What is an NFT, and why would anyone want to buy one? There are lots of reasons why someone might buy a certified JPG or other NFT, but there's no guarantee your NFT will increase in value or even retain the value you paid for it. In this episode, host Michele Bousquet talks about different kinds of NFTs on the market, how they compare to physical art items, and how fraudsters have found a rich source of free funds in NFT theft.
Sources:
The story of Silk Road, the underground website where you could buy and sell anything, is now part of internet lore. Customers could order everything from pot to meth and have it delivered to their door. Then came fake IDs, unregistered guns, poisons, and murder-for-hire. But wherever there's illegal activity and lots of money, violence isn't far behind. This episode takes you on a very quick tour of the rise and fall of Silk Road, which met its demise in 2013 when founder Ross Ulbricht got caught.
Well, it finally happened: I got scammed! I bought a high-end projector at a price that was too good to be true, because it wasn't true. Don't fall for the White Van scam!
White van speaker scam on Wikipedia
The Art and Math of Cryptography at Amazon.com
In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for “hacking.” This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was awarded The National Press Club press freedom award for his work.
You get an email telling you you've been billed for a product you never ordered, and when you call for a refund, you somehow you get an excess refund and have to send back the difference. Find out how scammers manipulate people into sending them “excess refund money” from a nonexistent refund, and what you can do to keep it from happening to others. Shout-out to YouTuber Kitboga for showing me how this scam works.
What is Tor? In this episode, we demystify the Tor browser and how it relates to the Surface Web, the Deep Web, and the Dark Web. Maybe you want to use Tor, and maybe you don't. But in any case you'll know what it is, and will be able to decide if it's right for you.
Download the Tor browser at the official site
A great read about the dark web at Wired.com
After a little hiatus, we're back! Season 2 has so many great episodes coming up. We're going to explain how the refund scam works and what NF T's are, and we're going to talk about the notorious hacking case in Missouri, where the governor was convinced that pressing the F12 key is a crime. We'll also have a very special episode that discusses some of the things you can do right now, for free, in your own home, to keep yourself safe. So Like and Follow so you get a heads-up when the episodes start dropping!
What we can we learn about hacks, scams, and fraud from TV shows and movies? Plenty, as it turns out. Fictional shows, documentaries, podcasts, and other types of entertainment are a treasure trove of knowledge. Don't discount the education you can get about scams, con games, legal proceedings, police procedure, and other aspects of safety, all while being thoroughly entertained.
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The Tinder Swindler is a fascinating Netflix documentary about a serial romance scammer who took each of his “girlfriends” for more than $100,000 each. In this episode, we look at what we can learn from The Tinder Swindler, going beyond the easy “blame the victim” mentality to show how effective such scams can be, and to point out the individual red flags you should watch out for in any new romance.
Resources for this episode:
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The hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 was one of the most bizarre crimes of the decade. Instead of demanding money, the hackers threatened a terrorist attack on the USA if Sony didn't cancel the release of the film 'The Interview,' a comedy about two bumbling journalists who travel to North Korea and attempt to assassinate the country's Supreme Leader. The release went forward anyway, and thankfully, the threats came to nothing, and there were no casualties. Enjoy the terrible English in the hackers' written threats against 'The Sony,' and Michele's terrible attempts at reading them aloud in a North Korean accent.
Resources for this episode:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30512032
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/the-untold-story-of-the-sony-hack
https://www.vox.com/2015/1/20/18089084/sony-hack-north-korea
https://www.vox.com/2014/12/16/7403437/sony-hacks-threats
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/north-korea
https://www.operationblockbuster.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Operation-Blockbuster-Report.pdf
https://www.mandiant.com/resources/apt38-details-on-new-north-korean-regime-backed-threat-group
https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17826722/north-korea-sony-hack-wannacry-charges
https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/documents/SonyNightmareBeforeChristmas.pdf
https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/documents/SonyNightmareBeforeChristmas.pdf
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/the-untold-story-of-the-sony-hack
https://thinkst.com/ts/free/ThinkstScapes-2014-AH4-Trial.pdf
https://www.thewrap.com/president-obama-sony-made-a-mistake-in-canceling-the-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xjJbEwJsg
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