This episode dives deep into the world of social engineering and the rise of romance scams, featuring a heartbreaking story of a woman who lost her life savings. The hosts debate whether diamonds are the original cryptocurrency and discuss the controversial PayPal Honey extension that affects influencers. They also explore the final payouts from the Madoff Victim Fund, highlighting the tragic fallout from Ponzi schemes. Along the way, there's a humorous take on scams and tech issues, making for an engaging and informative listen.
The rise of romance scams, as exemplified by a woman losing $2 million, underscores the urgent need for the Online Dating Safety Act.
Allegations against the Honey browser extension raise ethical concerns about transparency in affiliate marketing, potentially harming content creators while misleading users.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Cybercriminal Tactics
Cybercriminal tactics have become increasingly advanced, requiring organizations to shift their security approach from a default allow list to a default deny list. This means that rather than permitting all actions by default and blocking the harmful ones, companies must meticulously grant access to only necessary operations. The discussion highlights tools like ThreatLocker that enable businesses to implement this strategy efficiently. By adopting this zero-trust model, organizations can better secure their networks against evolving cyber threats.
Debate on Diamond Value Perception
A debate arises regarding the intrinsic value of diamonds, with one host asserting that they may be more akin to a cryptocurrency, as their worth largely hinges on production and mining difficulties. This perception parallels the argument that prominent companies, like De Beers, artificially maintain the perceived rarity and value of diamonds by controlling supply. This connection prompts a consideration of whether similar deceptions could be applied in financial systems. The conversation jokingly speculates on future ransom demands being crypto or diamond-based, illustrating the absurdity of price manipulation.
The Honey Browser Plugin Controversy
The Honey browser plugin has faced serious allegations regarding its practices of replacing affiliate links with its own, which diverts earnings from content creators to itself. Users are led to believe that Honey searches for the best coupons, but in reality, it may favor higher profit partnerships with selected brands. This raises ethical concerns about transparency and fair business practices in the affiliate marketing space. As a response, some influencers who initially endorsed Honey now urge users to uninstall the extension to avoid supporting these potentially deceptive practices.
Romance Scams on the Rise
The episode highlights a surge in romance scams, particularly over the holidays, where victims often transfer significant sums of money to con artists masquerading as potential partners. A notable case involves a 66-year-old woman who lost her entire $2 million retirement savings to a scammer after investing in what she believed was a genuine relationship. Statistics reveal that romance scams have skyrocketed, with reported losses doubling in just a few years and consequences affecting many online dating users. In response, a bipartisan effort is underway to pass the Online Dating Safety Act, aimed at improving protections against such fraudulent schemes.
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. Our hosts discuss and ponder whether or not diamonds are the original cryptocurrency, as well as diving further into Yubikeys for organizations. Maria shares the story of a 66-year-old woman who lost her $2 million retirement savings to a romance scam on Match.com, highlighting the rise in such scams and efforts to pass the Online Dating Safety Act to protect users. Joe's story is on the Madoff Victim Fund's final $131.4 million payout, bringing total recoveries to $4.3 billion for victims of Bernard Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme, which collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. Dave's got the story on allegations that the PayPal Honey browser extension not only fails to deliver the best deals but also hijacks affiliate revenue from influencers by replacing their links with its own, sparking backlash and controversy. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit and Dave and Maria do their best impressions yet, as a scammer chats up an unsuspecting victim.