This week, our hosts Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of the T-Minus Space Daily show) are back sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start with some follow-up on an Arizona woman sentenced to over eight years in prison for running a “laptop farm” that helped North Korean IT workers pose as U.S. employees at hundreds of American companies, funneling over $17 million to Pyongyang through stolen identities and remote access. We also share an update on Joe's Profile picture. We start with Dave’s story on a Facebook scam falsely claiming insider access to a secret Yeti cooler deal from Dick’s Sporting Goods, using a fake emotional backstory to lure users into clicking a malicious link under the guise of an employee-only loophole. Maria’s story is on escalating violence at the Thailand-Cambodia border, where a long-standing territorial dispute has reignited after a leaked phone call between leaders fractured a decades-old political friendship, sparking deadly clashes, diplomatic fallout, and rising tensions fueled by personal betrayal, political instability, and mutual economic pressures. Joe’s story follows the indictment of a former Tri-Cities pastor who allegedly used his position and a fake cryptocurrency scheme called “Solano Fi” to defraud his congregation and others out of millions, promising risk-free returns while siphoning the funds for himself and his co-conspirators. Our catch of the day comes from Joe who shares an interesting email from "Xfinity."
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Resources and links to stories:
- Arizona woman sentenced over $17 million North Korea worker fraud scheme
- Facebook: Ava Davis
- The fractured friendship behind the fight at the Thailand-Cambodia border
- Lethal Cambodia-Thailand border clash linked to cyber-scam slave camps
- Beneath the Border: Scam Centers and the Thailand–Cambodia Conflict
- Grand Jury Charges Pastor, Wife in Alleged Multi-Million Dollar Cryptocurrency Scam
- Former Tri-Cities Pastor Indicted for Multi-Million Dollar Cryptocurrency Scam
Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.