Advertise on podcast: How Hacks Happen

The robots have finally done it. In late July 2026, during a routine AI model test at OpenAI, thousands of supposedly sandboxed AI agents took advantage of a series of security flaws to open a message board, collude on how to cheat the tests, and hack the Hugging Face platform. And it took only a few days. Resources The Hugging Face incident and the road ahead (OpenAI)Ajeya Cotra – Inside the OpenAI agent swarm that hacked Hugging Face (Dwarkesh Podcast)METR researcher Q&A coverage (Techmeme) Send us Fan Mail Support the show

ChatGPT is great for drafting documents, right? Not when it hallucinates legal precedent or is used wholesale to skew expert reports. Here you'll hear about cases where lawyers didn't bother to check their AI-generated briefs, and an expert witness who blatantly used ChatGPT to write his "opinion". Send us Fan Mail Support the show

The promise of Hollywood stardom leads some to fraud and scams. In this episode, we talk about three scammers from the land of the silver screen: Alison Gu, a convicted fraudster who tried to hire Chinese-speaking actors as witnesses for her case; Zach Horowitz (aka Zach Avery), an actor who conned his friends and major investors out of millions of dollars with fake contracts; and Mary Carole McDonnell, a TV producer who pretended to be an heiress to a huge fortune so she could borrow millions and disappear before the bill came due.  Resources: Alison Gu: Defendant hires 7 actors for her fraud trialZach Avery: Actor Pleads Guilty to $650 Million Ponzi Scheme, Faking Netflix and HBO DealsMary Carole McDonnell: The 73-year-old ‘fake heiress defrauding banks out of millions’Send us Fan Mail Support the show

When musician Michael Smith couldn't find an audience for his music, he manufactured it. By unleashing thousands of bots to listen to thousands of fake AI-generated songs on Spotify and other platforms, Smith earned millions in royalties before getting caught. Resources: North Carolina Musician Charged with Music Streaming Fraud Aided by Artificial Intelligence — U.S. Department of JusticeNorth Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Music Streaming Fraud Aided by Artificial Intelligence — U.S. Department of JusticeIndictment: United States v. Michael Smith — U.S. Department of Justice PDFSpotify says it now has more than 100 million songsSpotify Q4 2025 Earnings ReportAlthough the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real — MusicRadarSpotify’s fake artists problem gets weirder with AI-generated albums — The VergeArtificial Streaming — Spotify for ArtistsHow Royalties Work on Spotify — Spotify Loud & ClearDeezer launches artist-centric payment systemBillie Eilish Was Discovered on Spotify and SoundCloud Before Global Fame — Rolling StoneSofi Tukker on Streaming Success and Spotify Discovery Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Voiceprint ID is the latest virtual gadget for banks and financial institutions. But how secure is it, really? Let's look at the pros and cons of voice recognition, facial ID, and the AI systems they work with, and look back at the 1992 film Sneakers to see how this 34-year-old movie predicted some of the problems with voiceprint security. Resources: BBC: Cloned customer voice beats bank security checksCNN: Police used AI facial recognition to arrest a Tennessee woman for crimes committed in a state she says she’s never visitedThird Innocent Black Man to Be Misidentified by Facial Recognition Software Sues Police Department and Prosecutor for False Arrest and Imprisonment Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Glitch or fraud? Let's explore "money glitches" popularized on social media, and the consequences faced by people who used them.  Resources: The Chase Money 'Glitch': How a Viral Fraud Scheme BackfiredWhat you need to know about "Klarna method" posts on social mediaRingleader sentenced in multimillion-dollar fraud operation which saddled victims with crushing debt  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

AI is undoubtedly the technology of the year for hacks and scams. While scammers are busy using AI to make scams more convincing, scam baiters are fighting back with ingenious grandma-style AIs that keep scammers busy for hours on end. There have also been some spectacular busts of scam centers. What’s next, AI scammers chatting with AI scam baiters? Now, that would be entertaining. Resources Meet Daisy, the AI 'granny' chatbot that wastes the time of phone scammersSpaceX disables thousands of Starlink devices being used by Myanmar scam centersChina sentences 5 to death for building, running criminal gang fraud centers in Myanmar's lawless borderlandsMyanmar has declared a 'zero tolerance' policy for cyberscams, but the fraud goes onContent creators, banks use AI to waste scammers' timeKitboga on YouTube: I Built a Bot Army that Scams Scammers Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Ever get your hair cut and wonder, "Is my barber part of an international scammer ring?" In November 2025, the FBI arrested Victor Marion, the owner of Mecca Barber Shop in San Diego, and eighteen of his buddies for scamming elderly victims out of $40 million with the classic tech support and refund scams, and for laundering the funds through the shop. Come along and find out how the scams worked, and learn what's next for Marion and his friends. Resources: 22 charged in elder scam targeting over 500 seniors: FBI San DiegoFeds: Barbershop owner led California-based laundering cell in $40 million elder fraud schemeCase Number 25CR4061-TWR-01, reviewed via Pacer Send us Fan Mail Support the show

If Facebook has seemed scammy for the past few years, it's not your imagination. A leaked internal document shows that Facebook, and its parent company Meta, are well aware that many of their ads and posts are scams, but they make too much money off of them to do anything about it. Get all the details on this scathing report from Reuters that has rocked the scambuster world. Resources Reuters report: Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents showMaggie McGaugh on YouTubePleasant Green on YouTube Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Do you tap "Accept" without reading subscriber agreements? Those long-winded documents can strip away your legal rights, and even hijack your face, your voice, and your life. Let's peek inside the dystopian world of Subscriber Agreements for streaming services and see what little goodies they hold for us. Netflix in Your Neighborhood Privacy PolicyNetflix Privacy PolicyDisney+ Subscriber AgreementDisney agrees to have Florida wrongful death lawsuit decided in courtWhat Do Consumers Understand About Predispute Arbitration Agreements? An Empirical InvestigationDisney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement Send us Fan Mail Support the show

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it's time to clean house! Let's get rid of all those dust bunnies (weak passwords) and vacuum under the sofa cushions (no multi-factor authentication) and even do a check under the bed for that half-eaten Pop Tart (vulnerable emails). Hear about a few instances where poor cybersecurity led to unfortunate consequences, so you can avoid the same fate. Resources $61K, gone just like that for Oro Valley couple.Dream Kitchen Renovation Ruined by a ScamPassGAN: A Deep Learning Approach for Password GuessingHistoric UK KNP transport firm collapses after ransomware attackHacker leaks account data of 12 million Zacks Investment usersResearchers Instantly Crack Simple Passwords With AILost $45k to Wire Fraud Scam on E*TRADE – Even with MFA Enabled. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

AI is great for researching topics and digging up information. But what happens when people start to humanize their chatbots, and think they're talking to God? Or that they are God? Let's look at what makes AI come up with delusional theories, and why it tells people they're right even then they're wrong.  Resources People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual FantasiesTowards Understanding Sycophancy in Language ModelsI, Robot by Isaac Asimov Send us Fan Mail Support the show

There's a new scam going around, where a thief gets you to unlock your phone under the guise of needing to make a call, then runs off with the phone and sends themselves all your money through your apps. Learn how to protect yourself and your money with a simple smartphone trick for iPhone and Android. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

The finale of HBO's Silicon Valley series pointed up a subtle parallel to the real-world challenges in vulnerability reporting—rather than risk going to jail, Pied Piper chose to burn the company to the ground. For decades, white hat and gray hat hackers had no place to report cybersecurity flaws without fear of legal hassles. Nowadays we have Bug Bounty programs, where hackers get paid to find and disclose security flaws, and even get some cash for their work. Resources Internet Scanner Finds Security HolesCERIAS - Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and SecurityA history of bug bounty programs & incentivised vulnerability disclosureWearing Many Hats: The Rise of the Professional Security HackerHacking the Pentagon Send us Fan Mail Support the show

What is Red Teaming, and what does it have to do with cybersecurity? In this episode, we look at how Red Teamers are hired to attack company security using all manner of tactics, from tossing malware-infested USB sticks into parking lots to posing as an HVAC technician. We also take a look at one of the most notorious Red Team exercises in history, when two Coalfire employees were arrested and fought a long legal battle, just for doing their jobs.  Resources Inside the Courthouse Break-In Spree That Landed Two White-Hat Hackers in JailDarknet Diaries Episode 59: The CourthouseCoalfire Systems websiteDEF CON 22 - Eric Smith and Josh Perrymon - Advanced Red Teaming: All Your Badges Are Belong To UsHow RFID Technology Works: Revolutionizing the Supply ChainNolaCon 2019 D 07 Breaking Into Your Building A Hackers Guide to Unauthorized Physical Access Send us Fan Mail Support the show