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From Hacking Humans by N2K Networks
June 11, 2026 · 51 min · Season 9 · Episode 390
About this episode
The episode discusses recent social engineering scams and their financial impacts, including a vendor payment scam and an espionage campaign.
This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner alongside Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. This week's follow-up stories involve a puppy scam, a memorable road trip, fresh eggs, chickens, and an unexpected rat encounter. Joe examines two cases highlighting the real-world financial impact of fraud, including a vendor payment scam that cost a Maine town nearly $190,000 and a report on growing state-level fraud losses. Maria discusses a highly targeted espionage campaign that maintained access to a stock exchange executive's Outlook account, while quietly exfiltrating sensitive information. Dave explores how criminals are using AI-generated deepfakes of executives to convince employees to authorize fraudulent payments. Our Catch of the Day comes from listener Piet-Auke Boekema, who uncovered…
People in this episode
Hosts: Maria Varmazis, Dave Bittner
Guest: Joe Carrigan
Topics covered
- social engineering scams
- phishing schemes
- criminal exploits
- financial fraud
- AI-generated deepfakes
- cybersecurity
Keywords
- scams
- fraud
- cybersecurity
- deepfakes
- phishing
- espionage
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: N2K CyberWire
Places: Maine, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii
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