With the cost of surveillance and mass information gathering becoming cheaper and easier, laws are struggling to keep pace. Who is fighting for transparency and working to protect your digital rights?

Our guest today is Danny O’Brien. Danny has been an activist for online free speech and privacy for over 20 years. He co-founded the Open Rights Group and has defended reporters from online attacks at the committee to protect journalists. He is now the Director of Strategy at Electronic Frontier Foundation.

• [0:59] - Danny began working with Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in 2005 but had been interested in them and digital rights overall since 1990 as a journalist.
• [2:18] - In the early days of EFF, the topics they were writing about seemed very theoretical to the everyday person. It became confusing, but a lot of these hypothetical situations were becoming reality in the early 2000s.
• [4:06] - The assistance Danny gave to journalists to keep them safer from online attacks began on a case by case basis.
• [6:23] - Danny explains that now they are seeing a rise in targeted attacks on journalists with government connections.
• [7:50] - The tools to conduct a spyware style monitoring of a particular person are now so ridiculously cheap. It can be anyone. In the early days, it always seemed like an attack was government based or done by professionals.
• [8:42] - Journalists in particular are highly targeted for attacks because they have likely upset someone they’ve reported about.
• [10:49] - When Gmail was hacked in 2009, it became apparent that the people that were targeted in that attack were Tibetan activists.
• [11:42] - There has been a shift into a professionalization of attacks. It is someone’s job to clock on, hack and make someone’s life unpleasant, and clock off.
• [13:10] - One of the key cases in the last several years in regards to digital privacy rights is the Apple San Bernardino case in which the FBI wanted a back door into the iPhone of a suspect in a shooting.
• [14:36] - There is a gray area where governments are saying that as long as they have the ability to do these things, they should. 
• [17:16] - The globalization of technology has caused confusion and blurred lines on what is legal and illegal in each country.
• [20:25] - Danny gives an example of a loophole in United States law regarding getting geolocation data from phones.
• [23:13] - The process of getting information is very murky especially in the United States.
• [24:41] - We need transparency before we will ever see reform.
• [26:40] - Google would do something called The Creepy Test where they would demonstrate something they could do internally and determine whether it was something that could be used in a “creepy” way.
• [28:29] - Something may seem like a great idea but wind up causing more bad than good. Danny uses apps for tracking the pandemic as an example.
• [30:20] - As technologists, we are capable of acting very quickly and reaching for a toolkit that we can use.
• [31:19] - Sometimes we have to be careful that the solutions that are the simplest from a technological point of view aren’t just shifting the complexity elsewhere. 
• [34:02] - The consequences of simply uploading photos online in regards to privacy were very unexpected at the start of the internet and social media.
• [35:49] - In the 90s there was a strong fight against encryption. Now that encryption is what holds entire economies together.
• [36:08] - While encryption is useful, it is also being used by cybercriminals to hide illegal activity, particularly child pornography.
• [39:00] - We used to argue about digital rights but now all rights are digital. Now, all laws are about the internet.
• [41:53] - Danny and Chris discuss the passage of a bill about the digital rights of sex workers that had several unintended consequences.
• [43:12] - There is a big push right now to undermine encryption particularly for fighting against sex trafficking.
• [44:04] - There are a lot of problems that have been created that were unintentionally created by technology that needs to be solved.
• [45:06] - Large companies, like Apple, Google, and Amazon, have a lot of control of our personal devices.
• [46:46] - We will start to see a lot of technological compromises between large companies and the government.
• [48:44] - Pick the privacy tools and try out different tools to find what works for you. It exercises your right to remove trackers and ads from your web experience.
• [50:27] - In order to exercise your rights, you need to know them.
• [52:38] - People wind up being the consumers of technology and they don’t become active citizens in this digital community. Education is important.
• [54:54] - Danny shares links to useful material to educate yourself on surveillance (listed in the Links and Resources).
• [57:21] - Sometimes, lawmakers don’t know all about these technological problems, so write to your lawmakers when you have concerns.
• [59:30] - EFF is membership driven and a huge proportion of their funding is from individual members. If you are interested in becoming a member or donating to EFF, visit their website for more information.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Open Rights Group Web Page
• Electronic Frontier Foundation Web Page
• Danny O’Brien on Twitter
• Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD at EFF)
• Security Education Companion (SEC at EFF)

The pandemic has taken an economic toll on millions of lives. People are struggling, people want to help, and others are looking to take advantage of both. Before panicking about your bills or giving to the latest charitable cause, you need to listen to this episode to make sure your money is going where you think it is.

Our guest today is Dori Zinn. Dori has been a personal finance journalist for more than a decade with work featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, CNET, Yahoo Finance, and more. Her writing covers topics like banking, investing, credit, debt, student loans, personal loans, budgeting, and overall financial literacy. But today, she is talking about charities. Which ones are legitimate and which ones are raising those red flags?

Information security is not just technical. There is a human aspect involved and fixing that is more than just identification and awareness. Our guest today is Ira Winkler. Ira is the president of Secure Mentem and the author of the book You Can Stop Stupid. He is referred to as the modern-day James Bond, given his skills both physically and technically in infiltrating organizations. 

Today, Ira shares with us many of his personal and professional experiences in the area of cybercrime. His valuable tips and information can change how you look at potential threats and scams. He is an expert in how to make people easy prey and how to prevent people from being easy prey. 

• [0:51] - Ira graduated college as a psychology major and the only job he could get at that time was in the National Security Agency. This led him into the computer field within the military.
• [1:31] - He always wound up working on the human side of things.
• [3:03] - Ira shares his background and how he became a world-renowned penetration expert, which is a fancy name for a hacker.
• [5:21] - The way you break something is not the way you fix it. This is an important concept when looking at psychology.
• [7:01] - Psychology helps Ira exploit others but it is also important to understand when helping them.
• [7:55] - Telling someone the problem and then telling them not to fall for a scam doesn’t work.
• [8:50] - Ira and Chris discuss the recent Twitter hacks. Ira says that in this situation, anyone could have done what the hacker did because it was easy. You just have to have the questionable ethics and morals to do it.
• [9:41] - A lot of times, hackers and criminals are hired in various agencies including government and law enforcement because of their skills. Ira says this is very backwards and gives examples why this is “horrendous.”
• [11:58] - How do we get people to not fall for various types of scams? Ira says it is a very multi-layered process and gives a few examples of what can be done.
• [13:02] - Ira uses a comparison with terrorism attacks and how we can use that knowledge to help us protect ourselves, plan for a problem, and how to respond.
• [15:59] - A lot of sites other than banks and credit card companies are putting in security measures to keep people safe. But a lot of people get annoyed by security protection’s inconvenience.
• [17:15] - In general, most people use the same password across multiple accounts. If one user ID and password is compromised then the others are as well.
• [18:32] - Ira uses the real moral of the story of The Wizard of Oz: You have what you are looking for, you just don’t know it or how to use it. This is applicable to security. You have what you are looking for, but you aren’t using it.
• [21:38] - People have to stop being offended when people put security mechanisms in place.
• [23:10] - Something that bothers Ira is when real credit card companies are calling and ask for points of verification like social security numbers. This is exactly what scammers do and when real companies do this, it is hard to tell the difference.
• [25:43] - If somebody is injured, it is the fault of the system where the user exists. Somewhere they enabled the user to put themselves in a situation to allow them to be harmed.
• [27:42] - Sometimes bad grammar and poorly written scams is actually a filtering feature for scammers to filter out the people who are too smart to fall for it. Even a small percentage of people falling for a scam is still money in the criminal’s pocket.
• [28:44] - We need better infrastructure to protect organizations and individuals because these events cause so much money to be lost.
• [29:46] - Anyone who tells you there can be perfect security is either a fool or a liar.
• [30:19] - Anytime you have the option to add two-factor authorization, take it! Yes, it is annoying, but the consequences of not utilizing it are far more annoying in the end.
• [32:11] - Ira shares a story about when there was suspicious activity on his bank account. He saw the pattern and told the bank that he would work with them and law enforcement because he does this for a living. They “made a note of it,” and didn’t really do anything to stop the problem.
• [35:14] - Ira references a movie called Focus that is about scams, social engineering, and con-artists.
• [37:21] - You have to admire the minds of these criminals and the lengths they’ll go to manipulate and take advantage.
• [38:10] - You need to respect your potential adversaries.
• [39:00] - Chris and Ira discuss why the United States is different from other countries in regards to using the combination of cards and signatures versus cards and a PIN.
• [40:24] - How much risk can you assume as a culture?
• [42:13] - Chip and PIN is risk mitigation, but how much risk is it actually mitigating?
• [43:10] - You Can Stop Stupid, Ira’s book, is about how stupid is an effect, not a cause. It outlines what you can do now and how you respond to a problem.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Ira Winkler on LinkedIn
• Ira Winkler on Twitter
• Secure Mentem Web Page
• You Can Stop Stupid by Ira Winkler

With the 2020 elections right around the corner, do you know who is trying to influence you and how they’re doing it? Listen on to learn about the ins and outs of disinformation, misinformation, interference, and influence. 

Morgan Wright is an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity strategy, cyberterrorism, and advanced technology. His landmark testimony before Congress on healthcare.gov changed how the government collected personally identifiable information. He has made hundreds of appearances on national news - radio, print, and web - and has spoken to audiences around the world. 

• [1:21] - Morgan Wright shares his background, including his childhood in a military family and his original college major as music. He moved into law enforcement and then shifted in computer crime.
• [3:26] - Morgan moved into cybercrime because of his interest in both people and technology.
• [4:40] - On 9/11, Morgan was supposed to be in the Pentagon but was in the Reagan building instead. Because of the attacks on 9/11, he was thrown into cyberterrorism as well.
• [6:11] - Morgan also worked for Cisco and was the technical advisor for the show America’s Most Wanted.
• [7:35] - Another facet of Morgan’s career is even working on cold case homicide files.
• [8:36] - The next generation of leadership needs to be educated in technology. Every company is a software company whether you like it or not.
• [10:36] - Disinformation is information that is intentionally changed to achieve a particular objective. The person spreading the information knows it isn’t true, but wants to incite public outrage against someone.
• [11:06] - Misinformation is when someone hears something and believes it to be correct and shares it, to then later find out that it wasn’t accurate information.
• [11:40] - Twitter was monitored to see how quickly disinformation and misinformation spread and it spread faster than legitimate truthful news.
• [12:23] - Russia has been targeting people’s biases by spreading disinformation since 1917 and they understand how to take advantage of how a system works.
• [14:56] - The real danger is when people or organizations understand how news spreads and take advantage of these algorithms to influence major decisions, events, and even human lives.
• [16:42] - Chris and Morgan discuss Pizzagate as an example of spreading disinformation and misinformation and how the use of social media spreads it extremely fast.
• [17:35] - Interference is a sovereignty issue. Morgan gives an example of how interference is even considered an act of war in some places.
• [17:59] - The United States has spent a great deal of money in the influence field.
• [18:58] - Influence is a massive social engineering operation.
• [21:03] - Disinformation runs so deep that sometimes even trained professionals miss it.
• [21:52] - You do not have to react to every single post you see. Take a moment to digest what you are seeing before you react to it as truth.
• [22:44] - Parents have to be vigilant about what their kids see and read on the internet. You need to curate what your kids view and what you yourself view as well.
• [24:08] - It is important for adults to be adults. Even with opposing views, you need to be able to be an adult and have a respectful conversation with others.
• [25:13] - It seems that we have lost the ability to get things done with others who have opposing views.
• [27:31] - It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has all the data. What happens is you twist facts to fit theories instead of twisting theories to fit the facts.
• [28:13] - Nobody wants to do their own research. They just want information spoon fed to them.
• [29:31] - The danger of conspiracy theories is that you are fed just enough kernels of truth to make it believable.
• [32:00] - Chris and Morgan discuss a few 9/11 conspiracy theories and why it is easier to believe them than to believe the truth.
• [33:47] - If you listen to the news, don’t believe a thing you hear. Do your own independent research before you share something on social media.
• [35:00] - The oxygen this disinformation and influence operation needs to spread is you. It's you clicking that link and sharing it.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Morgan Wright Web Page
• Morgan Wright on LinkedIn
• Morgan Wright on Twitter

With more and more dating moving online, how do we separate real honest people from those who are misrepresenting themselves and the outright scammers? Our guest today is Kezia Noble. Kezia is a leading female dating and attraction expert for men and author of the bestselling book The Noble Art of Seducing Women. 

Kezia’s company helps clients learn conversation skills and ways to overcome anxiety in dating situations. Starting in 2009, she has since become a YouTube sensation. She and her team have helped over 100,000 men to overcome a multitude of sticking points and limiting beliefs, and open their eyes to the skills, techniques, insights, and secrets needed to be successful in dating. She joins us today to talk about red flags on dating apps and how you can protect yourself from potential scammers.

• [0:31] - Kezia is a Dating and Attraction Expert for men. She’s been in this field for a decade and runs worldwide workshops.
• [1:10] - Kezia helps guys with their anxiety and builds confidence in being themselves when dating.
• [2:30] - Chris and Kezia discuss the impact Coronavirus has had on dating. Kezia is in the UK and there are fewer restrictions there now so people are back on the dating scene.
• [4:05] - Kezia shares the differences in men and women as targets on dating apps. It is easier to target men on dating apps than women.
• [4:30] - If a man suddenly receives many messages from a woman who is outrageously beautiful, it could be a red flag.
• [5:10] - Kezia doesn’t use online dating because of the ease people have in lying online.
• [6:11] - Pay attention to the messages. Are they offering you everything you want to hear? Are they avoiding an in-person meeting?
• [7:00] - Love bombing is an attempt to influence a person by excessive attention and affection. This happens a lot with online dating.
• [8:01] - When creating your profiles, you should be cautious when posting that you are looking for a serious relationship because it makes you appear vulnerable and more of a target for scammers.
• [9:42] - Kezia creates a scenario of what she would do if she were a scammer and how some scammers can be very clever.
• [11:28] - Chris shares a story about a previous guest who is a man in his 60’s who has seen his photo being used as a dating app scam.
• [12:50] - If you have any inkling that someone you are messaging on a dating app is a scammer, Kezia recommends to drop a hint that you don’t have money and see what their reaction is.
• [15:22] - Another trick is to reverse look-up a photo from a dating app. Download the person’s photo and search for it. If it shows up a lot as a stock photograph or shows up with a lot of different names, it is a red flag.
• [16:09] - There have been situations of celebrities using dating apps and people don’t believe that they are actually who they say they are.
• [17:27] - You should always be careful because people exaggerate online easily. This is also apparent on Instagram photos.
• [19:06] - Even if you sit there and think that you won’t be scammed, if you are in a desperate situation, you’ll convince yourself to believe something.
• [20:18] - The biggest red flag is when someone will never meet up in person with you.
• [22:17] - One simple rule to live by is to never lend money to anyone you have never met.
• [25:09] - Kezia is the type of person who is very vigilant and looks for signs of danger everywhere. This is mostly due to Kezia’s job to notice behaviors.
• [26:17] - In Kezia’s experience, there are awful and dangerous people on dating apps, but they are in the minority. Kezia says that most people on dating apps are perfectly lovely people who are there for the right reasons.
• [27:56] - Kezia personally does not use dating apps because she feels it is a time waster. She shares how friends of hers are exhausted from dating and that’s not how it should be.
• [30:01] - Chris and Kezia discuss how curated social media is, specifically Instagram. Kezia doesn’t want to waste the time posing and setting up photos that aren’t authentic.
• [31:38] - Social media ten years ago was a fun platform to share photos, but now social media has changed into a curated and exaggerated pretense.
• [33:10] - Kezia believes social media is toxic because people are constantly fighting to appear perfect.
• [34:12] - Social media is highly linked to dating. It sets up these unrealistic expectations.
• [35:03] - Kezia believes that people are even staying in unhappy marriages for social media purposes. Their online life is too important to them.
• [38:04] - The biggest red flag is if the potential scammer avoids meeting you in person. People question this by thinking, “What if they really are too busy?” Kezia argues that if that is the reality, then your relationship with this person is also too busy to have a real relationship with you.
• [39:54] - Kezia’s business helps clients learn conversation skills and learn how to look for the right person. Commonalities breed friendships but connections breed attraction.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Kezia Noble Web Page
• Kezia Noble on Twitter
• Kezia Noble on Instagram
• Kezia Noble on YouTube
• Kezia Noble on Facebook
• The Noble Art of Seducing Women by Kezia Noble

Have you ever received calls either at work or at home where the caller wants you to verify some information about yourself or someone else in the company? This could just be someone updating their records or it could be the start of social engineering.

Our guest today is Jack Rhysider. Jack is the host of the podcast DarkNet Diaries: True Stories From the Dark Side of the Internet. His podcast is about hackers, breaches, shadow government activity, hacktivism, cybercrime, and all things that dwell on the hidden part of the net.

• [0:45] - Jack originally went to college to study computer engineering and wound up getting a job managing firewalls for many different clients. In that time, he went to conferences and listened to podcasts to learn about the different types of hacking.
• [1:40] - DarkNet Diaries is a podcast of telling the stories behind hackers and different situations.
• [2:15] - Jack explains how social engineering started decades ago where a man traveled around selling things he didn’t own.
• [3:31] - Today’s social engineering is more about conning people within a company in order to gain access to data.
• [4:44] - Jack breaks down the levels of people within a company and why everyone is a target for specific reasons.
• [5:00] - Phishing is all about sending a link to someone to click that is harmful. When a phishing email is sent to a CEO, it is called Whaling.
• [7:27] - Even the nightly cleaning crew could be a target for social engineering.
• [7:58] - Individuals could also be hacked, especially if they use bitcoin or other form of value.
• [9:29] - There is a difference between phishing and spear phishing. Phishing is a lot of the time random, but spear phishing is when the hacker takes the time to get to know their target.
• [11:29] - People are the weakest link but are unintentionally the weakest link. But on the other hand, people who are aware and trained are often the strongest link in protecting companies from social engineering attempts.
• [12:28] - Oftentimes social engineering attempts are time sensitive, so if you get an unusual call or email that is pushing you to act on something very quickly, that is a red flag.
• [14:10] - If you get a call that you are unsure of, hang up and call the people they claim to be directly to verify their identity.
• [16:02] - Jack recommends you also make sure you keep everything updated, like apps on your phone, your operating systems on your phone and computer, etc.
• [16:37] - Jack also recommends using a password manager on your computer which gives you a long crazy password and remembers it. These passwords are very difficult to crack.
• [17:44] - The harder you make it to hack your information, the more resources it would take for a hacker to gain access. They will give up and move on.
• [18:05] - One of the biggest issues with social media is the amount of information people are giving out for free that make them vulnerable.
• [20:18] - Jack shares a story about how Sarah Palin was hacked simply because the answers to some of her security questions were public knowledge online.
• [21:10] - Two factors authorization is a must and Jack also recommends you take steps to secure your email addresses.
• [23:42] - In Gmail, there is a way to see what IP addresses have accessed your email.
• [25:50] - Jack shares a story about how he was targeted as a teenager buying a camera on eBay.
• [27:04] - Past experiences are great lessons to learn about how to use the internet safely.
• [29:00] - Anything that is outside of the norm, like paying a bill with a different credit card, purchasing gift cards to pay for something, or wiring money through Western Union are all big red flags.
• [29:45] - There is a huge criminal market in India that is targeting individual people, specifically elderly people.
• [31:49] - This type of awareness is the first level of security for yourself.
• [33:29] - Chris and Jack discuss the most recent issue of hackers using stimulus check reasons to gain information.
• [34:12] - Another recent scam is a man spamming ex-drug addicts pretending to sell pharmaceuticals to tempt them into sending money to him.
• [37:32] - Jack’s podcast DarkNet Diaries covers stories from victims, law enforcement involved in cases, and even from the criminals themselves.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• DarkNet Diaries Web Page
• DarkNet Diaries on Twitter
• Jack Rhysider on Twitter

If your reputation or the reputation of your business gets trashed online, it can have a lasting impact. But there are things that you can do today to limit the impact of negative online statements about you and some of them are easier than you might expect. 

Our guest today is Chris Silver Smith. Chris is the CEO of Argent Media, a marketing agency focused heavily on reputation management where Chris helps people clean up their reputations in search engines. Chris has also served as an expert witness in defamation lawsuits in state and federal court. In his long time column at Search Engine Land, he has advocated for reputation victims.

• [1:00] - Chris started his career in internet marketing and designing. He also worked for Verizon for many years and eventually made his way into researching and developing SEO (search engine optimization).
• [2:28] - After working for Verizon, he moved on to working for SEO companies and became intrigued by reputation management which was predicted to be fast-growing.
• [3:37] - Reputation management is compelling to Chris because of the personal stories that get involved with it.
• [4:20] - Reputation management could mean helping companies whose CEOs may have made a social media mistake or even smaller companies who have negative reviews.
• [5:48] - Chris shares a story about a CEO who was accused of many things by an escort and truly had not done the things he was accused of.
• [6:50] - Sometimes the bad reputation is because of actual unwise decisions that people have made.
• [7:35] - Chris says that his most memorable personal case was a porn revenge situation who was a trafficking victim. Chris wound up working as an expert witness for free.
• [9:30] - The woman did eventually get away from her harasser and he followed through with his threats of ruining her reputation. But she won the lawsuit and felt that her negative reputation was completely created by her harasser.
• [10:40] - There are more common reputation management cases that Chris has seen several times, such as college or high school students getting in trouble with the police.
• [11:21] - When I say reputation management, usually that means something bad appears when you google someone’s name.
• [12:33] - Chris has dealt many times with fake mugshot sites that post mugshots and charge a fee for people to take them down.
• [13:45] - After Google de-optimized these mugshot sites, it is easier to take these posts down with Chris’s help.
• [15:39] - There’s so much out there and it is so easy to defame people on the internet.
• [17:11] - Chris references the story of the sex trafficking victim to answer how some of these reputation management victims don’t care about the money. They really want their reputation cleared and prove that the accusations are false.
• [20:10] - People who have had their reputation damaged or attacked often have a really severe emotional response to it and are referred to counseling.
• [21:20] - People are surprised at how easy it is for their reputation to suddenly become tarnished.
• [22:24] - It is important to know the difference between your public persona and a private one and curate what you put up publicly. Maintaining this can come in handy when your reputation is attacked.
• [23:34] - Chris shares a story about a competitor who purchased the domain name for his new business and how he was able to amicably solve the problem.
• [26:04] - A strong online presence is a good idea. You should have a personal website and periodically Google your name.
• [26:50] - Chris recommends using Tumblr, Flickr, and YouTube under your name that could help create an online presence that would show up in the search results.
• [28:31] - Even informal stuff is great for basic SEO. Use your name as often as you can.
• [29:00] - It may feel like you’re overhyping yourself, but that’s optimization. Search engines work off text.
• [30:02] - Facebook is great because you can have a personal page for friends and family but can simultaneously have a business page.
• [31:47] - Chris shares many examples of common mistakes people make when video and audio is being recorded.
• [32:50] - Remember that every single thing you do publicly now is likely to be recorded and can be uploaded either on purpose or accidentally.
• [33:10] - Chris shares a story of employees who were connected to a man who ran a cult. They disclosed it and moved on.
• [35:02] - Chris’s wife’s name is Karen and now there are many memes and negativity surrounding the name.
• [36:51] - There are quite a few businesses out there that accidentally get sucked into the news because of their names when they really have no connection. Chris calls this name collision.
• [38:39] - There is a cost with fixing a damaged reputation and sometimes it is less costly to change names and move on.
• [39:47] - Chris has worked cases with restaurant chains that has actually resulted in some policy change within the companies.
• [42:32] - It is better to get ahead of the curve if you can.
• [43:40] - It is good to go ahead and claim your name for a personal webpage and on social media in case you ever need it. Prepare and protect your reputation upfront instead of fixing it later on.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Chris Silver Smith on Twitter
• Argent Media
• Search Engine Land
• Chris Silver Smith on LinkedIn
• Chris Silver Smith Web Page

Conspiracy theories are all crazy, right? Well, maybe not. There’s some history as to why so many people believe in them. What we really need is a conspiracy theory detection kit and that’s what we have in today’s episode.

Our guest today is Dr. Michael Shermer. Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the host of the Science Salon Podcast, and a presidential fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Why People Believe Weird Things and his latest book is Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist.

• [1:40] - Dr. Shermer’s magazine is called Skeptic Magazine which is devoted to teaching critical thinking skepticism and scientific reasoning.
• [2:03] - None of us are omniscient. We can’t know anything with certainty. Most of the decisions we make in life are made with uncertainty. So how best should we best make decisions?
• [2:39] - For centuries, we have developed methods, tools, and technology to help us with this problem of uncertainty.
• [4:47] - Finding the cause of something has many variables and once you start getting into economics and politics, things get messy.
• [5:50] - It is important to separate the correlation between seemingly cause and effect relationships. Dr. Shermer uses the fraudulent connection between vaccines and autism to demonstrate.
• [7:48] - The curse of knowledge is the Hindsight Bias. After the fact, it is clear what should have been done, but at the time it wasn’t clear. Dr. Shermer shares several great historical events as examples of this.
• [9:27] - There’s let something happen on purpose and make something happen on purpose and it is unfair to place blame on others using the Hindsight Bias.
• [11:40] - There is a difference between conspiracy and conspiracy theory. A conspiracy is something that actually happened and a conspiracy theory is the idea that there is something that is happening.
• [12:08] - The main reason people believe conspiracy theories are true is because many shocking conspiracies have actually happened. They are not so far out of the realm of possibility.
• [12:55] - It is not completely crazy to think that something will happen because historically something similar has happened. Dr. Shermer uses examples from the Kennedy administration.
• [14:49] - Another reason people are quick to believe conspiracy theories is because of the messiness of the world. Our brains are wired to try to simplify things.
• [15:39] - Money is a proxy for power and a lot of people believe that these people who have power are actually more powerful than they are. For example, Bill Gates is the center of some conspiracy theories, but in reality, what power does he actually have?
• [16:10] - This is not unreasonable for people to believe because there have been powerful people with money who have rigged the system.
• [16:58] - It is easier to believe that horrific things that happen in the world are controlled by a small group of people. This is an example of the human brain trying to simplify things.
• [17:17] - The fact is, nobody is running the world. And in a way, that is scary.
• [18:27] - The more people that have to be involved, the less likely the conspiracy is true. People don’t typically keep secrets and have big mouths.
• [19:56] - Dr. Shermer uses a 9/11 conspiracy theory as an example of how crazy the theory sounds due to its complexity.
• [21:05] - Some conspiracy theories are harmless, but many can be harmful.
• [22:40] - An example of a dangerous conspiracy theory is the one surrounding Hitler’s rise to power. Hitler’s initial platform was spreading the conspiracy theory that the only reason they lost the first world war was because they were stabbed in the back by the Jewish community.
• [23:25] - People are very confused about the term freedom. You have to give up certain freedoms for security.
• [24:54] - The United States and Italy are examples of countries with a loose culture. This means that they are not rigidly following guidelines and the spread of COVID-19 is rapid in nations like this.
• [27:12] - Chris and Dr. Shermer discuss the title of Dr. Shermer’s new book Giving the Devil His Due which was inspired by the play A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt.
• [29:12] - The book is a series of essays on the theme of free speech.
• [29:27] - The only way to make sure you haven’t gone off the rails and believe things that aren’t true is to interact with people who think differently from you. This gets you out of a bubble and gives you a better ability to make your own decisions and form your own opinions.
• [29:58] - Dr. Shermer is concerned about the lack of diversity in ideas and opinions within politics.
• [31:00] - The new book has had mostly positive reviews.
• [32:12] - Even scientists need critical review. This helps us determine if we should be skeptical.
• [33:27] - It is important to know and understand the arguments behind a differing opinion from your own.
• [35:04] - Dr. Shermer predicts that there will be many changes and feels that this is not always a bad thing. Some changes will be good and bad.
• [38:01] - Dr. Shermer offers tons of free content on his website and also offers courses for more information. You can find them in the links and resources.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Michael Shermer Web Page
• Skeptic Salon Podcast
• Skeptic Magazine
• Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
• Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist by Michael Shermer
• Michael Shermer on Facebook
• Michael Shermer on Twitter
• Skeptic Magazine on YouTube

Long gone are the days of companies giving away coolers on college campuses when students would sign up for high-interest credit cards. Unfortunately, there are still sneaky promotions, fine print, and ways these companies take advantage of unsuspecting customers. 

Our guest today is Sara Rathner. Sara is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She appeared on the Today Show, Nasdaq, and CNBC’s Nightly Business Report and has been quoted in Yahoo Finance, Time, Business Insider, and MarketWatch. She’s held a total of 23 credit cards using travel reward points to see the world on a budget. A proud Northwestern University alum, she also has a certificate in financial planning from Boston University. She’s here today to talk about personal finance scams and how to manage your credit cards.

• [1:40] - Sara’s passion is personal finance and people reach out to her to ask questions. She really wants finances to be empowering and not scary.
• [3:04] - Chris remembers the days when he was in college seeing booths of credit card companies setting college students up with credit cards. Sara explains the Card Act that changed the law to protect young adults.
• [4:31] - There are times when your credit limit can really help you in a bind.
• [5:10] - Sara recommends everyone read the fine print of every credit card you apply for, even though it is not enjoyable to do so. You can find all this information before you even fill out an application.
• [6:06] - You want to find a card that provides greater value than its annual cost. You want to find a card that has rewards that you will actually redeem and use.
• [6:32] - The credit card industry is seeing a lot of change due to the pandemic.
• [7:29] - Sara explains how revolving credit accounts work and where credit card balances can get dicey.
• [9:14] - If you pay your credit card bills every month rather than the minimum payment, you won’t deal with interest.
• [10:00] - Chris shares an experience of reading the fine print on a store credit card application that claimed to be interest-free for the first 12 months. Sara confirms how that works and cautions people to know that fine print.
• [12:30] - Interest rates are negotiable to an extent.
• [13:11] - Missing a payment is huge. Many cards have late fees and a late payment could hit your credit score by 100 points or more overnight.
• [14:05] - The thing that you need or want now is great, but if it causes you long term financial struggle, oftentimes it wasn’t worth it in the first place.
• [15:23] - Sara recommends for those really large purchases to save up money rather than taking on the stress of debt if you can.
• [16:30] - There are a lot of recent scams, specifically small business loans and unemployment insurance, that are popping up after the pandemic caused people to lose their job and reliable income.
• [19:05] - Sara recommends going directly to the government agencies that offer financial assistance during this time and never to go to an outside source no matter how legitimate they appear.
• [20:58] - Sara shares an experience with a credit card company contacting her about a problem with her account and asked her for her credit card number to verify. She refused and called the number on the back of her card to make sure.
• [23:13] - Any time you are trying to buy and sell items on platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, be very careful because there are scams there, too.
• [26:07] - It is much more important to be careful and seem paranoid than take a risk. You’re dealing with strangers so their opinion doesn’t matter.
• [28:06] - Chris and Sara discuss sketchy ways scammers try to snag you. But there are legitimate credit repair resources online and many of them are free. NerdWallet is an excellent resource.
• [29:49] - It takes a few months for positive behaviors to show up on your credit reports, so if you stick with it you will be rewarded.
• [30:27] - NerdWallet is your financial best friend that has tons of great articles and calculators. Check out the app and website.
• [31:01] - Sara shares her most valuable piece of advice for those who think they have been a victim of a scam, including a website to report potential scams.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Sara Rathner on NerdWallet
• Sara Rathner on Twitter
• NerdWallet on Twitter
• NerdWallet Web Page
• NerdWallet on Facebook
• NerdWallet on Instagram
• Report a Potential Scam

To what extremes are you willing to go for complete privacy and security? No one takes privacy as seriously as today’s guest, John McAfee.

John McAfee is known for founding McAfee Antivirus, being a crypto currency evangelist and a privacy activist. In this episode, John shares the lengths he goes to protect his own privacy with significant unexpected costs. John lives and plays by his own rules and this interview is no exception. If you are sensitive to profanity, I suggest that you head over to EasyPrey.com/26 for a clean transcript.

Listen on to find out how John maintains his extremely private lifestyle.

• [1:12] - John McAfee begins explaining the precautions he takes to keep his privacy safe by stating that he and his wife do not own cell phones.
• [1:39] - Even with a brand new mobile phone, when you call just three people, a government could find you and John explains how cell phones are susceptible to spyware.
• [2:05] - John also explains that he lives in a faraday cage, which blocks signals from coming in and out of the room. It is also sound proof.
• [2:52] - John also has a very serious VPN that goes through 9 different countries to ensure his privacy.
• [4:41] - While on trips and vacations, John and his wife take many pictures but don’t post them immediately. This keeps people guessing where they actually are at any given time.
• [5:42] - John also adds bogus information to photos that are posted, like varying dates.
• [7:19] - Chris asks John how he feels about Tor and John explains that it was infiltrated by the CIA so it isn’t possible to have any privacy or anonymity.
• [9:13] - If it is advertised at all, it is something that is owned by somebody and there is no privacy there.
• [10:09] - John explains that the only secure email out there is Google and it is also not very secure either.
• [10:37] - Google never trusts anybody. As long as they get their money, they’re happy and they’ll give you what privacy they can, given the constraints of reality.
• [10:58] - If you want any privacy at all, there’s no way to do that other than Gmail.
• [11:40] - John explains that he does not have a bank account or credit cards. He strictly uses cryptocurrency only, including large purchases like homes and cars.
• [12:50] - He is also particular on what cryptocurrency he uses and does not suggest using large or older companies like Bitcoin.
• [14:07] - Bitcoin specifically is easily tracked and can be followed.
• [15:00] - The newer cryptocurrency companies are much better about keeping your information safe and private.
• [17:54] - John explains how when moving from country to country, he has multiple legal passports.
• [19:56] - Because he is frequently recognized when he’s with his wife, they split up when traveling and meet up later. He wears hats, hoodies, various glasses, and due to Covid-19, masks. 
• [21:40] - John also makes sure to lie to his friends and family as well so that his location at any given time is not revealed.
• [24:01] - John explains how the costs of good privacy are very steep.
• [25:06] - How important is this level of privacy to the average person? John doesn’t advise this lifestyle for anybody. But for John and his wife Janice, it is critical.
• [25:50] - Striking a balance is tough, specifically if you own a smartphone.
• [27:45] - All this possible tracking done by smart phones is granted access by the actual user. You sign up to be spied on.
• [29:21] - John feels that he has to live the way he does in order to not be silenced by government agencies who don’t want him spreading what he knows to be the truth.
• [31:50] - John founded his computer security company by understanding the reality of the world.
• [34:04] - When asked about Julian Assange, John says, “A hero is someone capable of accomplishing.” John says Assange and Snowden are both very smart but were not prepared.
• [35:41] - John has been arrested 21 times in 11 different countries but because of how he chooses to live in private seclusion, he is free to speak out.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
• Easy Prey on Instagram
• Easy Prey on Twitter
• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• John McAfee on Twitter