What the Hack with Adam Levin

What the Hack with Adam Levin episodes:

• 04.30.2024

  Episode 146: Elizabeth Warren Tackles Big Tech

  Elizabeth Warren put the kibosh on bad banking practices with her vision for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now, with the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, she’s taking on Big Data. She joined us to talk about reigning in...

  
• 04.23.2024

  Episode 145: Becky Holmes Knows Who *Isn’t* Dating Keanu Reeves

  Becky Holmes loves DMing with scammers. When it comes to romance scammers, she will do whatever it takes, pursuing them to the great delight of her fans on social media. From flings with A-listers to the lantern-jawed soldier with a...

  
• 04.16.2024

  Episode 144: Erin West Puts the Bad Guys to Shame

  Erin West is the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California, and the founder of Project Shamrock. Whether she’s prosecuting eye-popping SIM-swap money grabs or putting large-scale pig butchering operations out of business, her stories and experience can help...

  
• 04.09.2024

  Episode 143: Carina Follows Her Heart Into a Crypto Scam

  No one’s too smart for a well designed scam. Case in point, neuroscientist, triathlete Carina who thought the finance bro she met on Bumble was the one for her, but the only real thing was the money she lost.  Learn more...

  
• 04.02.2024

  Episode 142: Tarah Wheeler Narrowly Avoids Getting Got

  No one is immune from being scammed. Just ask Tarah Wheeler, founder and CEO of Red Queen Dynamics, a company that specializes in keeping people scam-free. While onboarding a new hire, a process she put in place stopped a scammer...

  
• 03.26.2024

  Episode 141: Secret Service Agent “Mark” Works the Pan-Africa Beat

  Who better to talk to about pan-African crime syndicates than someone tasked with shutting them down? From drug mules and sextortion to romance scams and spearphishing, this week’s talk with Secret Service Agent “Mark” pulls back the curtain on Black...

  
• 03.19.2024

  Episode 140: Cybersecurity Girl Caitlin Sarian Tries to Delete Herself Online

  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...

  
• 03.12.2024

  Episode 139: Cory Doctorow Makes Us Wonder if Everything’s a Scam

  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...

  
• 03.05.2024

  Episode 138: Presley Rhodes Fights an Army of Thirst Trap Thieves

  Presley Rhodes makes a living posting what she calls “the subtle art of the thirst trap.” Popular on Instagram, she uses that platform to draw her most parched followers to OnlyFans where she can get paid. But what happens when...

  
• 02.27.2024

  Episode 137: Joy and Michelle Talk Skimmers, Scammers and SNAP EBT Fraud

  SNAP food assistance is a lifeline for more than 40 million Americans experiencing food insecurity. In a growing trend, criminals are targeting major security lapses in SNAP fund distribution, stealing millions in aid, so we asked this week’s guests how...

  
• 02.20.2024

  Episode 136: Brett Johnson Explains the Abject Terror that Awaits Us All

  Brett Johnson has been called the Godfather of cyber crime. He was on the FBI’s most-wanted list. And he was on What the Hack before! He returns for a freewheeling conversation about what’s new in cybercrime, how it’s changed and...

  
• 02.13.2024

  Episode 135: Christina’s Alleged Romance Scammer Plays A Long Con

  Romance scammers spend a lot of time on dating apps, but they almost never meet their targets in person. Christina’s Mr. Right moved quickly. Charming in-person, he lived in the same area and worked in the same industry. It was...

  
• 02.06.2024

  Episode 134: EFF's Eva Galperin Is Not the Pope of Fighting Stalkerware (But She Is)

  Privacy matters for most of us, but it can be a matter of life and death for some especially when it comes to stalkerware. Electronic Frontier Foundation director of cybersecurity Eva Galperin joined us this week to teach us about...

  
• 01.30.2024

  Episode 133: Tim Byrne’s Vintage Industrial is Scammer-Proof

  Tim Byrne’s vintage industrial furniture designs are a staple for A-Listers and designers around the world, which puts him in the sites of scammers–whether the target is time, money or goods. Listen as we learn how Byrne’s keen eye for...

  
• 01.23.2024

  Episode 132: Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark Hates Scammers More than We Do

  Ever wonder why facial recognition is so accurate? Well, one reason is the shocking amount of personal data it needs (think: all the world’s snapshots), and that’s why Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark is taking aim at the industry behind...

  
• 01.16.2024

  Episode 131: Marjorie Bloom Reveals a $661,000 Tech Support Scam

  Retired attorney Marjorie Bloom was minding her own business online when a tech support scam redirected her straight to cybercrime hell. Hear how she lost more than $600,000 in this harrowing tale of a scam turducken.  “What the Hack with Adam...

  
• 01.09.2024

  Episode 130: David Maimon Introduces Us to a Fresh New Hell

  Criminologist David Maimon is in the business of finding out what we should be scared of.  Just when you thought analog bill paying was safe, we learned that check scams are on the rise. And you guessed it: Because artificial intelligence...

  
• 01.02.2024

  Episode 129: Adam Rings in the New Year by Sharing Some “Scaring is Caring”

  From a pig butchering scam that cost $450,000 to a real estate scam that almost cost a whole lot more, 2023 kept us guessing. With stories sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, and always informative, we’re celebrating the New Year with a...

  
• 12.26.2023

  Episode 128: Daniel Simons Reveals Why We’ll All Be Fooled Again

  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...

  
• 12.19.2023

  Episode 127: Donna Hayes Sheds Her Shame

  Many romance scams are smash-and-grab operations, but some scammers play the long game. Author, actress, life coach and cabaret singer Donna Hayes met her dream man online, but after a seemingly perfect courtship and almost $200K in cash changing hands,...

  
• 12.12.2023

  Episode 126: Adam Almost Loses 4 Million Dollars

  Ten years after Hurricane Sandy destroyed his beach house on the Jersey Shore, Adam was finally ready to sell the vacant lot. The only problem: It was already on the market. In this whodunnit, we go hunting for the...

  
• 12.05.2023

  Episode 125: Liza and Harry Take Hits for You in This Holiday Twofer

  Shark Week doesn’t have anything on the Christmas scam season. Whether you’re buying something or selling something, there’s a scammer waiting to rob you blind. But there are ways to stay safe. File this week’s episode under: “You can’t say...

  
• 11.28.2023

  Episode 124: Marija Manojlovic Isn’t Kidding Around About Child Safety Online

  How dangerous is the internet for children? According to Marija Manojlovic, it’s even worse than we imagined. This week we chart the dangerous freeways and dark alleys of the internet, the hazards they pose specifically to children and what you...

  
• 11.21.2023

  Episode 123: Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw’s Meta Scam Gets Travis a New Cat

  With a million followers and several books on kitten care, Hannah Shaw is no stranger to interview requests and the technical issues to which they often give rise. But when a podcaster helped her navigate a “problem” in her Meta...

  
• 11.14.2023

  Episode 122: Major Garrett Reveals the Ties that Bond Spies and Hackers

  On this week’s episode a veteran journalist helps us explore our usual beat from a new point of view. CBS Washington Correspondent Major Garrett is the host of “Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen” and an absolutely...

  
• 11.07.2023

  Episode 121: Jen Caltrider Makes Us Want to Walk to the Book Store

  Want to keep your car out of your sex life? Jen Caltrider created Mozilla’s “*Privacy Not Included” to help consumers make informed choices about popular products and services we all use—like pervert car companies and data-grabbing toys. Learn more about your...

  
• 10.31.2023

  Episode 120: Emily Flitter Introduces Us to the High-Net-Worth Piñata

  We talked to New York Times reporter Emily Flitter about criminals who use deepfakes to rob high-net-worth individuals. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot easier than you might think! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  
• 10.24.2023

  Episode 119: Angelo Carusone Isn’t Sure the Media is Ready to Rumble

  More interested in news than partisan views? Sadly, there’s no app for that. The post-Musk media apocalypse has arrived, and it’s super misinformation-friendly. Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone joins us to discuss how legit media can add some friction to...

  
• 10.17.2023

  Episode 118: Kashmir Hill’s Book on Facial Recognition Will Terrify You

  Facial recognition is powered by a special sauce that few people really understand, but one thing is clear: It renders privacy a thing of the past. In her new book Your Face Belongs to Us, New York Times journalist Kashmir...

  
• 10.10.2023

  Episode 117: Theresa Payton Kept the White House Safe (So Listen)

  Ever wonder why Too-Big-To-Fail banks get hacked along with a host of other high-visibility targets get compromised, but the White House has never been breached? We did too, which is why we invited Former White House CIO and current founder...

  
• 10.03.2023

  Episode 116: Kathy Waters Is Every Catphisher’s Worst Nightmare

  Kathy Waters is the person you always wondered about: She created one of those days; specifically, World Romance Scam Prevention Day. (Try saying that three times fast.) But seriously, we have covered a lot of love-based bogosity and yet can’t...

  
• 09.26.2023

  Episode 115: Al Franken Holds a Mock Senate Hearing on Privacy with Siri and Alexa

  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...

  
• 09.19.2023

  Episode 114: John DeMay Lost His Son to a Sextortion Scam

  John DeMay’s son was a normal teenager, which is exactly what a sextortion ring based in Nigeria was counting on when they targeted him. This week’s episode features a conversation about the fatal outcome of a sextortion scam and an...

  
• 09.12.2023

  Episode 113: Ian Cohen Drops a Dime on the Myriad Trackers Stalking You

  We all know that the Internets watch you and use what they see to haunt you with doo-dads and tee shirts, but what you may not know is that what you see is just the tip of an evil cyber...

  
• 09.05.2023

  Episode 112: Ray Accidentally Counter Scams His Scammer Out of 365 Bucks

  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...

  
• 08.29.2023

  Episode 111: Mark’s UberEats Gig Gets Him Got

  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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

  
• 08.22.2023

  Episode 110: Daniel Simons Reveals Why We’ll All Be Fooled Again

  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...

  
• 08.15.2023

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

  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,...

  
• 08.08.2023

  Episode 108: Massimo Uncovers a New Marketplace Scam

  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...

  
• 08.01.2023

  Episode 107: Sara Ganim and Karen Given Have No Affinity for Coco Berthmann

  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...

  
• 07.25.2023

  Episode 106: Alexander’s Client Sends a Thief Oodles of Boodles via Check

  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,...

  
• 07.18.2023

  Episode 105: AARP Anti-Fraud Tzar Kathy Stokes Gets Real about Online Crime

  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...

  
• 07.11.2023

  Episode 104: Nadine’s Trademark Filing Triggers a Spoof Call that Leaves a Mark

  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...

  
• 07.04.2023

  Episode 103: Carl's Nasty Puppy Scammer Leads Him to the Cutest Surprise

  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,...

  
• 06.27.2023

  Episode 102: David Maimon on the Spike in Driver’s License Fraud

  We all got the memo that Social Security numbers are a big part of identity theft, and as more of us take measures to protect against SSN-based crime, scammers found a new favorite tool: your driver’s license. Criminology professor David...

  
• 06.20.2023

  Episode 101: Shreya Datta’s Crush Creeps Off with $450,000

  We’ve been hearing a lot about pig butchering, but hadn’t found a great example until we lucked onto Shreya Datta’s story. In this episode we learn about pig butchering from Shreya who was swindled out of more than $450,000 through...

  
• 06.13.2023

  Episode 100: 100 Episodes Later We Hack Ourselves

  This week, we’re celebrating our hundredth episode! Featuring listener questions, Adam, Beau and Travis look back on one hundred episodes of scams, hacks, Tin Foil Swans, experts, novices and dad jokes. A special thanks to you listeners. Come back for...

  
• 06.06.2023

  Episode 99: Charlie Webster Talks About Her Best Fiend

  Charlie Webster hosts the hit podcast “Scamanda,” which takes us on a dark journey of discovery with a young woman who pretended to have cancer to bilk Good Samaritans on GoFundMe. Listen to hear the kinds of scams you can...

  
• 05.30.2023

  Episode 98: Karen Johnson’s Scam Project Is a Teachable Moment for AI

  Karen Johnson is a catfisher-turned-scam avoidance coach turned–you guessed it–catfishing victim. The scam that got her is a classic, opening the door to a Pandora’s Box of the usual advice about avoiding the most common scams out there. But the...

  
• 05.23.2023

  Episode 97: Eva Velasquez Has Some Terrifying News About Identity Crime Trends

  Identity theft is the third certainty in life behind death and taxes, but the way scammers come at you changes all the time. That’s why we invited ITRC head Eva Velasquez to fill us in on the three biggest trends...