What the Hack?

Episode 273: Profiler Jay Jones Takes on Fake Job Scams Oct 13, 2026 3333 Congrats, you're the perfect candidate! (You're not. You're the mark.) Jay Jones "The Profiler" has taken down more than 58,000 fake job postings. Learn how scammers turn a job hunt into open season on your data, your money, and, if they play it right, your identity.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch

Episode 272: You Should Be Unsettled: Meta and Teens Oct 6, 2026 2584 When she was 12, Ava Smithing's Instagram algorithim led her from bikini ads to eating disorder content. Meta settled for $17 billion recently, but what's actually changed? Not enough. Oh and the new rules mean sharing even more personal information.  Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 271: Are You Being Watched? (You Are.) Sep 29, 2026 3126 Worried about AI? Don't trust Flock Security? You might get on a law enforcement list for that. Investigative reporter Daniel Boguslaw explains Big Tech's push to re-label anti-surveillance camera activists and AI skeptics alike as threats to national security. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice

Episode 270: Your Driver's License Can't Prove Who You Are Anymore Sep 22, 2026 2954 A driver's license breach didn't just leak data—threat actors now have access to a universal key to every identity verification system that relies on state-issued identification. DeleteMe's Rob Shavell joins us to explain what happens when the document designed to prove you’re you can no longer be trusted. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about y

Episode 269: The Student Data Free-for-All Sep 15, 2026 2454 As technology is integrated deeper into classrooms, the lines between education and data privacy have been destroyed by for-profit data miners. This week, privacy advocate Shannon Edwards reveals how educational apps harvest sensitive information from children, commodify their data, and what parents can do to fight it.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Lear

Episode 268: Your Privacy Is Being Taxed Sep 8, 2026 3130 Same store, same day, different price. David Dayen takes us on a deep dive into the murky cyberscape of surveillance pricing, we enlist young people to prove it's real, and Grace Gedye lays out a future law that might actually stop it.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 267: No Price Tag for You! Sep 1, 2026 2886 Fictitious discounts. payday markups. AI setting airfares in real time. Investigative reporter Derek Kravitz, Grace Gedye (Consumer Reports) are joined byDavid Dayen to expose the algorithms that decide if you pay more or less than your neighbor for the exact same thing.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/

Episode 266: How Much Is Surveillance Pricing Costing You? Aug 25, 2026 2921 Welcome to the infuriating world of surveillance pricing. Chris "the Producer" Parr created a digital nobody to find out whether companies would charge the new him less. What he found was stranger. So how much does what companies know about you affect what you pay? Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch

Episode 265: Surveillance In America, Pt 1: Somebody's Watching You Aug 18, 2026 3157 Benn Jordan—musician, acoustic scientist, and one of the sharpest minds on surveillance technology—joins 404 Media’s Jason Koebler and the ACLU’s Jay Stanley to trace how surveillance went ambient— and what it means when everyone’s being watched. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 264: 15 Years of Fear: A Stalking Story Aug 11, 2026 2899 A stranger showed up at Anna Nasset's art gallery with a painting called "Marry Me." She said no. He did not get the message — for 15 years. Now Anna trains law enforcement on stalking, because someone has to explain that "she should be killed" is a red flag.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 263: The Affinity Scam Playbook Aug 4, 2026 3100 Coco Berthmann sold a survival story. Amanda Riley sold a cancer battle. Both were lies that raided communities, wallets, and trust. Journalists Sarah Ganim, Karen Given, and Charlie Webster tell the stories; cognitive scientist Daniel Simons explains why we get taken in.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm

Episode 262: The Mystery that Changed Wyoming's Stalking Law Jul 28, 2026 3350 Fake screenshots. Burner numbers. Forged emails. A stalker who somehow always knew what a 15-year-old was wearing. Blogger Cathy Holman thought she knew everyone in her tiny Wyoming town—so who's been terrorizing her family?Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 261: Aaron Parnas on the Firehose of Our Digital Here-and-Now Jul 21, 2026 2817 Aaron Parnas is the Walter Cronkite of Substack. He has millions of followers who follow him on every platform to get his just-the-facts reporting, but even the most trusted voice on TikTok has some thoughts when it comes to our collective privacy. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 260: Jackals of Trust: A Short History of Cybercrime Jul 14, 2026 2921 Cybercrime expert Gary Warner joins to discuss Nigerian confraternities, the "campus cults" rooted in idealism that morphed into a multi-billion dollar transnational organized crime network. Learn about the "money blessing," the coded language and insider access, and the elite thug playbook for exploiting trust.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com  Learn more

Episode 259: Capture The Flag! Jul 7, 2026 3155 Ethan Merritt is an WTH alum, but the last time he was on the pod he was the target. This time, he asked for it: Find four flags using only publicly viewable data. Social media posts, podcasts, leaked passwords, a cat-tree video. Listen to hear how we did.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 258: Fighter Pilot Cadet Turned Hacker, She Keeps Us Safe Jun 30, 2026 2756 A teenager rage-hacks a Tetris leaderboard and becomes a millionaire by 18. Now Tal Kollender breaks into companies for a living—and fixes whatever made that possible. We talk about that and Anthropic's Mythos, which is a cyber idyll for our time.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 257: Seth Godin's Anti-Spam Playbook: Be Awesome Jun 23, 2026 2699 Marketing visionary Seth Godin explains how the Internet got hijacked by an attention-stealing spam economy that keeps us in an endless loop of badly targeted marketing. Godin's anti-spam playbook: demand companies earn your attention with awesomeness, and break the digital slop loop that broke the Internet. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about

Episode 256: The Colonel & the Catfish Jun 16, 2026 2584 A retired Army Colonel becomes the unwitting face of thousands of romance scams. Bryan Denny has been breaking the hearts of people he's never met for years. What do you do when hundreds of crime rings are using your face? Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 255: How Kindness Works in The Scammer's Playbook Jun 9, 2026 2704 She said her name was Clara Harper from Chase Bank. She argued with a police officer. She needed gift cards. Brian Ward shares the three times his 85-year-old father got scammed — and why the most unsettling thing wasn't the con. It was how reasonable it all sounded.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 254: Even If You're Not Online, You're Online Jun 2, 2026 3062 Craig doesn't have Facebook. He's not a gamer. He builds things, fixes things, grows things, has an assortment of antique chainsaws. So why is his name, age, address, and phone number sitting on a website right now available to anyone who knows his name?Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 253: When the Bait Bites Back May 26, 2026 2806 A former military guy goes viral, but not in the way he'd hoped. With fake profiles popping up by the dozen using his photos to scam lonelyhearts out of money, Ethan Merritt did what we all fantasize about from time to time: he scammed the scammer.Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 252: Surveillance In America, Pt 4: No Warrant Required May 19, 2026 2822 The ACLU's Nate Freed Wessler won Carpenter v. United States and changed how the Fourth Amendment applies to your phone. But data brokers found a workaround — and the IRS, the Pentagon, and ICE all bought in. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 251: Surveillance In America, Pt 3: Just Say No May 12, 2026 3182 Suveillance-for-profit bros say they can eliminate crime in America, but what about the Fourth Amendment? This week: a 1950s numbers racket and some real talk with Jason Koebler, Benn Jordan, GainSec, and the ACLU's Nate Freed Wessler. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 250: Becky Holmes and the Future of Fraud May 5, 2026 2986 Online fraud isn't just getting smarter, it's getting personal. Becky Holmes, author of "The Future of Fraud," traces con artists from ancient Rome to AI-powered scam compounds, and asks a question for our post-breach reality: Is Trust dead? Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 249: The End of the Constitution Had to Start Somewhere Apr 27, 2026 2747 Sen. Ron Wyden, the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the ACLU’s Kia Hamadanchy and Marcy Wheeler explain why the deadline to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA may be the most important privacy vote in a generation—and what you can do about it. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

Episode 248: Open Source Intelligence and the Death of Obscurity Apr 21, 2026 2959 Data as duh-duh. It's all is out there—indexed, sold, and weaponized. Open source intelligence turns public records into a hacker's playground, your LinkedIn profile is dangerous, but you can still claw back a little privacy before it's gone for good. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 247: Ghost Murmur and the Real Assault on Privacy Apr 14, 2026 2870 The whisper: A downed U.S. pilot was located by tracking his heartbeat from 40 miles away. Real, or fake news to rattle Iran? Benn Jordan and physicist Chad Orzel help us separate the science fiction from the real threats we all face right now. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 246: Trafficked: Part Three, Asian Scam Compounds Apr 7, 2026 3099 You’ve heard how the compounds work. This week we go inside one—through the eyes of Small Q, an Ugandan musician who was trafficked in and got out—also: Erin West of Operation Shamrock on the bigger picture. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 245: A Professional Noticer of Things Mar 31, 2026 2909 Christopher Anderson has spent thirty years in high-stakes situations—war zones, sinking boats, the current White House. What he’s learned about the information people don’t know they’re giving away is the privacy lesson you need to hear. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 244: Inside Tracy Chou's Block Party for Social Media Mar 24, 2026 3026 One of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year and a vocal advocate for diversity in tech, Tracy Chou built Block Party after discovering firsthand that the platforms have no real incentive to protect you from the people who want to harm you. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 243: Criminal Mind vs. Criminal Mind Mar 17, 2026 2996 Jim Clemente built a career reading criminals. FBI special agent, behavioral profiler, Unabomber case, the hit series Criminal Minds. Then someone bought his debit card number on the dark web, linked it to a peer-to-peer finance app, and cleaned him out. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 242: Surveillance in America, Pt 2: Flock You Very Much Mar 10, 2026 3048 Flock Safety says their cameras have never been hacked. Benn Jordan and Jason Koebler watched themselves on one from their homes. This week: a deep dive into the vulnerabilities, the no-opt-out tracking, and a simple question: Does any of it makes us safer? Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Al Franken Holds a Mock Senate Hearing on Privacy with Siri and Alexa (Bonus) Mar 5, 2026 1589 No deep fake here. This week, Al Franken does his own impersonations of Bernie Sanders, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins in this mock Senate Hearing featuring Siri (played by the actual voice-over talent Susan Bennett) and Al’s fellow SNL alum Laraine Newman playing the part of Alexa. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn mo

Episode 241: Surveillance in America, Pt 1: Somebody's Watching You Mar 3, 2026 2980 Benn Jordan—musician, acoustic scientist, and one of the sharpest minds on surveillance technology—joins 404 Media’s Jason Koebler and the ACLU’s Jay Stanley to trace how surveillance went ambient— and what it means when everyone’s being watched. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 240: Who’s Watching the Watchers? Feb 24, 2026 2884 Feeling watched? Join us as Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark breaks down the new reality of digital surveillance. From school apps to AI scams, we dive into how companies collect your data and how to take control of your online privacy. The war for privacy is real—and it's a fight you can't afford to lose. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more a

Episode 239: Is AARP Doing More than the FBI to Stop Scams? Feb 17, 2026 2679 Online fraud isn’t just annoying. It’s a national crisis, one that may have drained $158 billion from the U.S. economy last year alone. In this episode, AARP’s Kathy Stokes joins us to explain how fraud has evolved into a sophisticated, global operation and why we’re still blaming the victims instead of stopping the crime. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com L

Episode 238: The Phone Call that Broke the Bank Feb 10, 2026 2469 MGM lost $100 million in 2023. Then Caesars paid $15 million ransom. A few phone calls shut down Vegas, highlighting the destruction that one fast talker can unleash in a zero trust environment. This week we explore what that means in the here and now. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 237: The Internet is Groundhog Day Feb 2, 2026 3012 This week, we're going to the movies. Virginia Heffernan joins us to talk about Groundhog Day (the movie), surveillance, and why online systems reward repetition over reflection and connection with a special cameo by marketing maestro Seth Godin. Magic + Loss: https://virginiaheffernan.substack.com/ Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad

Episode 236: The Con: Part Two, Asian Scam Compounds Jan 27, 2026 2764 After exposing the scam compounds and human trafficking behind today’s fraud economy, we follow the money, the power, and the few pressure points—from crypto seizures to sanctions—that might actually help spell the end of Southeast Asian scam compounds. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 235: The Machine: Part One, Asian Scam Compounds Jan 20, 2026 3047 You’ve seen the scam texts. This week we go inside a global scam economy to expose human trafficking networks, lawless economic zones, and fortified compounds where victims are forced to target victims in a world of crime bosses and corrupt politicians. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 234: The Ralph Naders of Cybercrime? Jan 13, 2026 3139 Bob Lord (Yahoo, DNC, CISA) and Lauren Zabierek (Harvard’s Belfer Center, CISA) don't think cybersecuirty (or lack of it) should be the customer’s problem. Drawing parallels to Ralph Nader’s fight against unsafe cars, they explain how to fix the root of the problem. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi

Episode 233: How Brett Johnson Made $160,000 a Week Jan 6, 2026 3119 Former cybercrime kingpin Brett Johnson didn’t just break the law; he built the tools still used by criminals today. He's back for another episode to check in and unpack why cybercrime works, how defenses fail, and the way life itself is often the ultimate "in" for an attacker. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho

Episode 232: The Very Private Digital New Year Episode Dec 30, 2025 2147 In this year-end check-in, DeleteMe’s OSINT expert, Nicholas Olsen, explains just how much of your life is publicly exposed—and why “low-value targets” no longer exist. A practical, clear-eyed guide to privacy, data removal, and smarter habits for the new year. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 231: WTH 2025: Laptop Farms, Campus Cults, and the End of Anonymity Dec 23, 2025 2790 From AI regulation fights and North Korean laptop farms to Nigerian campus cults, the human toll of online crime, and the death of online anonymity it's time to review the year in cyber stories—the good, the bad, the unimaginable, and what to do when "they" come for you. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a

Episode 230: The Cursor Moved at 2 A.M. Dec 16, 2025 3176 A deadbolt clicks. This email, that voice--they sound all right. Then things go sideways. This week, 911 Cyber CEO Marc Raphael joins the pod to explore how AI makes scams faster, smoother, and harder to spot, and what you can do to stay hard to hit in the new threatscape. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f

Episode 229: Why Most Cybersecurity Advice Is Wrong Dec 9, 2025 2811 How do you stay safe online? (Wrong answers only.) Avoid public Wi-Fi, QR codes, charging stations. Cyber OG Bob Lord (Yahoo, DNC, CISA) wrote an open letter tackling the real harm caused by bad advice, and offering a better path with proven practices to stay safe online. Check out https://www.hacklore.org/letter Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more a

Episode 228: Paul Raffile on the Sextortion Economy Dec 2, 2025 2584 Sextortion scams targeting teenage boys doubled this year—and Paul Raffile says the platforms knew it was happening. Learn how Instagram's default settings let criminals to weaponize friends lists for blackmail, and how social media continues to fail the children it claims to protect. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

Episode 227: Twas the Week Before Cyber Monday Nov 25, 2025 1754 The giant glittering scam and fraud trap of the holidays is here. Beau reunites with former co-hosts Adam Levin and Travis Taylor to talk about about fake websites, why gift cards are still a huge vector for fraud, and how to avoid the many pitfalls of the season. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice

Episode 226: On Digital Fingerprints and Dirty Money Nov 18, 2025 2641 Jeff Williams on the business of moving money: who gets blocked, what slips through, and why checking the right boxes doesn’t always mean a win in the nascent AI-powered sanctions compliance space. From fentanyl money to shell companies, we follow the (often filthy dirty) money. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph

Episode 225: Big Breaches and Click Bots to AI and Beyond Nov 11, 2025 2284 When a young engineer uncovered a sizeable click fraud situation at Google, he discovered a bigger problem; namely, the perverse ingenuity that drives online fraud and scams. "Big Breaches" author Neil Daswani joined us to talk click farms, data breaches, AI exploits, and the big picture of cybercrime today. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about

Episode 224: Jackals of Trust: A Short History of Cybercrime Nov 4, 2025 2851 Cybercrime expert Gary Warner joins to discuss Nigerian confraternities, the "campus cults" rooted in idealism that morphed into a multi-billion dollar transnational organized crime network. Learn about the "money blessing," the coded language and insider access, and the elite thug playbook for exploiting trust. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more a

Episode 223: How to Make Your House Invisible Oct 28, 2025 2471 When scammers tried to steal Graceland, it seemed like a fluke, but deed fraud is very much on the rise. Del Denney of the Land Trust Company explains how criminals steal homes and how to stop it from happening to you. Plus, we revisit Adam Levin's wallet ripper about a twice-targeted beachfront property. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about yo

Episode 222: Heather Barnhart Hunts Digital Ghosts Oct 21, 2025 3018 Forensic expert Heather Barnhart (SANS Institute) decoded Osama Bin Laden's phones and helped convict quadruple murderer Brian Kohberger. Learn how surviving her own harassment fueled her mission, plus the digital "pattern of life" hack and simple steps to combat AI deepfakes and stay safe online. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad ch

Episode 221: Seth Godin's Anti-Spam Playbook: Be Awesome Oct 14, 2025 2669 Marketing visionary Seth Godin explains how the Internet got hijacked by an attention-stealing spam economy that keeps us in an endless loop of badly targeted marketing. Godin's anti-spam playbook: demand companies earn your attention with awesomeness, and break the digital slop loop that broke the Internet. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about

Episode 220: The $5,000 Mistake: Inside a Facebook Scam Oct 7, 2025 2718 A locked account. A call for help. What happened next left Tony questioning everything he thought he knew about the Internet. This week is about trust, technology, and how quickly things can unravel when those we count on aren’t who they seem. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 219: 3 Ways Not to Lose Everything Sep 30, 2025 2626 Former federal prosecutor Tom O’Malley takes us inside the strange, high-stakes world of modern fraud—where victims are presumed guilty, families lose fortunes, and the fight against global crime rings starts at home. Three lessons that could make a difference. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Voting: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=si

Episode 218: The Data Grift Everyone Missed Sep 23, 2025 3025 Every click, swipe, and post fuels the data economy. Credit cards, apps, even maps—our lives are scraped, stitched, and sold. It feels like a heist, and sometimes it is. Identity Theft Resource Center CEO Eva Casey-Velasquez insists the picture isn’t entirely bleak. This week we talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of data brokers. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://join

Episode 217: The Wrong Dan Sturman Sep 16, 2025 2587 It started with a slow roll of weird emails and phone calls. And then award-winning filmmaker Dan Sturman found himself in the crosshairs of serious hackers. With parallels to another case of mistaken identity and an assist from security expert Reuben Moretz, this week we explore bad social engineering. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your

Episode 216: Who’s Watching the Watchers? Sep 9, 2025 2834 Feeling watched? Join us as Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark breaks down the new reality of digital surveillance. From school apps to AI scams, we dive into how companies collect your data and how to take control of your online privacy. The war for privacy is real—and it's a fight you can't afford to lose. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more a

Episode 215: They Targeted His Mom, He Went Full CIA Sep 2, 2025 2621 A fake Microsoft pop-up cost Ken Westbrook’s mom her life savings. But they scammed the wrong family. Westbrook is former CIA. These days he’s sounding the alarm on how foreign crime rings steal billions from Americans with smishing campaigns, scareware, and gift cards. We talked about solutions. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad cho

Episode 214: DEF CON Redux with Rachel Tobac! Aug 26, 2025 2294 In this second installment of our DEF CON two-parter, we talked to SocialProof Security CEO Rachel Tobac about how and why people are often the weakest link in so many cybersecurity protocols and how making yourself a harder target will cause most threat actors to move on to an easier mark. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your ad choices.

Episode 213: Inside DEF CON’s Social Engineering Village Aug 19, 2025 2494 At DEF CON’s Social Engineering Village, contestants have 22 minutes to charm real employees at real companies into revealing real details that could lead to a breach. We step inside the booth to see how persuasion, improv, and psychology fuel both ethical hacking and the rise of cybercrime worldwide. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more about your a

Episode 212: How to Talk to a Cybercriminal Aug 12, 2025 2559 Kurtis Minder knows the dark web better than most—and he’s not just watching from the sidelines. As a ransomware negotiator, he’s helped victims talk their way out of seemingly impossible situations. This week, we explore how cybercriminals operate, what makes them tick, and what you need to know to avoid becoming their next target. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindelet

Episode 211: The Coldplay Couple and the End of Anonymity Aug 5, 2025 2016 A not-entirely innocent moment at a concert set the internet on fire. But what if that was just a symptom of a bigger problem? New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill, author of Your Face Belongs to Us, helps us explore the chilling reality of ambient surveillance, and how facial recognition could be the end privacy as we know it. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme

Episode 210: Cracking the Code of Fraud with AARP's Kathy Stokes Jul 29, 2025 2679 Online fraud isn't just annoying; it's a national crisis. Last year alone, it may have siphoned $158 billion from the U.S. economy. This episode features AARP's Kathy Stokes, who reveals how fraud has morphed into a sophisticated, global operation and what's being done to fight back against this evolving threat. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://joindeleteme.com Learn more a

Episode 209: Unmasking the North Korean IT Scam Jul 22, 2025 2549 Fortune Magazine's Amanda Gerut offers a deep dive into the secret army of remote IT workers funding North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Explore the hidden world of laptop farms, the criminal identity theft targeting freelancers, and the shocking human cost. It's a chilling scheme with law enforcement and freelancers trapped in the crossfire. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hit: https://jo

Episode 208: Will AI Write Its Own Laws? Jul 15, 2025 2744 Join Ben Winters, director of AI and Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, for a front-row seat to the chaotic world of AI regulation where dirty data, aggressive lobbying, and public confusion drive a "winner takes all" vibe. From shady therapy bots to data-fueled discrimination, Ben reveals the urgent need to create guardrails for AI before it jumps the tracks. Make yourself harder t

Episode 207: Kristen and the Phantom Puppy Jul 8, 2025 2057 Kristin got scammed because she didn't want to give a puppy mill her business. This classic digital scam has it all: fake breeders, phony shipping agents, and a non-existent air-conditioned crate. Kristen reveals how her scammers used trust, urgency and emotion, to close the deal. Listen to her story and what you can do to avoid getting duped yourself. Make yourself harder to find, harder to hi

Episode 206: Chris Hutchins’s Travel Hacking Gets Hacked Jul 1, 2025 2575 If you have never listened to Chris Hutchins explain how to get free travel, you’ve probably been paying too much for your vacations. Turns out, a threat actor was listening to him and stole his miles. Download this week’s episode to hear how he hacked the situation to score even more points. (This episode originally airdropped September 26, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega

Episode 205: Cybersecurity Girl Caitlin Sarian Tries to Delete Herself Online Jun 24, 2025 1962 Every part of life that comes in contact with the Internet is tracked, packed and sold to a a seemingly infinite network of data brokers. Caitlin Sarian AKA Cybersecurity Girl joined us this week to discuss why scrubbing your information is trickier than it sounds and what you can do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 204: Nicole Perlroth Says All the Things that Keep Adam Up at Night Jun 17, 2025 2824 Nicole Perlroth’s book This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is a masterpiece on the topic of cyberwar and the zero-day hacks that make it deadly. Join us as we explore with Perlroth a cyberscape where mistakes are weaponized, backdoors abound and we all have zero degrees of separation from spies and the people they spy on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 203: Jack Rhysider Exposes Our Digital Secrets Jun 10, 2025 2550 What if your digital footprint made you a target? Jack Rhysider, host of "Darknet Diaries," shares how a fan turned his online presence into a personal puzzle—revealing just how easily your privacy can be pieced together and exploited. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 202: Shannon Edwards Reveals the Student Data Free-for-All May 27, 2025 2426 As technology is integrated deeper into classrooms, the lines between education and data privacy have been destroyed by for-profit data miners. This week, privacy advocate Shannon Edwards reveals how educational apps harvest sensitive information from children, commodify their data, and what parents can do to fight it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 201: Keren Elazari Decrypts the Ransomeware Nightmare May 20, 2025 2381 Ransomware is a type of malware that allows hackers to commandeer data on a device or an entire network. Increasingly, the threat actors behind these crimes set their sites on mission critical targets. We talked about it with renowned cybersecurity expert Keren Elazari this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 200: The Wild West of the Loophole Economy May 13, 2025 2893 We’ve all been there. You see something perfect online, you do all the clicks and then think, “Wait, was that legit?” Scam-lite transactions are the way of the web these days, whether it’s direct-from-manufacturer or super-sticky subscriptions, we have your back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 199: CISA Director Jen Easterly Stands Watch in the Cyberwars May 6, 2025 2591 From elections to ransomware, CISA Director Jen Easterly breaks down the threats to America’s critical infrastructure and what’s being done to stop them, sharing along the way her journey from the real-life battlefield to the frontlines of cybersecurity. This is a rare glimpse into the most pressing threats America faces—and a compelling story about Director Easterly’s own experience being targete

Episode 198: Cory Doctorow Makes Us Wonder if Everything’s a Scam Apr 29, 2025 2539 Think you’re too savvy to get scammed? Author and activist Cory Doctorow explains how we’re all one muffaletta and a malfunctioning jet door away from falling prey to the most basic of cons. He joins us this week to talk about that and to fill us in about his new book, “The Bezzle.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 197: FBI Operative Eric O’Neill: Cybercriminals Are Spies—Not Hackers Apr 22, 2025 2880 What if the biggest threat to your privacy wasn’t some hacker in a hoodie—but a spy trained to infiltrate your life? Former FBI operative Eric O’Neill, the man who took down spy Robert Hanssen, explains how digital spies target us, offering along the way real-world tips to protect ourselves in a world where everyone’s a potential target. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic

Episode 196: Max Lebow Battles a Cyber PsyOps Nightmare Apr 15, 2025 2863 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 195: Can AI Commit the Perfect Crime? Apr 8, 2025 2705 AI is everywhere – in the news, on our devices, assisting us, making life easier for us, and for criminals, too, harnessing AI to swindle people more efficiently. What’s next? We dive into the dark side of AI and ask two experts: Could AI commit the perfect crime? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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