In this special live episode of Hacking Humans, recorded at ThreatLocker’s Zero Trust World 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida, Dave Bittner is joined by T-Minus host Maria Varmazis. Together, they explore the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and cybercriminal exploits making headlines. Their guest, Seamus Lennon, ThreatLocker’s VP of Operations for EMEA, shares insights on Zero Trust security and the evolving threat landscape. Maria's story this week follows the IRS warning about a fake “Self Employment Tax Credit” scam on social media, urging taxpayers to ignore misinformation and consult professionals. Dave's got the story of the Better Business Bureau’s annual Scam Tracker report, revealing that online shopping scams continue to top the list for the fifth year, with phishing and employment scams remaining major threats, while fraudsters increasingly use AI and deepfake technology to deceive victims. Our catch of the day comes from Diesel in West Virginia, and features a scammer who tried to panic their target with a classic “We’ve frozen your account” scam—only to get hilariously mixed up with actual embryo freezing.

Resources and links to stories:

• Better Business Bureau reveals top local scams of 2024
• IRS warns taxpayers about misleading claims about non-existent “Self Employment Tax Credit;” promoters, social media peddling inaccurate eligibility suggestions
• BBB Scam Tracker
• Got a $1,400 rebate text from the IRS? It's a scam, Better Business Bureau warns.

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.

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