x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

What the Hack?

"What the Hack?" is the award-winning true cybercrime podcast--the place to hear memorable stories and get good advice.

true crime

All Episodes

42:09

Episode 117: Theresa Payton Kept the White House Safe...

What the Hack? ·

2023/10/10

Ever wonder why Too-Big-To-Fail banks get hacked along with a host of other high-visibility targets get compromised, but the White House has never been breached? We did too, which is why we invited Former White House CIO and current founder and CEO of Fortalice Theresa Payton to tell us how to be safer online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

37:50

Episode 116: Kathy Waters Is Every Catphisher’s Worst...

What the Hack? ·

2023/10/03

Kathy Waters is the person you always wondered about: She created one of those days; specifically, World Romance Scam Prevention Day. (Try saying that three times fast.) But seriously, we have covered a lot of love-based bogosity and yet can’t wrap our heads around how it works. Now we know, and you can too if you listen to this week’s episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

27:21

Episode 115: Al Franken Holds a Mock Senate Hearing...

What the Hack? ·

2023/09/26

No deep fake here. This week, Al Franken does his own impersonations of Bernie Sanders, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins in this mock Senate Hearing featuring Siri (played by the actual voice-over talent Susan Bennett) and Al’s fellow SNL alum Laraine Newman playing the part of Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

52:08

Episode 114: John DeMay Lost His Son to a Sextortion...

What the Hack? ·

2023/09/19

John DeMay’s son was a normal teenager, which is exactly what a sextortion ring based in Nigeria was counting on when they targeted him. This week’s episode features a conversation about the fatal outcome of a sextortion scam and an important takeaway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

39:03

Episode 113: Ian Cohen Drops a Dime on the Myriad...

What the Hack? ·

2023/09/12

We all know that the Internets watch you and use what they see to haunt you with doo-dads and tee shirts, but what you may not know is that what you see is just the tip of an evil cyber iceberg (nothing against those endangered geological entities). Lokker CEO Ian Cohen fills us in on just how bad it is “out there.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

35:51

Episode 112: Ray Accidentally Counter Scams His...

What the Hack? ·

2023/09/05

Mom-and-pop stores look like easy prey, but sometimes they bite back. Many successful scams are perpetrated by threat actors who have gained insider knowledge, but this week’s episode takes specialization to the nth degree with a point-of-sale attack. And with disastrous results for the scammer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

49:30

Episode 111: Mark’s UberEats Gig Gets Him Got

What the Hack? ·

2023/08/29

Being a gig worker is great if you’re looking for flexibility or you need extra cash. But it can be somewhat less than awesome when something goes wrong, as this week’s guest found out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

52:44

Episode 110: Daniel Simons Reveals Why We’ll All Be...

What the Hack? ·

2023/08/22

When it comes to scams, we usually focus on the How rather than the Why. This week, we spoke to psychologist Dan Simons, co-author of Nobody’s Fool to find out why we’re all much easier marks than we like to think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

28:17

Episode 109: Four Cyber Capers We’re Not Allowed to...

What the Hack? ·

2023/08/15

We get to hear a lot of crazy stories in our line of work, and the best ones are sometimes a little too newsworthy to make it on our show (because–hush, hush–they never made the news). But then we realized, we could tell those stories so long as you can’t guess who they’re about. So, here you go. Our not-so-secret episode of secret crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

41:30

Episode 108: Massimo Uncovers a New Marketplace Scam

What the Hack? ·

2023/08/08

When Massimo moved to a new house in Toronto, he faced the age-old problem of what to keep and what to jettison. When he tried selling stuff from the rejection pile he got an offer that was too good to be true. Check out this week’s episode to hear how to spot an online marketplace scam and how to protect yourself both as a buyer and as a seller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

49:14

Episode 107: Sara Ganim and Karen Given Have No...

What the Hack? ·

2023/08/01

Was she a survivor of sex trafficking at the hands of her mom, a serial victim, Mormon convert, cancer patient, or was she just a liar and a fraud? Coco Berthmann’s story is anything but cogent. Whether it was summoned from the depths of mental illness or deviously designed to swindle friends and well-wishers online is this week’s burning question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

37:18

Episode 106: Alexander’s Client Sends a Thief Oodles...

What the Hack? ·

2023/07/25

Can you imagine being so rich that the check to pay your vacation property tax is four years' worth of full tuition at a public university? Neither can we, but that’s how it found its way into a thief’s life, but not by dint of a super high-tech hack (unless stealing an envelope qualifies as whizbang). This week’s episode will seriously make you want to shred your checkbook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

48:30

Episode 105: AARP Anti-Fraud Tzar Kathy Stokes Gets...

What the Hack? ·

2023/07/18

True or False: Scams have reached a crisis point, especially among older adults. The AARP’s Director of Fraud Prevention Kathy Stokes surprised us with the answer: Scammers aren’t ageist at all. In fact, digital natives may be far more susceptible to online crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

34:17

Episode 104: Nadine’s Trademark Filing Triggers a...

What the Hack? ·

2023/07/11

A gemologist decided to trademark her company, and, of course, there’s a scam for that. Spoof calls are everywhere, homing in on any money due that can be small-time scammed. This episode applies equally for any government application that involves a public notice: Once your information goes live, it could pop up on the radar of a scammer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

43:17

Episode 103: Carl's Nasty Puppy Scammer Leads Him to...

What the Hack? ·

2023/07/04

The isolation caused by the Covid pandemic led to record pet adoptions, and more than usual activity online. It was like chum to sharks for scammers who flooded social media accounts with adoption opportunities for popular breeds. This week’s guest, Holly got in touch with us about her friend Carl who joins us too to talk about his St. Bernard-sized scam. To find out about his parting gift, you have to listen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

41:51

Episode 102: David Maimon on the Spike in Driver’s...

What the Hack? ·

2023/06/27

We all got the memo that Social Security numbers are a big part of identity theft, and as more of us take measures to protect against SSN-based crime, scammers found a new favorite tool: your driver’s license. Criminology professor David Maimon discusses all of the above and how Covid made our identities less secure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

44:16

Episode 101: Shreya Datta’s Crush Creeps Off with...

What the Hack? ·

2023/06/20

We’ve been hearing a lot about pig butchering, but hadn’t found a great example until we lucked onto Shreya Datta’s story. In this episode we learn about pig butchering from Shreya who was swindled out of more than $450,000 through an elaborate investment scheme where she won like crazy until she lost everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

30:14

Episode 100: 100 Episodes Later We Hack Ourselves

What the Hack? ·

2023/06/13

This week, we’re celebrating our hundredth episode! Featuring listener questions, Adam, Beau and Travis look back on one hundred episodes of scams, hacks, Tin Foil Swans, experts, novices and dad jokes. A special thanks to you listeners. Come back for another 100! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

39:43

Episode 99: Charlie Webster Talks About Her Best Fiend

What the Hack? ·

2023/06/06

Charlie Webster hosts the hit podcast “Scamanda,” which takes us on a dark journey of discovery with a young woman who pretended to have cancer to bilk Good Samaritans on GoFundMe. Listen to hear the kinds of scams you can find on all crowd-sourced micro donation sites and how to avoid them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

35:00

Episode 98: Karen Johnson’s Scam Project Is a...

What the Hack? ·

2023/05/30

Karen Johnson is a catfisher-turned-scam avoidance coach turned–you guessed it–catfishing victim. The scam that got her is a classic, opening the door to a Pandora’s Box of the usual advice about avoiding the most common scams out there. But the thing that really got us thinking is the role AI played in almost every aspect of this week’s show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

220 results

Similar Podcasts

Australian True Crime

Bravecasting

True Crime Podcast 2025 - Police Interrogations, 911 Calls and True Police Stories Podcast

True Crime Podcast 2025

Ontario Cold Cases - The Podcast

Jay Nicoll

The Conspiracy Files

Bloody FM

Crime at Bedtime

Jack Laurence