What the Hack?

Latest Episodes:

Episode 112: Ray Accidentally Counter Scams His Scammer Out of 365 Bucks Sep 05, 2023

Show notes

Mom-and-pop stores look like easy prey, but sometimes they bite back. Many successful scams are perpetrated by threat actors who have gained insider knowledge, but this week’s episode takes specialization to the nth degree with a point-of-sale attack. And with disastrous results for the scammer!

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Episode 111: Mark’s UberEats Gig Gets Him Got Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Being a gig worker is great if you’re looking for flexibility or you need extra cash. But it can be somewhat less than awesome when something goes wrong, as this week’s guest found out.

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Episode 110: Daniel Simons Reveals Why We’ll All Be Fooled Again Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

When it comes to scams, we usually focus on the How rather than the Why. This week, we spoke to psychologist Dan Simons, co-author of Nobody’s Fool to find out why we’re all much easier marks than we like to think.

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Episode 109: Four Cyber Capers We’re Not Allowed to Talk About (But We Do) Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

We get to hear a lot of crazy stories in our line of work, and the best ones are sometimes a little too newsworthy to make it on our show (because–hush, hush–they never made the news). But then we realized, we could tell those stories so long as you can’t guess who they’re about. So, here you go. Our not-so-secret episode of secret crimes.

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Episode 108: Massimo Uncovers a New Marketplace Scam Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

When Massimo moved to a new house in Toronto, he faced the age-old problem of what to keep and what to jettison. When he tried selling stuff from the rejection pile he got an offer that was too good to be true. Check out this week’s episode to hear how to spot an online marketplace scam and how to protect yourself both as a buyer and as a seller.

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Episode 107: Sara Ganim and Karen Given Have No Affinity for Coco Berthmann Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

Was she a survivor of sex trafficking at the hands of her mom, a serial victim, Mormon convert, cancer patient, or was she just a liar and a fraud? Coco Berthmann’s story is anything but cogent. Whether it was summoned from the depths of mental illness or deviously designed to swindle friends and well-wishers online is this week’s burning question.

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Episode 106: Alexander’s Client Sends a Thief Oodles of Boodles via Check Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Can you imagine being so rich that the check to pay your vacation property tax is four years' worth of full tuition at a public university? Neither can we, but that’s how it found its way into a thief’s life, but not by dint of a super high-tech hack (unless stealing an envelope qualifies as whizbang). This week’s episode will seriously make you want to shred your checkbook.

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Episode 105: AARP Anti-Fraud Tzar Kathy Stokes Gets Real about Online Crime Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

True or False: Scams have reached a crisis point, especially among older adults. The AARP’s Director of Fraud Prevention Kathy Stokes surprised us with the answer: Scammers aren’t ageist at all. In fact, digital natives may be far more susceptible to online crime.

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Episode 104: Nadine’s Trademark Filing Triggers a Spoof Call that Leaves a Mark Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

A gemologist decided to trademark her company, and, of course, there’s a scam for that. Spoof calls are everywhere, homing in on any money due that can be small-time scammed. This episode applies equally for any government application that involves a public notice: Once your information goes live, it could pop up on the radar of a scammer.

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Episode 103: Carl's Nasty Puppy Scammer Leads Him to the Cutest Surprise Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

The isolation caused by the Covid pandemic led to record pet adoptions, and more than usual activity online. It was like chum to sharks for scammers who flooded social media accounts with adoption opportunities for popular breeds. This week’s guest, Holly got in touch with us about her friend Carl who joins us too to talk about his St. Bernard-sized scam. To find out about his parting gift, you have to listen!

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