What the Hack with Adam Levin

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

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

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

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 being drafted into the war in Cambodia. She was right.His story of success is eye-popping, but what happened to him on the scam front is almost beyond belief. Download the latest episode to hear how a nasty dentist managed to steal a five million dollar project from Pham, and how he got it back.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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

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