What the Hack?

Solana Foundation hype man Austin Federa was kind enough to join us this week to discuss one of the bedrock truths when it comes to money: People like to steal it. Seriously, listen to this one if you think cryptocurrency has its own special category of crime, because you might be missing the forest for the trees. 

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Michelle Dennedy is to privacy what Einstein is to relativity but with the addition of rules that involve proper panty protocols. If there’s a new trend in identity-related crime, she knows about it, has an opinion and can help guide you to a better place without getting got by it. A must-listen episode especially if you’ve ever researched mental health care online.

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China’s spying via dirigible is incorrigible but in sync with its many digital deviancies. We tried to get Xi Jinping as a guest this week, but didn’t hear back so we decided to explore the news about Chinese spy balloons in context with other attacks, why it matters (or doesn’t) and why (at least one of us thinks) Mark Zuckerberg is just as bad. 

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Jordan is a classic go-getter. At age 17, he was running a successful e-commerce site reselling knock-off consumer electronics through a website connected to a drop shipping company. Unfortunately, the tidy profit he made on a product that was perfectly legal but a wee bit questionable, put him on the radar of scammers who knew a LOT about him.  

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In the wake of the Great Reset and Covid, millions of people have pursued their dreams of a better, financially stable and less stressful life. Business analyst and author Jill Schlesinger gives us a rundown on how to distinguish these dreams from reality and how to avoid getting scammed in the process. 

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If you’ve listened to the show more than once, you know Adam talks A LOT about credit freezes.This week he makes a jaw-dropping (and somewhat shameless) confession: The Great Cred-u-cator only got around to freezing his own credit last week! Hear what his no-shame zone admission can teach us all about the things we don’t do to stay safe online. 

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Misinformation is almost always born in the primordial slime of the internet, that swamp of blogs, newsletters, and other private discussion groups that most of us never read. Unless most of you happen to be Media Matters. 

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Britt was starting a new career and between jobs, so there was no money coming in and she stopped checking her bank balances for a while. When she finally did take a look, a substantial piece of her nest egg had vanished. We find out where it went and how the theft may have gone down.

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Online scams, hacks and the cybersecurity fails that feed them don’t stop for the holidays, and neither do we! That said, a lot of people do take a break this time a year, which is why we’re guest-less this week. But hey, you’ve still got us and there’s plenty of news.

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As 2022 draws to a close, it’s time for our annual look back at all the guests who made 2022 a special year. Adam, Beau, Travis and Andrew Steven, the man with two first names who’s usually busy producing the show, talked about our favorite moments with Al Franken, Malcolm Nance, Roy Wood, Jr., Deviant Ollam, Dan Ahdoot and others. 

Thanks to all of our listeners for a great 2022. We hope you’ve had as much fun listening to the show as we’ve had making it. And if you really like us, please take a moment to tell us about it in a review wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps people find the show!

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