The 404 Media Podcast

Latest Episodes:

How AI-Powered Cameras Took Over One Small American Town Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

This week goes in all sorts of directions. First, Joseph runs through his in-depth article on Fusus, a surveillance company that took over one small American town with AI-powered cameras. Now, they're everywhere, both in the U.S. and increasingly abroad. After the break, Sam tells us how attendees of an NFT conference got more than they bargained for, and ended up getting (temporarily) blinded (literally). In the subscribers-only section, Joseph and Jason discuss their just published piece about a refund fraud group that scammed $700,000 out of Amazon, and how these scams may impact delivery drivers on the ground.

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YouTube Profiting from a Drug Market, and SIM Swappers Working with Ransomware Gangs Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

We're shaking things up with a new format! As well as the two stories available to all listeners, we have a third discussion at the end which is only for paying subscribers. We explain why at the top of the show.

As for this week's articles, first Emanuel explains how YouTube is making money off a livestream of an open air drug market. After the break, Jason and Emanuel discuss their two stories about Israel-Palestine and the lack of archiving efforts and freedom of information. In the subscriber's only section, Joseph breaks down a wild new marriage in cybercrime: English-speaking SIM swappers and Eastern European ransomware operators.

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OSINT, Twitter, and a $30 Million Bitcoin Ring Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

For the first half of the show, we talk about a couple of stories around the Israel-Palestine conflict. First, Instagram "sincerely apologizes" to Sam for its auto-translations which added the word "terrorist" to sentences containing the word "Palestinian." Then, Joseph and Emanuel talk about their article about how verified Twitter accounts have taken the term "OSINT" and used it to spread their own garbage information. After the break, Joseph takes us through another story of his: a fascinating court record pulls back the curtain on a $30 million cash-for-Bitcoin ring that was operating right under everyone's noses in the heart of New York.

404 Media is primarily funded by paying subscribers. We are a journalist-owned company and need your support. Please subscribe at 404media.co to directly power our work and get an ad-free version of this podcast.

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AI is Muddying the Horrors of War, and a Film Community Implodes Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

Content warning for the first half of the episode because it touches on violent themes. Emanuel takes us through how so-called AI detectors are, instead of clearing up the fog of misinformation around the Israel-Palestine conflict, may actually be making everything much worse. A crucial story for these ongoing events. Then after the break, we change gears and Jason explains a trademark dispute in the film photography community. Spoiler: everyone is mad.

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SpongeBob, AI, and a Crisis Among Ticket Sellers Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

This episode is a fun one. First, Sam takes us through her story about generating images of SpongeBob and 9/11 with Bing's AI. Why? Because a bunch of people found a way to create similar images even though they shouldn't be possible under Microsoft's own policies. After the break, we turn into an economics podcast. Jason breaks down what exactly happened when a bunch of credit card maxers (people who try to gather as many credit card points as possible) over saturated the market for Travis Scott tickets. A fascinating, and hilarious, crisis emerged.

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A Glitch Is Hiding Porn on YouTube, and Food Delivery Robots Feed Footage to the LAPD Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

This week we start with a super interesting set of stories about how a small community has found a glitch in YouTube. It lets the group upload basically anything it wants to the platform with little fear of the clip being deleted. That includes explicit videos which were on YouTube for weeks at a time. Emanuel spoke to those responsible.

After the break, Jason explains how he got emails showing that the LAPD wants a "partnership" with food delivery robots. The reason? These robots are constantly recording their surroundings.

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Ticket Scalpers, The New Frontier of AI Chat Bots, and Mass Doxing on TikTok Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Holy moly that's a big ol' episode. Jason is back and tells us how ticket scalping actually works on a technical level, and how Ticketmaster benefits from scalping. Sam then explains how AI chatbots with no limits are letting people explore their sexuality safely (please note a content warning for that one for discussions on sexual themes and violence).

After the break, Joseph talks about a TikTok account that may be the next evolution in clout-chasing: an account that uses facial recognition tech to dox random people on the internet.

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The Tool That ICE Can Use to Track Pregnancy Websites and Fortnite Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

On this week's episode you won't hear Jason because he is out on location reporting from a right to repair conference in New Orleans! Before that, he was in Las Vegas reporting on the ongoing ransomware crisis impacting MGM casinos. But you will hear Joseph, Sam, and Emanuel discuss a tool that ICE has purchased which gives it access to data from a pregnancy tracking website.

Then after the break, we talk about the latest update to an ongoing sex trafficking case Sam has been following for years, and Emanuel talks about why game developers he spoke to are up in arms about recent changes to the game engine Unity.

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We Reveal One of the FBI's Most Closely Guarded Secrets Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about something that sounds like a Harry Styles story, but it's actually an artificial intelligence one. We also play a few rounds of “Is That Audio Snippet an AI Generated Version of Harry Styles or Is It a Real Section of a Leaked Harry Styles Song?”

After the break, Joseph runs us through a massive secret he revealed: the so-called “third country” that intercepted tens of millions of encrypted messages on behalf of the FBI.

For an ad-free version of this podcast and to access bonus episodes, become a subscriber at 404media.co.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Amazon Is Selling AI-Generated Books That Are a Matter of 'Life or Death' Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about how Amazon is selling mushroom foraging books that appear to be AI-generated. Not great when foraging can be a matter of life or death. After the break, Joseph explains how he tracked someone through the New York subway using a privacy-leaking feature on an MTA website.

For an ad-free version of this podcast and to access bonus episodes, become a subscriber at 404media.co.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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