The fine print of fraud.

The fine print of fraud.

From Hacking Humans by N2K Networks

April 2, 2026 · 41 min · Season 8 · Episode 380

About this episode

The episode discusses various social engineering scams and fraud schemes affecting vulnerable populations, including a focus on recent criminal exploits and cybersecurity threats.

This week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, joined by friend of the show ⁠Michele Kellerman⁠, dig into the latest social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits making headlines. Dave Bittner is tied up covering RSA, but will be back next week. First up, a follow-up from listener Bruce, who was hit with hundreds of spam emails in what looks like a subscription bombing attack, overwhelming Google’s filters before tapering off; his local hospital saw an even bigger wave, showing how alarming these attacks can be for seniors and other vulnerable users.Joe’s got the story of the UK sanctioning Xinbi, a Chinese-language cryptocurrency marketplace accused of profiting from scam centers in Southeast Asia, marking Britain’s first action against the platform. Michele shares the FBI’s takedown of 11 people in Los Angeles who ran a $17 million “house stealing” mortgage fraud scheme targeting elderly homeowners, highlighting the rising risk of title and refinance fraud for seniors. Maria dives into a new fake CAPTCHA scam that tricks Windows PC users into downloading malware, showing how…

People in this episode

Hosts: Maria Varmazis, Joe Carrigan, Dave Bittner

Guest: Michele Kellerman

Topics covered

  • social engineering scams
  • phishing schemes
  • mortgage fraud
  • cybersecurity
  • email scams

Keywords

  • fraud
  • scams
  • cybersecurity
  • phishing
  • mortgage fraud
  • email bombing
  • cryptocurrency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FBI, Google, UK, Xinbi

Places: Southeast Asia, Los Angeles

More episodes of Hacking Humans

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Hacking Humans podcast page.