How Hacks Happen

Scammers are still at it, happy to ruin our lives in search of a quick buck. Let's look at job scams that attempt to steal personal information, sextortion scams preying on teenage boys, and a really nasty threatening email I personally received. Know your scams, so you can keep yourself safe.

Resources:

• These teenage boys were blackmailed online – and it cost them their lives
• 'You might as well end it now': Terrorized by sextortion plot, a 17-year-old takes his life
• How To Identify Fake Job Postings: 10 Warning Signs

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Hacks used to be impressive, utilizing bits and pieces of technology that made us sit up and pay attention. Nowadays, every scam, breach, or sketchy text message gets labelled a "hack" when it's really just basic use of existing technology, or an outright scam. Let's take a closer look at how the meaning of “hack” has changed, from the complex brilliance of NotPetya in 2017, to today's flood of scams powered by stolen data and AI fakery. It’s the end of the Age of the Great Hack, and the rise of the Age of Many Scams.

Resources:

• Healthcare Data Breach Statistics
• Being Infected by NotPetya: What Maersk learned
• NotPetya: A Columbia University Case Study

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In this episode of How Hacks Happen, we delve into the complexities surrounding trash possession and legalities. Besides the legal distinctions between lost, mislaid, and abandoned property, there are the risks posed by scammers who rifle through trash for personal information so they can steal your identity or call you up and pretend to be your bank. No trash is safe in this world we live in, so shred, burn, and sanitize your trash before throwing it out.

Resources:

• Dumpster Diving for Documents: The Low-Tech Threat Fueling High-Stakes Identity Theft
• California v. Greenwood
• State v. Hempele

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Can you tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them? Let's delve into the infamous case of Amanda Knox, the American exchange student who was wrongfully accused of murdering her roommate in 2007. We'll talk bad cell phone forensics, media sensationalism, and cultural biases, and how they can lead to dire consequences for those who are judged not by evidence, but by how they act differently than society expects them to.

Resources

• Amanda Knox website
• Sentence of the Court of Assizes of Perugia in the Murder of Meredith Kercher
• Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
• Teacher Recorded Laughing During Apalachee School Shooting May Have Been the Bravest Person in the Room
• Video of teacher laughing during school shooting
• Central Park jogger case

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Send me a text! No matter who you are or where you are in the world, I'd love to hear from you. This is a call for feedback on what you like about How Hacks Happen, what you don't like, or if you just want to say Hi.

Click the "Send us a text" link below, and you'll be sending a text message directly to me, Michele Bousquet. I can't wait to read what you have to say. If I get enough messages, I'll even do an episode just with your feedback.

Resources

• Just my bad self for this one
• The "Send us a text" link is just below!

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In May 2025, Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, got hacked. Or did they? It was more like a near-miss. But while we might wipe our brows in relief over this latest mishap, it doesn't bode well for the future of cryptocurrency, which is currently unregulated, uninsured, and just waiting for the next big catastrophe to leave investors crying in their collective beers over their lost millions.

Join us for a tour of some of most disastrous crypto hacks of yesteryear like Mt Gox and Bybit, and what we see coming for the future of crypto. Hint: It's not pretty.

Resources

• Coinbase: Protecting Our Customers - Standing Up to Extortionists
• The Story of Mt. Gox: Explained
• Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
• What Is Crypto KYC and Why Do Exchanges Need It in 2025?
• The ByBit Heist and the Future of U.S. Crypto Regulation
• Top 10 Cryptos to Invest In May 2025

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In this episode we continue the story of Daniel Rigmaiden, a man arrested for tax fraud in 2008 who reveals the Stingray surveillance device used by the Feds to track his location. Despite being in jail, Rigmaiden tirelessly researches and files numerous motions, arguing that the use of Stingrays violated citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. His determination attracts the attention of the ACLU and the EFF, ultimately influencing government policy on surveillance practices, policies that protect privacy for all of us. 

Resources

• Rigmaiden court documents
• DOJ: Justice Department Announces Enhanced Policy for Use of Cell-Site Simulators
• The News Tribune: Stingray snared him, now he helps write rules for surveillance 
• ACLU: Fighting for Transparency
• Wall Street Journal: Judge Questions Tools That Grab Cellphone Data on Innocent People 
• ACLU website
• EFF website

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In 2014, the US government chose not to take a massive, rock-solid tax fraud case to trial. But why? This episode kicks off the tale of Daniel Rigmaiden, a hacker who exploited a legal loophole to regain his freedom. Find out how Rigmaiden's method for online connection, his Air Card, was both his downfall and his salvation. Take a deep dive into the data cell providers collect, how they share it with law enforcement, and the Fourth Amendment's role in protecting privacy. And tune in for Part II, where the real drama unfolds.

Resources

• Fourth Amendment Primer
• United States of America v. Daniel David Rigmaiden, Government’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Suppress
• Video: Daniel Rigmaiden at Aaron Swartz Day 2017

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Is your identity at risk? And what would you do if someone was using it to take out credit cards, steal your tax refund, or even raid your bank account? Enjoy this replay of interviews with Tiffany, Pete, and Astrid, three victims of identity theft. Even though this episode originally aired in 2022, the same lessons remain. Listen to hear about how each of the three discovered the fraud, what they did to reverse the damage, and what they do now to prevent it from happening again.

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When over 100,000 Bitcoin went missing in 2016, no one suspected the culprits: a quiet, mild-mannered developer and his ostentatious entrepreneur/rapper wife with a wacky social media presence. Meet Razzlekhan and Dutch, the most unlikely thieves in the history of crime.

Resources:

• Razzlekhan and husband guilty of $4.5bn Bitcoin launder
• Bitcoin Plunges After Hacking of Exchange in Hong Kong
• Bitfinex Hacker Sentenced in Money Laundering Conspiracy Involving Billions in Stolen Cryptocurrency

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