How Hacks Happen

What's your favorite Beatles song? Where did you get married? What's your dog's name? Whenever you answer a question on a random person's or company's post, you're giving up information to exploit you.See what social media sites collect about youSupport the Show.Visit us on Patreon for bonus content and special offers! But only if you hate scams too.

How do you find out what social media platforms know about you? Bet you didn't know you can grab your data anytime, all of it. In this episode, we talk about how to get all your data from a social media platform so you can see what they've stored.Get your data from FacebookGet your data from InstagramGet your data from LinkedInGet your data from SnapchatGet all your Googl

What is an NFT, and why would anyone want to buy one? There are lots of reasons why someone might buy a certified JPG or other NFT, but there's no guarantee your NFT will increase in value or even retain the value you paid for it. In this episode, host Michele Bousquet talks about different kinds of NFTs on the market, how they compare to physical art items, and how fraudsters

The story of Silk Road, the underground website where you could buy and sell anything, is now part of internet lore. Customers could order everything from pot to meth and have it delivered to their door. Then came fake IDs, unregistered guns, poisons, and murder-for-hire. But wherever there's illegal activity and lots of money, violence isn't far behind. This episode take

Well, it finally happened: I got scammed! I bought a high-end projector at a price that was too good to be true, because it wasn't true. Don't fall for the White Van scam!White van speaker scam on WikipediaThe Art and Math of Cryptography at Amazon.comSupport the Show.Visit us on Patreon for bonus content and special offers! But only if you hate scams too.

In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for "hacking." This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was a

You get an email telling you you've been billed for a product you never ordered, and when you call for a refund, you somehow you get an excess refund and have to send back the difference. Find out how scammers manipulate people into sending them "excess refund money" from a nonexistent refund, and what you can do to keep it from happening to others. Shout-out to YouT

What is Tor? In this episode, we demystify the Tor browser and how it relates to the Surface Web, the Deep Web, and the Dark Web. Maybe you want to use Tor, and maybe you don't. But in any case you'll know what it is, and will be able to decide if it's right for you.Download the Tor browser at the official siteA great read about the dark web at Wired.comGet the T-shi

What we can we learn about hacks, scams, and fraud from TV shows and movies? Plenty, as it turns out. Fictional shows, documentaries, podcasts, and other types of entertainment are a treasure trove of knowledge. Don't discount the education you can get about scams, con games, legal proceedings, police procedure, and other aspects of safety, all while being thoroughly entertain

The Tinder Swindler is a fascinating Netflix documentary about a serial romance scammer who took each of his "girlfriends" for more than $100,000 each. In this episode, we look at what we can learn from The Tinder Swindler, going beyond the easy "blame the victim" mentality to show how effective such scams can be, and to point out the individual red flags you sh