The 404 Media Podcast

This week goes in all sorts of directions. First, Joseph runs through his in-depth article on Fusus, a surveillance company that took over one small American town with AI-powered cameras. Now, they're everywhere, both in the U.S. and increasingly abroad. After the break, Sam tells us how attendees of an NFT conference got more than they bargained for, and ended up getting (temporarily) blinded (literally). In the subscribers-only section, Joseph and Jason discuss their just published piece about a refund fraud group that scammed $700,000 out of Amazon, and how these scams may impact delivery drivers on the ground. AI Cameras Took Over One Small American Town. Now They're Everywhere 'Couldn't See Anymore:' Bored Ape Conference Attendees Wake Up With Searing Eye Pain, Vision Loss How a 'Refund Fraud' Gang Stole $700,000 From Amazon Subscribe at 404media.co for this podcast's bonus content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're shaking things up with a new format! As well as the two stories available to all listeners, we have a third discussion at the end which is only for paying subscribers. We explain why at the top of the show.As for this week's articles, first Emanuel explains how YouTube is making money off a livestream of an open air drug market. After the break, Jason and Emanuel discuss their two stories about Israel-Palestine and the lack of archiving efforts and freedom of information. In the subscriber's only section, Joseph breaks down a wild new marriage in cybercrime: English-speaking SIM swappers and Eastern European ransomware operators. YouTube Is Monetizing Human Suffering at an Open Air Drug Market Elon Musk Broke All the Tools Historians Need to Archive Tweets About Israel-Gaza War Netanyahu’s Government Is Trying to Suspend the Freedom of Information SIM Swappers Are Working Directly with Ransomware Gangs Now Subscribe at 404media.co for this podcast's bonus content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast covers topics such as a translation error on Instagram, the increasing influence of OSINT on Twitter, and a $30 million Bitcoin laundering ring in New York.

AI image detectors are being used to discredit the real horrors of war in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The limitations of AI in analyzing images are discussed, along with its impact on shaping the perception of reality. A trademark dispute in the film photography community is causing controversy and distress. The hosts also touch on a ticket seller story and promote their platform.

Dive into the quirky world of AI as Bing generates bizarre images of SpongeBob and 9/11, sparking discussions on the limits of creativity and sensitivity. The conversation shifts gears to the chaotic ticket reselling market, where a surge of credit card optimizers leads to an unexpected liquidity crisis following Travis Scott's concerts. Explore the intertwined fates of scalpers and fans as inflated supplies drive prices down. It's a captivating mix of humor, economics, and the complexities of modern tech!

This week we start with a super interesting set of stories about how a small community has found a glitch in YouTube. It lets the group upload basically anything it wants to the platform with little fear of the clip being deleted. That includes explicit videos which were on YouTube for weeks at a time. Emanuel spoke to those responsible.After the break, Jason explains how he got emails showing that the LAPD wants a "partnership" with food delivery robots. The reason? These robots are constantly recording their surroundings. I Joined an Exclusive Club of YouTube Porn Hunters People Are Using a Glitch to Upload Porn to YouTube and YouTube Can’t Delete It Food Delivery Robots Are Feeding Camera Footage to the LAPD, Internal Emails Show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ticket scalping, AI chatbots for sexual role play, and mass doxing on TikTok are discussed in this episode of the podcast.

On this week's episode you won't hear Jason because he is out on location reporting from a right to repair conference in New Orleans! Before that, he was in Las Vegas reporting on the ongoing ransomware crisis impacting MGM casinos. But you will hear Joseph, Sam, and Emanuel discuss a tool that ICE has purchased which gives it access to data from a pregnancy tracking website.Then after the break, we talk about the latest update to an ongoing sex trafficking case Sam has been following for years, and Emanuel talks about why game developers he spoke to are up in arms about recent changes to the game engine Unity. iFixit Drastically and Retroactively Reduces ‘Repairability Score’ of the Current iPhone I Gambled in MGM's Hacked Casinos Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players Original ‘Girls Do Porn’ Actor and Owner of MomPOV.com Arrested on Felony Charges Girls Do Porn Actor and MomPOV.com Owner Indicted on Sex Trafficking Charges “This Is a Disaster:” Game Developers Scramble to Deal With Unity’s New Fees Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about something that sounds like a Harry Styles story, but it's actually an artificial intelligence one. We also play a few rounds of “Is That Audio Snippet an AI Generated Version of Harry Styles or Is It a Real Section of a Leaked Harry Styles Song?”After the break, Joseph runs us through a massive secret he revealed: the so-called “third country” that intercepted tens of millions of encrypted messages on behalf of the FBI. The Specter of AI-Generated 'Leaked Songs' Is Tearing the Harry Styles Fandom Apart Revealed: The Country that Secretly Wiretapped the World for the FBI For an ad-free version of this podcast and to access bonus episodes, become a subscriber at 404media.co. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about how Amazon is selling mushroom foraging books that appear to be AI-generated. Not great when foraging can be a matter of life or death. After the break, Joseph explains how he tracked someone through the New York subway using a privacy-leaking feature on an MTA website. ‘Life or Death:’ AI-Generated Mushroom Foraging Books Are All Over Amazon I Tracked an NYC Subway Rider's Movements with an MTA ‘Feature’ NYC Subway Will Disable ‘Feature’ That Leaked Trip History After 404 Media Investigation For an ad-free version of this podcast and to access bonus episodes, become a subscriber at 404media.co. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices