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

42:41

Episode 165: Shannon Edwards Reveals the Student Data...

What the Hack? ·

2024/09/10

As technology is integrated deeper into classrooms, the lines between education and data privacy have been destroyed by for-profit data miners. This week, privacy advocate Shannon Edwards reveals how educational apps harvest sensitive information from children, commodify their data, and what parents can do to fight it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

46:08

Episode 164: Whim Grace Plays a Shell Game with Scammers

What the Hack? ·

2024/09/03

Whim wanted to teach overseas. While based on the coast of Portugal, she was offered a teaching position from two employers. She didn’t know that she was about to end up with no job at all, narrowly avoiding getting taken for a bundle of dough. Also in this episode: Adam continues to hack Beau in every way imaginable.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

43:51

Episode 163: Carl's Nasty Puppy Scammer Leads Him to...

What the Hack? ·

2024/08/27

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

41:50

Episode 162: Elizabeth Warren Tackles Big Tech

What the Hack? ·

2024/08/20

Elizabeth Warren put the kibosh on bad banking practices with her vision for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now, with the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, she’s taking on Big Data. She joined us to talk about reigning in the Wild West of online life.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

52:00

Episode 161: Andy Pham Claws Back a Multi-Million...

What the Hack? ·

2024/08/13

There are tens of millions of small and medium-size businesses in the United States alone, and depending on their state incorporation, many are in danger of business identity theft. Andy Pham is an American hero by many standards, for sure with regard to the right to become wildly successful. He’s truly living the American Dream. Having grown up in Communist Vietnam for the first ten years of his life, his mom sent him to the United States where she believed he would have a better life and avoid

en

36:14

Episode 160: Joyce and a Bank Robber Play MahJong

What the Hack? ·

2024/08/06

Like many of us, Joyce spent hours during the Covid lockdown connecting with friends by playing games online--in her case a MahJong app. Imagine her surprise when using a legitimate app to find a scammer trying to empty her entire bank account. The most likely culprit? You will rethink your game time when you hear what it was.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

43:35

Episode 159: The Wild West of the Loophole Economy

What the Hack? ·

2024/07/30

We’ve all been there. You see something perfect online, you do all the clicks and then think, “Wait, was that legit?” Scam-lite transactions are the way of the web these days, whether it’s direct-from-manufacturer or super-sticky subscriptions, we have your back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

55:38

Episode 158: Kristin Bride Lost Her Son and Now She’s...

What the Hack? ·

2024/07/23

Kristen Bride’s 16-year-old son died by suicide after being cyberbullied on Snapchat. Setting her sites on anonymous messaging apps that intentionally traumatize children, Bride heads to Washington DC to fight for change.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

41:41

Episode 157: Keren Elazari Decrypts the Ransomeware...

What the Hack? ·

2024/07/16

Ransomware is a type of malware that allows hackers to commandeer data on a device or an entire network. Increasingly, the threat actors behind these crimes set their sites on mission critical targets. We talked about it with renowned cybersecurity expert Keren Elazari this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

42:17

Episode 156: Beau’s Cousin Makes the Right Call

What the Hack? ·

2024/07/09

There was a video chat, phone messages and a lot of back and forth before Beau’s cousin began to wonder if he was thinking straight, and called to see if we thought he was being scammed. This week we get a rare look at a pig butcher in action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

48:01

Episode 155: Andrew Steven Finds a Red Flag in His...

What the Hack? ·

2024/07/02

From handshake deals to digital pat-downs, the rental market is filled with great opportunities (that is, for scammers). Our very own producer, Andrew Steven recently got some first-hand experience when he and his partner tried to find a new place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

47:05

Episode 154: Can AI Commit the Perfect Crime?

What the Hack? ·

2024/06/25

AI is everywhere – in the news, on our devices, assisting us, making life easier for us, and for criminals, too, harnessing AI to swindle people more efficiently. What’s next? We dive into the dark side of AI and ask two experts: Could AI commit the perfect crime?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

33:52

Episode 153: Roy Gets Hacked by an Evil Clown

What the Hack? ·

2024/06/18

Did you know that you can activate malware on your computer just by looking at an image posted in the comments of an online discussion? We're big on good cyber hygiene. Our first episode provides an important life lesson: Always use a burner computer to troll your enemies. And of course beware of evil clowns. Check out Roy’s story about the time he got hacked while trolling QAnon followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

50:54

Episode 152: Max McCoy Investigates $47 Million That...

What the Hack? ·

2024/06/11

Max McCoy stumbled on a $47 million swindle that starts just north of the Oklahoma panhandle and bounces to Australia before things get really confusing in a haze of small town corruption, secretive law enforcement and competing theories.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

38:04

Episode 151: Axton Betz-Hamilton Gets the Shock of a...

What the Hack? ·

2024/06/04

Growing up in the shadow of child identity theft can be a struggle. For Axton Betz-Hamilton, her discovery of the culprit led to the shock of a lifetime. In the second installment of this two-part episode, we examine the massive financial and emotional toll of finding out a loved one wasn’t all that they seemed, and how to recover. Also discussed: stalkerware apps.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

46:03

Episode 150: Axton Betz-Hamilton Goes Looking For Her...

What the Hack? ·

2024/05/28

By the time most people find out that they’ve been the victim of child identity theft, their credit is trashed. That’s what happened to Axton Betz-Hamilton. And like most victims of child identity theft, she was targeted by someone she knew. In the first installment of this two-part episode, the mystery of who stole Axton’s identity unravels in a very unexpected direction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

44:19

Episode 149: Paul Raffile Fights Sextortion No Matter...

What the Hack? ·

2024/05/21

Paul Raffile was in national security and corporate threat assessment before (almost) running human exploitation investigations for a major social media company (therein lies this week’s tale). He talked with us about this "silent epidemic” and vanishing job offers.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

40:53

Episode 148: Beth Should Have Dated the IT Guy

What the Hack? ·

2024/05/14

Beth sent more than $26,000 to a man she met on Tinder. It was a romance scam, but one that brought complex storytelling, nuanced psychology and even acting skills to bear in a way that shocked even us. Check out this week’s episode to hear just how “good” romance scammers can be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

41:46

Episode 147: Kara Swisher Calls Out the Man Babies of...

What the Hack? ·

2024/05/07

Kara Swisher has been covering Silicon Valley since the early days, and she’s made a ton of enemies the old fashioned way (by telling the truth about the new robber barons of our digital lives). In a new memoir called Burn Book, she pulls the curtain back on a world run by powerful babies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

40:16

Episode 146: Elizabeth Warren Tackles Big Tech

What the Hack? ·

2024/04/30

Elizabeth Warren put the kibosh on bad banking practices with her vision for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now, with the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, she’s taking on Big Data. She joined us to talk about reigning in the Wild West of online life.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

228 results

Similar Podcasts

Australian True Crime

Bravecasting

True Crime Podcast 2026 - 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