Discover the shocking rise of gold bar scams as a couple loses over $367,000 to clever con artists posing as officials. Learn about a cybersecurity expert who foiled a social engineering attack by spotting inconsistencies in the impersonator's story. The discussion also includes how criminals are leveraging generative AI to amplify their fraud schemes, creating realistic phishing attempts. Dive into childhood memories mixed with critical tips for safeguarding against increasingly sophisticated online scams.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
VIN Swap Scam
A Las Vegas man bought a stolen truck on Facebook Marketplace for $50,000.
Police later arrested the seller, who had used a fake ID during the transaction.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Safe Vehicle Purchase
Conduct vehicle purchases at VIN inspection stations to verify legitimacy.
Refuse transactions if the seller avoids the inspection station.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Verify Callers
Verify the caller's identity by asking knowledge-based questions or using a shared secret.
If a bank calls, ask if they represent a bank you don't use.
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On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. First we start off with some follow up, our hosts share some more information on VIN swapping, and a clarification on bank participation in FinCEN. Maria shares a telling tale about a Bethesda couple loosing $367,000 in gold bars to a sophisticated scam involving fake officials and elaborate deceptions, but a police sting led to the arrest of a suspect, highlighting a growing nationwide trend of elderly victims targeted by gold bar fraud. Joe's story comes from KnowBe4 and is on DavidB, their VP of Asia Pacific, thwarting a sophisticated social engineering attack via WhatsApp by recognizing inconsistencies in the impersonator’s behavior and verifying directly with the colleague they claimed to be. Dave's story comes from the FBI on how criminals are exploiting generative AI to enhance fraud schemes, including using AI-generated text, images, audio, and video to create convincing social engineering attacks, phishing scams, and identity fraud, while offering tips to protect against these threats. Our catch of the day comes from a listener who received an urgent email from someone claiming to be an FBI agent with a rather dramatic tale about intercepted consignment boxes, missing documents, and a ticking clock—but let's just say this "agent" might need some better training in both law enforcement and grammar.
Hacking Humans