It’s all glitter, no gold.
Hacking Humans17 Heinä 2025

It’s all glitter, no gold.

This week, our hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (also host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Minus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Space Daily show) are back sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Our hosts share some follow-up, including a Rick Roll after the last episode. They also highlight a listener note from Evaldas in Lithuania, who explains that companies often use alternate domains for marketing emails to protect their main domain’s reputation—so marking them as spam is actually expected. Joe’s got a story of a billion-dollar AI-fueled scam where criminals impersonate celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Kevin Costner to exploit lonely fans—convincing them to send money, fall in love, and keep the relationship secret, all while Hollywood scrambles to fight back. Maria has the story of how a federal court blocked the FTC’s new “click-to-cancel” rule—meant to make canceling subscriptions easier—due to a procedural misstep, just days before it was set to take effect. Dave shares a story from Reddit about a disturbing extortion scam where a victim received a fake photo of their car outside a strip club—with their real license plate—demanding $1,000 to keep it quiet, raising questions about data scraping and AI manipulation. Our catch of the day comes from the scams subreddit, where a user shares a tale of a scammer promising big returns for investing in gold and diamonds—spoiler alert: it’s all glitter, no gold. Complete our annual ⁠⁠audience survey⁠⁠ before August 31. Resources and links to stories: This Is Not Keanu: Inside the Billion-Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam A ‘click-to-cancel’ rule, intended to make canceling subscriptions easier, is blocked [US] Extortion text message with fake strip club photo but real license plate – how did they get my info? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Jaksot(767)

A game of loans.

A game of loans.

This week, while Maria is on vacation, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ...

30 Huhti 55min

PUP (noun) [Word Notes]

PUP (noun) [Word Notes]

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A software program installed unintentionally by a user that typically performs tasks not asked for by the installer.  CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecy...

28 Huhti 5min

SLAM, scam, thank you ma’am.

SLAM, scam, thank you ma’am.

This week, while Maria is on vacation, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are ...

23 Huhti 51min

Ransomware (noun) [Word Notes]

Ransomware (noun) [Word Notes]

Malware that disables a system in exchange for a ransom, usually by encrypting the system's data until the user pays for the decryption key. CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossar...

21 Huhti 7min

Who is winning the scam game?

Who is winning the scam game?

This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittn...

16 Huhti 57min

Service Set Identifier (SSID) (noun) [Word Notes]

Service Set Identifier (SSID) (noun) [Word Notes]

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The name of a wireless access point. CyberWire Glossary ⁠link⁠. Audio reference link: ⁠SSID Management - CompTIA Security+ SY0-401: 1.5⁠, Professor Messer, ...

14 Huhti 5min

When “opportunity” knocks, don’t answer.

When “opportunity” knocks, don’t answer.

This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠...

9 Huhti 49min

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (noun) [Word Notes]

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (noun) [Word Notes]

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A U.S. Government specification for data encryption using an asymmetric key algorithm. CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/advanced-e...

7 Huhti 8min

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