The prince, the pretender, and the PSA.

Summary

Podcast Summary: Hacking Humans - "The Prince, the Pretender, and the PSA"

Introduction

In the May 1, 2025 episode of Hacking Humans, hosted by Dave Buettner and Joe Kerrigan from N2K Networks, listeners are taken on an insightful journey through the intricate world of social engineering, deception, and cybercrime. Featuring a special guest, Rob Allen from ThreatLocker, the episode delves into recent scams, high-profile cyber attacks, and the evolving tactics of cybercriminals. This summary captures the key discussions, notable quotes, and essential takeaways from the episode.

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1. Scammers Impersonating Official Agencies

Discussion Overview: The episode opens with Joe Kerrigan recounting a LinkedIn interaction involving a post by cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs. The post highlighted an FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) public service announcement warning the public about scammers impersonating FBI officials.

Key Points:

• Scammers' Tactics: Scammers often target individuals already victimized by fraud, claiming to help recover lost funds. This "follow-on scam" approach increases the likelihood of additional losses.
• IC3's Advisory: The IC3 emphasizes that official communications will never ask for personal information or money through insecure channels like phone, email, or social media. Instead, legitimate contact will come from official local field offices or law enforcement officers.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Kerrigan (01:20): “Nothing is sacred to these scammers.”
• Rob Allen (04:30): “Fundamentally, it comes back to trust no one and nobody and nothing.”

Insights: Rob Allen underscores the importance of skepticism and caution when approached by unsolicited contacts claiming to be from official agencies. He highlights the difficulty in verifying authentic communications due to malicious ads and fake websites.

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2. Annual Report on Cybercrime Losses

Discussion Overview: The hosts discuss the IC3's 2024 annual report, reflecting a 33% increase in reported cybercrime losses from 2023, totaling $16.6 billion.

Key Points:

• Average Loss: The average reported loss per victim is $19,000, a significant sum that underscores the severe impact of cyber scams.
• Reporting Bias: Smaller losses are likely underreported, suggesting the actual total losses could be higher.

Notable Quotes:

• Dave Buettner (05:48): “Wow.”
• Joe Kerrigan (06:19): “The average loss was $19,000. That is a steep average loss.”

Insights: The substantial increase in reported losses highlights the escalating threat of cybercrime and the necessity for enhanced protective measures within organizations and among individuals.

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3. The MGM Cyber Attack: A Case Study in Social Engineering

Discussion Overview: Rob Allen provides an analysis of the recent cyber attack on MGM, focusing on its social engineering components.

Key Points:

• Social Engineering Tactics: The attackers researched MGM employees via social networks, identified support personnel, and impersonated them to gain access.
• Technical Breach: The breach involved compromising MGM’s OKTA system, resetting multi-factor authentication (MFA), and escalating access, culminating in a $100 million cyber event.

Notable Quotes:

• Rob Allen (07:44): “They managed to get into the organization's OKTA system and reset MFA on certain accounts and basically just snowballed from there.”
• Joe Kerrigan (09:36): “If you're going to launder money for an international crime syndicate, just understand you're just as expendable as the victim is.”

Insights: The MGM attack exemplifies how sophisticated social engineering can bypass technical defenses, emphasizing the need for robust verification processes and employee training to recognize and prevent such breaches.

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4. Arrest in a Nigerian Prince Scam

Discussion Overview: Dave Buettner narrates the arrest of a 67-year-old man from Louisiana involved in a Nigerian prince scam, highlighting the unexpected profiles of perpetrators.

Key Points:

• Nature of the Scam: The accused orchestrated scams claiming victims were beneficiaries of a will, requesting personal information and money transfers.
• Collaboration: He worked with counterparts in Nigeria, facilitating international money laundering through wire transfers and cryptocurrency.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Kerrigan (15:55): “You might think that the person on the other phone is the person that you know because their voice sounds like them. But it may not actually be them.”
• Dave Buettner (19:22): “We should have T-shirts made up that just say don't.”

Insights: The arrest serves as a reminder that cybercriminals can come from diverse backgrounds and age groups. It also highlights the global nature of such scams and the challenges in tracking and prosecuting international conspirators.

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5. Catch of the Day: Law Enforcement Impersonation Scam

Discussion Overview: The hosts examine a scam message purportedly from the Department of Homeland Security, warning recipients about financial scams and urging them to change passwords.

Key Points:

• Red Flags: The email contains awkward language, generic greetings, and vague instructions, which are typical indicators of phishing attempts.
• Tactics: The scam attempts to establish legitimacy through official-sounding language and imagery but ultimately seeks to extract personal information or money.
• Filtering Technique: By targeting individuals who may have already been scammed, the attackers increase their success rate by exploiting victims' heightened vulnerability.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Kerrigan (21:12): “What does that mean? Am I supposed to disregard or respond?”
• Dave Buettner (24:10): “This is more follow-on scams. Trying to look for people who have already been victimized because they're probably easier to victimize again.”

Insights: The analysis reinforces the importance of scrutinizing unsolicited communications, even those appearing to be from reputable government agencies. Users are advised to verify such messages through official channels and avoid responding to suspicious emails.

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6. Practical Protection Measures

Discussion Overview: The hosts and Rob Allen discuss practical steps individuals and organizations can take to safeguard against social engineering and similar cyber threats.

Key Points:

• Verification Protocols: Always verify the identity of callers or email senders by contacting official channels directly rather than using the contact information provided in suspicious messages.
• Awareness and Training: Regular training sessions for employees to recognize and respond appropriately to potential social engineering attempts.
• Use of Technology: Implementing advanced security measures such as AI-based voice verification to detect fraudulent communications.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Kerrigan (11:36): “If you say, I'm gonna call you right back, what's your extension? The person on the other end should be able to answer that question without any issue.”
• Rob Allen (12:31): “Just because somebody speaks beautiful fluent English or US English or whatever the case may be, wherever you happen to be, that doesn't mean that they are the good guys.”

Insights: Emphasizing the critical role of verification and skepticism in preventing cyber fraud, the discussion highlights that even seemingly convincing communications require thorough scrutiny to ensure authenticity.

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Conclusion

The episode of Hacking Humans effectively sheds light on the evolving landscape of cybercrime, particularly the sophisticated use of social engineering by scammers. Through detailed case studies, expert insights, and practical advice, hosts Dave Buettner, Joe Kerrigan, and guest Rob Allen equip listeners with the knowledge to recognize and defend against these pervasive threats. The recurring theme underscores the necessity of vigilance, skepticism, and robust security protocols in combating cyber deception.

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Notable Quotes Summary:

• Joe Kerrigan (01:20): “Nothing is sacred to these scammers.”
• Rob Allen (04:30): “Fundamentally, it comes back to trust no one and nobody and nothing.”
• Dave Buettner (05:48): “Wow.”
• Joe Kerrigan (06:19): “The average loss was $19,000. That is a steep average loss.”
• Rob Allen (07:44): “They managed to get into the organization's OKTA system and reset MFA on certain accounts and basically just snowballed from there.”
• Joe Kerrigan (09:36): “If you're going to launder money for an international crime syndicate, just understand you're just as expendable as the victim is.”
• Dave Buettner (19:22): “We should have T-shirts made up that just say don't.”
• Joe Kerrigan (21:12): “What does that mean? Am I supposed to disregard or respond?”
• Dave Buettner (24:10): “This is more follow-on scams. Trying to look for people who have already been victimized because they're probably easier to victimize again.”

Final Thoughts: By dissecting real-world scams and offering actionable advice, Hacking Humans empowers its audience to stay ahead in the fight against cybercrime. Listeners are encouraged to remain informed, practice caution, and implement recommended security measures to protect themselves and their organizations from falling victim to these deceptive tactics.

Transcript

[Joe Kerrigan]

You're listening to the Cyberwire Network, powered by N2K.

[Dave Buettner]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to N2K, CyberWire's hacking humans podcast, where each week we look behind the social engineering scams, phishing schemes and criminal exploits that are making headlines and taking a heavy toll on organizations around the world. I'm Dave Buettner, and joining me is Joe Kerrigan. Hi, Joe.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Hi, dav.

[Dave Buettner]

A very special guest today, Rob Allen from Threatlocker. Hello, Rob.

[Rob Allen]

Hello.

[Dave Buettner]

Glad to have you with us here today. Maria is on vacation this week. We've got some good stories to share this week, and why don't we jump right in here. Joe, you want to start things off for us?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yes, I'll start things off. My story actually comes because Maria, our absent co host, was on LinkedIn and liked a post from Brian Krebs. Actually, she said she found it insightful. So it is a post that Brian Krebs put up about the public service announcement that the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint center, that's the IC3, put up on their webpage and they are saying, watch out for people impersonating us.

[Dave Buettner]

Okay, Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

This is great news, isn't it? I mean, this is how my comment on this LinkedIn post was. Is nothing sacred to these scammers? And then a couple space bars down it, no, nothing is sacred to these people. So complaints report that initial contacts happen in a number of ways. Some people receive a phone call, some get an email, others are approached on social media. And almost all the complaints indicated the scammers claimed they had recovered the victim's lost funds and said, hey, we're here to help. Let us get these lost funds back. Of course, this is exactly the same MO As a follow on scam. You know, when you get scammed out of some money, somebody else contacts you and says, hey, we heard that you lost money. We're gonna help you get it back. Send us a little bit of cash to start the investigation, and we will begin the process. And again, that's just another scam.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

So this is looking like it's trying to victimize people who have lost money already. At least it does to me. The IC3 has some tips to protect yourself. And they say we will never directly communicate with the individual via phone, email, social media, phone apps, or public forums. If further information is needed, individuals will be contacted by FBI employees from the local field offices or other law enforcement officers. So I don't know what that means. Do they just show up and identify themselves?

[Dave Buettner]

Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Because if they're not going to call you, notify you anyway.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah. G men show up at your door, right?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah. Government toughs, who knows? Scammers will change aliases and tactics. However, the scheme generally remains the same. So they say, never share information with people you have met online or only over the phone. The IC3 will not ask for payment to recover lost funds. This is true. The FBI does not need your money to get your money back. If they've recovered your funds or the funds of a group of people that they're going to distribute, they do that as part of their. There are no fees associated with that for victims. Right, right, right.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Joe Kerrigan]

And finally, they say, and this is what Brian Krebs kind of thought was the funniest thing was, they say, if you are contacted by these, contact the Internet Complaint center and file a report.

[Rob Allen]

The real one.

[Joe Kerrigan]

The real one, Right.

[Rob Allen]

Not the fake one.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Not the fake one. That doesn't do you any good.

[Dave Buettner]

Right. How would you know? I mean, this is where we are today, right? I mean, Rob, I'm curious of your take on this, because we've talked about it here. If you Google Internet Crime Complaint center, there's a decent chance something's going to pop up that's not actually them, Right?

[Rob Allen]

Yeah. Well, I mean, fundamentally, it comes back to trust no one and nobody and nothing. Yeah. And obviously Google search results can be somewhat troublesome, too, because it's not that difficult for somebody to pay for a.

[Joe Kerrigan]

You know, malicious ad.

[Rob Allen]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

Or redirect to somewhere you don't want to be going to. So, I mean, as I said, fundamentally comes back to be. Be very careful. And look, there's obviously, I think there's a genuinely a sad part of this, which is it's they're trying to re. Scam people who've already been scammed. And that is. It's unfortunate and quite sad. I mean, it's. To be honest, it's not unlike organizations that pay to, you know, when there's a. Or when they get hit by a ransomware attack. I mean, one of the things that you do by paying when you're hit is effectively you're advertising yourselves as somebody who will pay. So in reality, you're probably increasing the probability that you're going to get hit again because they're going to go, you know, those guys pay, so let's hit them again. But, yeah, it's kind of funny, but it's also kind of sad in that they are retargeting people who've already probably lost money to scammers yeah, yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Speaking of the IC3, they have released their annual report for 2024 and they have noted an increase of 33% in losses from 2023. So they are now totaling. These are just reported losses to the ICC. $16.6 billion.

[Dave Buettner]

Wow.

[Joe Kerrigan]

We'll put a link to the report in the show notes. I mean there's a lot of cool statistics in here, but I think we have a lot to cover today.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, I have read the report and actually last week on the Cyber Wire, I spoke with Cynthia Kaiser, who's from the FBI Cy, and we talked about the report. And so if you're interested in some of the coverage there and what they're thinking, the things that they feel are worth highlighting, go check that out over on the Cyberwire. Again, it's my interview with Cynthia Kaiser. Really, really interesting stuff.

[Joe Kerrigan]

I will say this. The average loss, the average loss was $19,000. That is a steep average loss.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, yeah. That would make a difference in my life.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right, I will. And you can temper that with the fact that if you're reporting a small loss or if there is a small loss, you're probably not reporting it.

[Dave Buettner]

Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

People that, you know, there's a self selection bias here in the size of the loss, but still $19,000 was the average loss.

[Dave Buettner]

Wow, that's a lot.

[Rob Allen]

Yep.

[Dave Buettner]

All right, well we will have a link to the report and the story from Brian Krebs with the PSA in our show notes. So do check that out. We'll be right back after this message from our show sponsor.

[ThreatLocker Sponsor]

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[Dave Buettner]

Let's move on here to Rob's story. Rob, what do you have for us this week?

[Rob Allen]

Just going to talk a little bit and without getting into too much detail about the cyber attack, the MGM cyber attack that took place not too long ago. Look, we, we tend not to get, as I said, too detailed about specific attacks and specific incidents. But I do think the really interesting part about this was the social engineering aspect that effectively it was a phone call, somebody, I mean they basically researched their targets through social, social networks, found somebody who was obviously in the support department and then effectively called somebody else pretending to be that person. So obviously it turned into $100 million cyber event, but it basically started with simple social engineering.

[Dave Buettner]

Well, let's dig into some of the details here. I mean, I'm the person who got victimized. I presumably I'm working at MGM and someone decided that I was going to be their target.

[Rob Allen]

Pretty much, yeah. So basically they then called. Well, apparently they called. I don't know if it's the MGM themselves or one of their vendors pretending or pertaining to be that person. Basically, again, as I said, details are somewhat scarce and they don't tend to release them. And I think a lot of this reporting is actually from the gang themselves. I think it was Scattered Spider was the name of the particular gang that perpetrated the attack. But they were the ones who pretty much said that we did this through social engineering. But they basically the general consensus is that they managed to get into the organization's OKTA system and reset MFA on certain accounts and basically just snowballed from there.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, I mean once you're in, I guess that's kind of the ball game.

[Rob Allen]

Especially when it's a support person or a support engineer because they tend to have access to a lot of other things.

[Dave Buettner]

Right. How do we suppose folks can protect themselves against this? If someone calls and says, hey, I'm from tech support, I'm here to help. What sort of things can be in place?

[Rob Allen]

It's a really good question. I mean again, it comes back to the trust. No one effectively. So somebody calls you saying they're from support. Ring them back. Ring support back. I mean, obviously again it's even more difficult these days with the likes of AI and how easy it is to generate people's voices. I mean that's the really scary part. You might think that the person on the other phone is the person that you know because their voice sounds like them. But it may not actually be them. But I suppose most organizations will have, you know, a certain modus operandi or a way that their support department operates. I mean put it like this, like our support guys here, generally speaking don't ring me, you know, maybe get a teens message that, that kind of stuff. But I mean it just basically just keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Uh, I mean we, we. One of the exercises we do from time to time is we actually I, I subscribe to a AI voice generating service and created a. What I call. So our CEO is, is Danny Jenkins. So I created an AI Danny. Now as, as it happens, all I used it was to say that Rob is right about everything and he's really good at golf. But I mean, I, I could have equally used that to, you know, ring one hour to, to contact one of our infrastructure guys and get them to do something that they very much shouldn't have done. And again, who's to know? So basically, take everything with a healthy dose of skepticism and suspicion and, you know, if in doubt, hang up and call back.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah. Any thoughts on this one, Joe?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah, I agree 100%. Hang up and call back. That is the best way. And if you say, I'm gonna call you right back, what's your extension? The person on the other end should be able to answer that question without any issue.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, I would add to that, that don't let them tell you the phone number to call back. Right, right. Don' oh, listen, I'm on my mobile device, I'm in the car, so call me here. Right, okay.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Well, no, we can't do this right now. I'll wait till you get back to the office.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rob Allen]

The other thing actually just to mention in this particular case is that this gang apparently had a lot of either. Well, basically native English speakers. So if you're expecting the scammer on the other end of the phone to be, you know, have a weird accent or sound like Boris from, you know, Moscow, it's not going to happen. Realistically, they probably got native English speakers on the payroll that they're using to perpetrate these scams. So it's another thing that just be aware of. Just because somebody speaks beautiful fluent English or US English or whatever the case may be, wherever you happen to be, that doesn't mean that they are the good guys.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, I saw another story and I think we may have talked about this, where there's a system that will do real time, basically, accent neutralization for you.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yes.

[Dave Buettner]

So if you have any sort of regional accent, you speak into this system and what comes out the other side is whatever you want it to be. But like in the case of here in the US it would be a sort of a neutral Midwestern accent.

[Rob Allen]

You mean I can take the Mississippi out of my accent?

[Dave Buettner]

Yes.

[Rob Allen]

Wow. No, that'd be really cool.

[Dave Buettner]

Not that we have anyone in mind, Rob.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah, you mean the Mrs. Liffey?

[Rob Allen]

I'm taking the hint. I'm taking the hint. I'll have it prepared for next time we talk.

[Dave Buettner]

No, I think probably most people on our side of the pond would probably prefer to have your accent. Rob actually probably worked pretty well, you know, if you were a single man in a bar. All right, well, we will have a link to Rob's story in the show notes. And of course, we would love to hear from you. If there's something you'd like us to consider for the show, you can email us. It's hackinghumans2k.com let's take a quick break. We'll be right back after this message from our show sponsor.

[ThreatLocker Sponsor]

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[Dave Buettner]

All right, and we are back. My story this week is kind of a. I guess it's good news in that law enforcement has arrested a scammer who was part of a Nigerian prince scam. Now what caught my eye about this is that the person they arrested is a 67 year old man from Louisiana.

[Joe Kerrigan]

And I'm looking at his picture right now. I'm gonna bet he is not Nigerian.

[Dave Buettner]

No, not at all. You would not look at this man and say Nigerian prince.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right.

[Dave Buettner]

He looks like a 67 year old man from Louisiana and not very happy that he got that he's having his mug shot taken.

[Joe Kerrigan]

I love people who smile when they're getting their mug shots taken.

[Dave Buettner]

Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

That's one of my favorite things about life.

[Dave Buettner]

So this Gentleman is facing 269 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. And apparently he was partnering with actual folks from Nigeria.

[Joe Kerrigan]

I see.

[Dave Buettner]

Who were part of.

[Rob Allen]

Where are they princes.

[Joe Kerrigan]

This is a detail.

[Dave Buettner]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say probably not.

[Rob Allen]

Okay. Although Benny is probably a scammer.

[Dave Buettner]

Although I don't know what the threshold is for being considered a prince in Nigeria. So maybe it's not a terribly High bar. I don't know.

[Rob Allen]

I'm guessing it's being a son of a king.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Rob Allen]

Now again, obviously I don't know a lot about royalties or that kind of thing or royalty. Royaltiness.

[Dave Buettner]

Royals.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Royals.

[Rob Allen]

But yes, I'm pretty sure a prince is the son of a king. So yeah, who knows, probably the bar.

[Dave Buettner]

Could be the son of the, you know, the king of auto sales at Nigeria's Used Cars.

[Rob Allen]

Technically a prince, right?

[Dave Buettner]

Technically prince. It's on my business card. But they claim that they had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from folks. The scam was typical Nigerian prince scam. They claimed that the recipient was the beneficiary of a will and that they were going to inherit at least a million dollars. And then they're asked to send personal information which is then used to con them out of their money. And so this gentleman was wiring money back to co conspirators in Nigeria. So I guess he was the local guy. Yeah, they somehow reached out to him and I'm speculating here, but probably said, hey, we need somebody stateside to make this look more legit and we'll cut you in a piece of the action.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Probably has to do with international money moving. And if you're going to wire money to an international account, maybe that's subject to more scrutiny than just wiring it to another American bank.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

And we had a story a couple weeks ago about a woman who was doing something similar, laundering money. I can't remember where it was, but she was receiving money directly into her own bank account and then sending it overseas through cryptocurrency.

[Dave Buettner]

Oh, yeah, I remember that story.

[Joe Kerrigan]

And you know, I'm. If you're going to launder money for international crime cartels.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

That's a big game, Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

If you do that, probably a bad idea to use your own real bank account.

[Dave Buettner]

Right.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Or, you know, have them have their, their international crime syndicates. Have them set up an account that isn't yours, that you have access to.

[Dave Buettner]

Joe Joe's crypto corner here.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right, Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

I mean like incredibly good advice.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

I'll be sure to keep it in mind in future.

[Dave Buettner]

Right, yeah.

[Rob Allen]

The next time I'm perpetrating a crypto scam.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right. It's like Money Laundering 101. I mean.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rob Allen]

Well, is there a money laundering 101?

[Dave Buettner]

Crooks are stupid. That's why they're crooks. The local police chief warned people to never give out personal information on the phone or via email or to wire money to anyone. They don't know.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right.

[Dave Buettner]

So. Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

And added 99% of the time, it's probably a scam.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, in this case it is. I guess the sad part is, I mean, I have a limited amount of sympathy for this man who is part of this criminal enterprise, but the sad part is his co conspirators over in Nigeria will likely just move on with their business and find another, you know, another patsy. Yeah. Another sad sack to take over where he dropped off. You know what? I'd be willing to bet he wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah. And that's the thing these guys don't care about. About. What's his name? Michael New. Is that how you say it? Any New? Yeah, they don't care about him.

[Dave Buettner]

No.

[Joe Kerrigan]

You know, he might have gotten some monetary gain from it, but he's expendable as far as they're concerned.

[Dave Buettner]

Right. He was convenient.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yep. So when I say, if you're going to launder money for an international crime syndicate, just understand you're just as expendable as the victim is. You know, it's, you're, you're, you're going to be exploited like this. And when, when law enforcement comes, they're coming for you. Because law enforcement can get to you here in the United States pretty easily.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah. Well, and I think it's a good reminder too. You know, we, we often talk about warning your friends and family and particularly your elderly friends. This gentleman was no spring chicken.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yep.

[Dave Buettner]

And so perhaps this was an offer too good to be true. But you need, you know, warn them as well, that if somebody comes along and says, hey, I got a really easy business deal for you to be a part of. Don't.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah, probably not.

[Rob Allen]

And that was. Dave, that was exactly what I was going to say. I like the answer you gave a minute ago about if you're going to launder money for an international crime syndicate and then a really good reason of the reasons why not. I would have sum that up as just don't. End of discussion, end of argument, full stop.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Period.

[Dave Buettner]

Do not continue. Yes, I think that is the wise course of yes. Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

No, don't. Don't.

[Dave Buettner]

We should have T shirts made up that just say don't.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Don't. Right.

[Dave Buettner]

All right, well, that is my story. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Joe, Rob, it is time to move on to our catch of the day.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Dave, our catch of the day comes from the scam subreddit and it is. Oh, it looks like it's A law enforcement impersonation scam?

[Dave Buettner]

Yes. So it comes up. First of all, there is a image of a badge.

[Joe Kerrigan]

From the Dragnet. Theme plays in my head whenever.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, from. This is allegedly from the Department of Homeland Security and it says, very respectfully, Special Agent Homeland Security Investigations, New York Human Exploitation and Trafficking Team. Good afternoon. If you're receiving this message, we believe you may be a victim of a financial scam. If you are not, please disregard and respond to this email accordingly. If you want to contact us via phone, feel free to give me a call at the phone number listed below. We respectfully advise you to change any and all passwords to any social media, financial, email or other accounts and applications anyone may have had access to. As a reminder, no government official will ask you for any personally identifiable information or money. If someone claiming to be a government official asks you for money to recover funds, this is likely a scam. We will only contact you from this official email address or the phone number provided below. Government officials will not contact you via Telegram, WhatsApp, or any other messaging application. If you believe you have been a victim of a financial scam, please respond to this email confirming.

[Rob Allen]

Can I just point something out, please?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Yeah.

[Rob Allen]

Government officials will not contact you via telegram or signal.

[Dave Buettner]

Well.

[ThreatLocker Sponsor]

Well.

[Rob Allen]

Unless you're a journalist. I was going to say.

[Dave Buettner]

I was going to say, Rob, we've had some evidence to the counter of that recently, but I think you're right. I think you're right. No, they will not. How do we rate this one, Joe?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Well, it's got that picture.

[Rob Allen]

Well, it has to be a picture.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

It's got a badge on it. Hey, let me show you my badge.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

How do I rate it? I mean, it's got. I don't know, I guess first off, there's some awkward English in here. Like, if you are not first, it says you may be a victim of a financial crime. If you are not, please disregard and respond to this message accordingly.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

What does that mean?

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Am I supposed to disregard or respond?

[Dave Buettner]

Right.

[Rob Allen]

Accordingly.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Accordingly.

[Dave Buettner]

Right. And if you're telling me that I've been a scam, why are you giving me the option to not have been scammed?

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right.

[Dave Buettner]

It's just awkward. Yeah.

[Joe Kerrigan]

I mean, this is more follow on scams. We have a lot of follow on scam stuff today. It's more of a follow on scam. Trying to look for people who have already been victimized because they're probably easier to victimize again. And this is probably going to be something where they get some information Although it does say no government official will ever ask you for any personal information or money, which is weird. Why are they saying that when you know they're going to ask for money?

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, eventually, yeah. This is probably just to put you at ease for the initial contact and then once you get in touch with them, they will immediately try to switch you to Telegram, WhatsApp or any other messaging platform signal. Yeah, exactly.

[Rob Allen]

As long as you're only if you're a journalist.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Right?

[Dave Buettner]

That's right.

[Rob Allen]

Or a brother.

[Dave Buettner]

That's right.

[Rob Allen]

Or a wife.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah, but that's an interesting aspect, Joe. I mean, it closes by saying, if you believe you've been a victim of a financial scam, please respond to this email confirming it's a way to get previous victims. It's filtering, right? Yep, it's filtering. People who have been victims and therefore are sadly probably more likely to be a victim.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Absolutely.

[Dave Buettner]

Yeah. So don't fall for the badge, don't respond to something like this. Overwhelming odds are this is a scam and they're just trying to string you along and get some money out of you. Sad, sad, sad. Alright, we will have a link to that in the show notes as well. And again, if there's something you'd like us to consider for the catch of the day, please email us. It's hackinghumans2k.com.

[ThreatLocker Sponsor]

And of course we want to thank this week's sponsor, ThreatLocker. Go to threatlocker.com HH and check out their Zero Trust endpoint protection platform. That's the words threat and locker with no space.com HH where you can request a demo and neutralize the threat of malware running on your devices.

[Dave Buettner]

That is our show. We want to thank all of you for listening. And special thanks to Rob Allen from Threat Locker for joining us this week. Rob, it was great fun to have you with us.

[Joe Kerrigan]

Thank you, Rob.

[Rob Allen]

Pleasure, guys. Thank you very much.

[Dave Buettner]

We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing world of cyber security. You. If you like our show, please share a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to hackinghumans2k.com this episode is produced by Liz Stokes. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ibin. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester. Peter Kilpe is our publisher. I'm Dave Buettner.

[Joe Kerrigan]

I'm Joe Kerrigan.

[Dave Buettner]

Thanks for listening.