What the Hack?

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

AI is everywhere – in the news, on our devices, assisting us, making life easier for us, and for criminals, too, harnessing AI to swindle people more efficiently. What’s next? We dive into the dark side of AI and ask two experts: Could AI commit the perfect crime? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that you can activate malware on your computer just by looking at an image posted in the comments of an online discussion? We're big on good cyber hygiene. Our first episode provides an important life lesson: Always use a burner computer to troll your enemies. And of course beware of evil clowns. Check out Roy’s story about the time he got hacked while trolling QAnon followers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max McCoy stumbled on a $47 million swindle that starts just north of the Oklahoma panhandle and bounces to Australia before things get really confusing in a haze of small town corruption, secretive law enforcement and competing theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in the shadow of child identity theft can be a struggle. For Axton Betz-Hamilton, her discovery of the culprit led to the shock of a lifetime. In the second installment of this two-part episode, we examine the massive financial and emotional toll of finding out a loved one wasn’t all that they seemed, and how to recover. Also discussed: stalkerware apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time most people find out that they’ve been the victim of child identity theft, their credit is trashed. That’s what happened to Axton Betz-Hamilton. And like most victims of child identity theft, she was targeted by someone she knew. In the first installment of this two-part episode, the mystery of who stole Axton’s identity unravels in a very unexpected direction.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Raffile was in national security and corporate threat assessment before (almost) running human exploitation investigations for a major social media company (therein lies this week’s tale). He talked with us about this "silent epidemic” and vanishing job offers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices