The Honey tool has been exposed as a scam, after dozens of YouTube influencers heavily promoted it. Honey was supposed to save online shoppers money by finding discount codes, but how could it make money doing that? By stealing from its own advertisers, of course! Find out how Honey did it, how they got exposed, and what the future holds for Honey's funny money and the stain upon its parent company PayPal.

Resources

• Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam
• 'Biggest Influencer Scam of All Time'?: PayPal Accused of Poaching Commissions Via Its 'Honey' Browser Extension

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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Romance scams aren't the only goals of a catfish. The catfish needs some way to get all that money delivered into their hands without leaving a trail. To accomplish this, they recruit unwitting victims into laundering their money. Meet Alice, who unknowingly becomes a money mule for Parker the Catfish.

Resources

• What is a money mule?
• Catfished YouTube Channel

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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How do catfish convince victims to send money? In this second of a three-part series on catfishing, we take a tour of the many tricks romance scammers use to separate victims from their hearts, and their cash. 

Resources

• Catfished YouTube Channel
• Scam Haters United website

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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Catfishing scams have reached new heights, particularly romance scams. But how do they get away with it? This first of a three-part series on catfishing explores the technology these scammers use to fool their victims. 

Resources

• The man who "sold" The Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Ulysses Grant's tomb
• All About Ethel Kennedy's 34 Grandchildren
• Catfished YouTube Channel

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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Hackers have been releasing password leaks for years. But what exactly is a password leak, and should you be concerned? In this episode of How Hacks Happen, we look at how password security has changed over the years, and how you can keep yourself safe in the ever-changing world of online security.

Resources

• Rockyou2024 analysis: Mega password list or just noise?
• Have I Been Pwned? Check your password
• NIST Special Publication: Digital Identity Guidelines

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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With Netflix shining attention on the victims of the 2015 Ashley Madison breach, we're running a replay of our own coverage from 2021 that gets into the dark underbelly that Netflix skipped: lies Ashley Madison told about their services (and their CEO's fidelity), and blackmail attempts from enterprising hacker types. We also put forth evidence that the hacker, who was never caught, is most likely Canadian and a woman.

Resources

• Impact Team Pastebin notice, July 20, 2015: https://pastebin.com/ZGXmk8R9
• Krebs on Security report on breach: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/online-cheating-site-ashleymadison-hacked/
• Suicides attributed to Ashley Madison breach:
• https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/technology/ashley-madison-suicide/
• https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34044506
• https://toronto.citynews.ca/2013/11/10/woman-hurt-typing-fake-profiles-for-dating-site-20m-suit-alleges/
• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/ashleymadison-500k-bounty-for-hackers/
• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/who-hacked-ashley-madison/
• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/was-the-ashley-madison-database-leaked/
• https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madisons-leaked-database-available-download-read-this/
• https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-fake/
• https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-strange-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-noel-biderman-the-former-ceo-of-ashley-madison/slidelist/48716152.cms
• https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/business-privacy/safeguards-and-breaches/privacy-breaches/respond-to-a-privacy-breach-at-your-business/gd_pb_201810/
• https://www.wired.com/2015/08/happened-hackers-posted-stolen-ashley-madison-data/
• https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-wives-receiving-blackmail-let

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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The medical records of 1/3 of Americans were stolen from Change Healthcare in February 2024, and leaked to the dark web. So who is Change Healthcare, and why did they have your data in the first place? Get the skinny on this week's episode.

Resources

• Change Healthcare Cyberattack Affected 100 Million Individuals
• The Change Healthcare attack: Explaining how it happened
• Wyden Hearing Statement on Change Healthcare Cyberattack and UnitedHealth Group’s Response
• Testimony of Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, UnitedHealth Group Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations “Examining the Change Healthcare Cyberattack”
• The impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack: What to know
• Change Healthcare Cyberattack: What Consumers Should Know
• Received a letter from Change Healthcare? What you should do next
• Change Healthcare Attack Cost Estimate Reaches Nearly $2.9B
• Change Healthcare Finally Admits It Paid Ransomware Hackers $22 Million—and Still Faces a Patient Data Leak

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Credit card fraud is on the rise, but not in the usual way: hackers are cobbling together synthetic accounts from real and fake names, addresses, social security numbers, and credit histories. Children's social security numbers are particularly at risk. Find out how it all works, and what you can do to help prevent synthetic account fraud, and help with inflation in the process.

Resources

• FBI: Combating Threats in the Cyberworld
• LawPay: Guide to Securely Storing Credit Card Information
• How Can Someone Use My Credit Card Without Having It? A Complete Guide to Theft Prevention
• Motley Fool: Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud Statistics for 2024
• Mastercard: What is Synthetic Identity Fraud? 

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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QR codes are a super convenient way to access a website or app from your phone without having to type anything in. And while some scammers use QR codes to try and steal your personal information and money, most QR codes are just fine. Learn how to spot a scammy QR code so you can use them safely, and confidently enjoy all the conveniences they offer.

Resources:

• Thieves are using fake QR codes on parking meters to scam drivers. Here's how to protect yourself 
• FBI issues new warning about QR code scams
• Alerts issued over a rise in QR code scams, known as ‘quishing’
• 'I fell victim to clever scam when trying to park'
• Redondo Beach warns drivers of parking meter scam involving fake QR codes
• How to spot a fake QR code scam
• A brief history of QR codes
• What Is a Drive-by Download Malware Attack?

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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How can you keep hackers from getting your Social Security Number? You can't. Between breaches of Equifax, the healthcare industry, and the recent National Public Data leak, your SSN is probably already making the rounds on the dark web. But you can fight back with some simple security measures.

In this episode, we call back to our very first episode on the Equifax breach of 2017, and revisit the lessons learned and how they pertain to cybersecurity today, and in the future.

Resources

• Krebs on Security: NationalPublicData.com Hack Exposes a Nation’s Data
• SBA: COVID-19 Pandemic EIDL and PPP Loan Fraud Landscape
• A Third of Americans Have had Their Social Security Numbers Leaked in Healthcare Breaches
• Usa.gov: How to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report
• Troy Hunt: Inside the "3 Billion People" National Public Data Breach
• Watchdogs: SBA handed out over $80 billion in potentially fraudulent loans
• NBC News: 'Biggest fraud in a generation': The looting of the Covid relief plan known as PPP
• WIRED: LifeLock CEO's Identity Stolen 13 Times
• YouTube: Lifelock Commercial

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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
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