skills gap (noun) [Word Notes] Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes.

The difference between organizational employee job requirements and the available skillsets in the potential employee pool.

The “t” that tricked. Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. Our hosts start off with some follow up from listener Robert who writes in from the Great White North, who shares how he thinks the U.S. might be stuck in the past with payment tech. Joe's got two stories this week, both on financial crime—Thailand cutting power to Myanmar's billion-dollar scam hubs and the struggle to shut them down for good. Maria has the story of a job candidate who not only used AI-generated answers during a technical interview but also altered his appearance with software—marking the second time this has happened to the interviewer in just two months. Dave sits down with our guest Nati Tal, Head of Guardio Labs, as he is discussing the growing danger of homograph attacks. Our catch of the day comes from listener Kenneth, who got an alarming email from the PayPal Security Team—apparently, he just bought nearly $700 in Bitcoin.

Resources and links to stories:

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

digital transformation (noun) [Word Notes] Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes.

The use of technology to radically improve the performance or reach of the business.

Old school scams updated. Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Hacking Humans, we are going old school with Dave Bittner and Joe Carrigan sans T-Minus host Maria Varmazis (as she was hanging out with astronauts at the SpaceCom event). Not to worry, Dave and Joe have it covered sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, we have some follow up including a conversation Joe had with ChatGPT, some discussion on AI generated images of people, and scam letters that are sent out in the mail. Joe shares a text his office mate received from the "IRS." He also has a story about food workers taking photos of credit and debit cards at restaurant drive throughs. Dave's story is about a near-perfect scam attempt that almost fooled a very smart guy—Zach Latta, the founder of Hack Club. Our Catch of the Day comes from Reddit about a Facebook Marketplace scam using Zelle.

Resources and links to stories:

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

bulletproof hosting (noun) [Word Notes] Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes.

Cloud services intended for cyber criminals and other bad actors designed to obstruct law enforcement and other kinds of government investigations, and to provide some protection against competitors.

Cyber Groundhog Day and romance scams. [Only Malware in the Building] Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

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 N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Rick Howard to uncover the stories behind notable cyberattacks.

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. On this episode and since it is February (the month of love as Selena calls it), we talk about romance scams known throughout the security world as pig butchering. And, Rick's experiencing a bit of a Cyber Groundhog Day in his newly-realized retirement.

Despicable donation request scamming. Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

Resources and links to stories:

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

endpoint security [Word Notes] Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes.

The practice of securing a device that connects to a network in order to facilitate communication with other devices on the same or different networks.

Back to the office, back to the threats. Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week Maria has the story on how the return to office life brings unique security challenges, highlighting the need for Red Team assessments to uncover and address physical and digital vulnerabilities, empowering organizations to proactively enhance workplace security and protect against evolving threats. Joe's story comes from the FCC's warning about a scam dubbed "Green Mirage," where fraudsters impersonate mortgage lenders, spoof caller IDs, and use social engineering to trick financially vulnerable homeowners into sending payments via unconventional methods, often only discovered when foreclosure proceedings begin. Last but not least, Dave's story is on how a Reddit user shared their cautious experiment with a suspected Airbnb scam involving a new account requesting to move to WhatsApp, agreeing to unusually high rental rates, and engaging in rapport-building tactics, with red flags pointing to potential financial fraud or phishing attempts. Our catch of the day comes from listener William, who spotted a phishing scam disguised as a security alert about a compromised crypto wallet, featuring an unsolicited QR code and a generic warning that targets even non-crypto users.

Resources and links to stories:

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

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