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Scams touch every part of life, including the movies. 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

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

What goes on under the hood of random number generators (RNGs)? Here we look at one of the best sources of randomness—static from electronic chips—and discuss terminology like entropy and bias, the role of the Birthday Paradox in RNGs, and the fake bias of the Excel RAND function. We'll even do a simple exercise you can try with your friends to see who picks the most "random" number of all.  Resources: How Slot Machines WorkRAND FunctionBritons most likely to pick 7 as "random" number Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Ever heard of the Internet of Things, or IoT? This episode explores the use of random numbers in our everyday devices, and how they’re often not as secure as our PCs. We also look at how Apple gets it right, and what we can do to keep our devices secure in this connected world. Resources Securing the IoT Ecosystem: Challenges & SolutionsData security of IoT devices with limited resources: challenges and potential solutionsWhat Is IoT Security? Challenges and RequirementsApple Platform Security GuideHardware Accelerated Crypto Send us Fan Mail Support the show

This episode explores the mysterious world of random number generators (RNGs) in video games. Looking at popular games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Diablo II, we describe how players hack these random numbers in the same ways hackers hack encryption keys. This episode lays the groundwork for Part 2, a discussion of RNGs in encryption. Resources: How Many People Play Minecraft 2025 (Active Players)Pre-determined RNG? (Reddit post)Diablo II Seeded Category - Rule / General Discussion10 Perfect Minecraft Seeds You'll Want To Play FOREVER (YouTube video)Send us Fan Mail Support the show

New season, new theme music—and even more hacks and scams to explore. Thanks for coming on these adventures with me. Let's do some more!   Send us Fan Mail Support the show