Easy Prey

Criminals don't just randomly pick their targets. They look for easy prey. Find out what you might inadvertently be doing that makes a criminal choose you as their next victim. Today's guest is James Casey. James has made a life-long career out of understanding why people break the law. He began in law enforcement and was on the National Security Council in Washington. Then he worked in the FBI fo...

Our body can give clues to what we are thinking or feeling and review of what we're saying is the truth or deception. How can we use that fact to detect when others are being deceptive? Today's guest is Traci Brown. Time magazine has named Traci as one of the nation's top deception detection experts. She's trained alongside the country's top law enforcement, and she is a frequent television guest...

Most of us have received that call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support saying that there is an issue with our computer that they want to help us resolve. This scam has evolved into something so sophisticated and so refined that it has become big business in and of itself. Today's guest is Jim Browning. Jim can't stand scammers, so he's doing something about it. Jim has been bai...

Is there such a thing as an ethical hacker? Do all hackers use their skills to attack infrastructures? If you're interested in ethical hacking and penetration testing, this is the episode for you.  Today's guest is Ed Skoudis. Ed has taught upwards of 20,000 security professionals globally and his contributions to information security have had an immense impact on the community. His courses distil...

With Giving Tuesday right around the corner, it is important to make sure that the money we give gets to the causes we are passionate about. In the midst of the season of giving, scammers are working to get as much of your charity as they can. Today's guests are Michael Thatcher and Zachary Weinsteiger. Michael leads Charity Navigator and its efforts to make impactful philanthropy easier for all b...

As cybercrime grows more sophisticated day by day, so do technical defenses. But great technology is no match for an employee clicking on a simple phishing email. Psychological security is designed to protect the human mind from manipulation that leads to compromises. Today's guest is Adam Anderson. Adam is chairman of the board for Hook Security and a serial cybersecurity entrepreneur. He is one...

What is it like to be a world-renowned cybercriminal and what motivates them? Today's guest referred to as the original internet Godfather shares his experience running a cybercriminal empire, going on the run, and ultimately turning his life around. Brett Johnson was responsible for refining modern financial cybercrime as we know it today. After being placed on the United States' Most Wanted list...

Embezzlement is on the rise, but only a  few incidents ever get reported to law enforcement. Why do people steal and how are they doing it? What can business owners do to help prevent these crimes and what should they do if they suspect them? Our guest today is Kelly Paxton. She has more than 25 years of investigation experience and is a certified fraud examiner and private investigator. She start...

With the cost of surveillance and mass information gathering becoming cheaper and easier, laws are struggling to keep pace. Who is fighting for transparency and working to protect your digital rights? Our guest today is Danny O'Brien. Danny has been an activist for online free speech and privacy for over 20 years. He co-founded the Open Rights Group and has defended reporters from online attacks a...

The pandemic has taken an economic toll on millions of lives. People are struggling, people want to help, and others are looking to take advantage of both. Before panicking about your bills or giving to the latest charitable cause, you need to listen to this episode to make sure your money is going where you think it is. Our guest today is Dori Zinn. Dori has been a personal finance journalist for...

Information security is not just technical. There is a human aspect involved and fixing that is more than just identification and awareness. Our guest today is Ira Winkler. Ira is the president of Secure Mentem and the author of the book You Can Stop Stupid . He is referred to as the modern-day James Bond, given his skills both physically and technically in infiltrating organizations.  Today, Ira...

With the 2020 elections right around the corner, do you know who is trying to influence you and how they're doing it? Listen on to learn about the ins and outs of disinformation, misinformation, interference, and influence.  Morgan Wright is an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity strategy, cyberterrorism, and advanced technology. His landmark testimony before Congress on healthcare....

With more and more dating moving online, how do we separate real honest people from those who are misrepresenting themselves and the outright scammers? Our guest today is Kezia Noble. Kezia is a leading female dating and attraction expert for men and author of the bestselling book The Noble Art of Seducing Women.   Kezia's company helps clients learn conversation skills and ways to overcome anxiet...

Have you ever received calls either at work or at home where the caller wants you to verify some information about yourself or someone else in the company? This could just be someone updating their records or it could be the start of social engineering. Our guest today is Jack Rhysider. Jack is the host of the podcast DarkNet Diaries: True Stories From the Dark Side of the Internet. His podcast is...

If your reputation or the reputation of your business gets trashed online, it can have a lasting impact. But there are things that you can do today to limit the impact of negative online statements about you and some of them are easier than you might expect.  Our guest today is Chris Silver Smith. Chris is the CEO of Argent Media, a marketing agency focused heavily on reputation management where C...

Conspiracy theories are all crazy, right? Well, maybe not. There's some history as to why so many people believe in them. What we really need is a conspiracy theory detection kit and that's what we have in today's episode. Our guest today is Dr. Michael Shermer. Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the host of the Science Salon Podcast, and a presidential fellow at Chapman Un...

Long gone are the days of companies giving away coolers on college campuses when students would sign up for high-interest credit cards. Unfortunately, there are still sneaky promotions, fine print, and ways these companies take advantage of unsuspecting customers.  Our guest today is Sara Rathner. Sara is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She appeared on the Today Show , Nasdaq , and CN...

To what extremes are you willing to go for complete privacy and security? No one takes privacy as seriously as today's guest, John McAfee. John McAfee is known for founding McAfee Antivirus, being a crypto currency evangelist and a privacy activist. In this episode, John shares the lengths he goes to protect his own privacy with significant unexpected costs. John lives and plays by his own rules a...

Twenty years ago, cybersecurity was something that only nerds talked about. Now cybersecurity has gone mainstream. Listen in as we talk about common scams, the recent Twitter hack, and organized crime with Graham Cluley from The Smashing Security Podcast. Graham Cluley has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990's. He was in senior roles with Sophos and McAfee. In 2011,...

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we've rapidly changed the way we work, how we play, and how we're educated. This sudden shift leaves us and our families exposed to privacy and security risks we previously hadn't thought about or planned for. Listen up for any blindspots you might have. Our guest today is Rebecca Herold. Rebecca, also known as The Privacy Professor, has over 25 years of experience...

I'm contacted by people on a regular basis who believe that their devices have been compromised and that they're being stalked and spied on. Sometimes they've misinterpreted what they're looking at but sometimes they are actually being digitally stalked. Find out what to do about it in this episode.  Today's guest is John Bambenek. John is the Vice President of Security Research and Intelligence a...

I've been telling people for years that they need to implement two-factor authentication wherever possible.  Now that you've done that, imagine the havoc that would happen if those security codes were sent to somebody else enabling them to access your email, social media accounts, and worse your bank accounts. It is called SIM swapping, porting out, and SIM jacking. Today's guest is Haseeb Awan. ...

Just because someone isn't trying to scam you out of your hard-earned money doesn't mean that they don't see you as a pawn, stepping stone, or a means to an end. Find out how to protect yourself from a narcissist. Our guest today is Dr. Ramani Durvasula.  Dr. Ramani Durvasula is one of the world-leading experts on narcissism. She is a clinical psychologist, professor, best selling author, and spea...

We've all had that random fraudulent charge show up on our credit card and we wonder how did that happen.  Do I need to cancel my credit card? Do I need to get a new one?  Today we talk about credit card skimming with Scott Schober.  Scott Schober is the president and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, a 48-year-old leading provider of advanced world-class wireless test and cybersecurity solutio...

Many of us have seen James Veitch's comedic YouTube videos of him interacting with email scammers.  Today's guest shares how he helps real-world victims of those scams and he has participated in taking down criminal enterprises.  Wayne May is the owner of scamsurvivors.com . He began as a scam baiter in 2005 before concentrating and helping the victims of scams.  Scam Survivors was created in 2012...