What the Hack?

Latest Episodes:

Episode 152: Max McCoy Investigates $47 Million That Isn’t in Kansas Anymore Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 151: Axton Betz-Hamilton Gets the Shock of a Lifetime (Part 2) Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 150: Axton Betz-Hamilton Goes Looking For Her Identity Thief (Part 1) May 28, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 149: Paul Raffile Fights Sextortion No Matter What May 21, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 148: Beth Should Have Dated the IT Guy May 14, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 147: Kara Swisher Calls Out the Man Babies of Big Tech May 07, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 146: Elizabeth Warren Tackles Big Tech Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 145: Becky Holmes Knows Who *Isn’t* Dating Keanu Reeves Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 144: Erin West Puts the Bad Guys to Shame Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Episode 143: Carina Follows Her Heart Into a Crypto Scam Apr 09, 2024

Show notes

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.

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