Search Engine – “What's the best phone to do crimes on?” (Classic)

Host: PJ Vogt
Guest: Joseph Cox (tech reporter, author of Dark Wire)
Date: December 5, 2025

EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode explores a wild story at the intersection of technology, crime, and law enforcement: the secret saga of "Anom," an encrypted phone company that seemingly offered criminals perfect privacy—until a jaw-dropping twist revealed the FBI was secretly running the whole operation. Through in-depth reporting from Joseph Cox, author of Dark Wire, the episode unveils how law enforcement built and leveraged a bespoke criminal phone network, the global implications of this unprecedented sting, and the ethical dilemma posed as criminals—and potentially everyone—move to more mainstream encrypted communications.

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. How Technology Transforms Even the Shadiest Industries

• Technological innovation constantly changes industries, including crime.
• Early in his career, PJ learned tech (like computer editing and auto transcription) sped up journalism; Joseph says similar leaps have enabled criminals to outpace cops. (03:17–04:24)

2. The Rise of Encrypted Criminal Phones

• A decade ago, encrypted mobile phones like "Phantom Secure" exploded in popularity with serious organized crime in Australia, used by biker gangs and cartels to plan major hits and drug deals.
  • “This phone is actually for serious organised criminals, such as members of biker gangs... or even members of the Sinaloa drug cartel.” – Joseph Cox (08:00)
• Phantom Secure was eventually brought down by the FBI in 2018.
• Its demise opened the door for Anom—a more sophisticated, user-friendly, and feature-rich encrypted phone.

3. Inside Anom: The “Criminal iPhone”

• Anom looked deceptively like a normal phone but included elaborate security measures:
  • Secret app accessed via calculator trick
  • Voice scrambling, photo redaction, remote wipability
  • All the “bells and whistles” criminals—and regular users—desire
  • Sold via criminal “influencer marketing” networks (you had to be vouched in)
  • “It's sort of like Girl Scout cookies.” – PJ Vogt (13:49)
• Top criminals became “brand ambassadors”:
  • Hakan Ayik, Australia’s most wanted (the “Ryan Reynolds” of Anom)
  • His underling “Microsoft” (Maximilian Rifkin), a prolific, inventive trafficker who evangelized the phones

4. Global Spread & Dazzling Success

• The Anom network spread quickly through Australia, Europe, Colombia, Sweden, Denmark, and beyond (19:30), fueled by status, exclusivity, and word-of-mouth in criminal networks.

5. The Twist: FBI’s Trojan Shield Operation

• The bombshell:
  • Anom was secretly run by the FBI the entire time.
  • The real mastermind, Afghu, who once worked for Phantom Secure, flipped to avoid prosecution and handed the tech (in its embryonic state) to US law enforcement, who seized the opportunity to monitor criminal communications globally. (26:10–34:40)
  • “The US government was the secret venture capitalist and puppet master and manager of Anom for its entire existence.” – Joseph Cox (26:18)
• Law enforcement quietly built out and improved the product—hiring unwitting coders who thought they were making a legitimate secure-communications platform.

6. Monitoring the Dark Wire: Insights Gained

• The FBI harvested direct, uncoded, detailed criminal chatter:
  • Messages about major drug deals, corruption, and even explicit murder contracts (often with emojis)
  • “I later obtained hundreds of thousands of Anom messages... every single chat in there is about some sort of really serious crime. ...Ordering assassinations with like emojis.” – Joseph Cox (41:13)
• The scope of the underworld stunned law enforcement:
  • Estimated proceeds of crime in EU had to be tripled
  • Revealed widespread public corruption—intersections between crime and legitimate economy
  • “An entire iceberg emerged underneath the water surface.” – Joseph Cox (39:02)

7. Ethical Dilemmas and Operational Hazards

• Law enforcement intervened to prevent murders when possible, but not always in time.
  • “In one case, a murder was planned on the FBI’s app... and it was successful. The entire thing was planned on Anom, and the issue was that the FBI did not provide those messages to the Swedish authorities in time.” – Joseph Cox (43:12)
• Huge operations eventually became overwhelming for the FBI, both in data volume and risk.

8. The Sting Closes: Busts, Consequences, and Fallout

• Law enforcement swept up 800+ criminals in coordinated raids worldwide.
• Notably, high-value targets like Ayik and Microsoft initially eluded arrest, only to be eventually caught in Turkey.
  • Hakan Ayik, meanwhile, brazenly left Google reviews at Turkish restaurants while on the run! (51:37)
• The sting’s true “success” was destroying trust in bespoke criminal phone companies:
  • Now, criminals are more likely to use consumer platforms like Signal, complicating future efforts for law enforcement.

9. The Privacy Paradox & What Comes Next

• The Anom operation epitomizes the tension between privacy and law enforcement effectiveness—
  • “You absolutely can see it on both sides.” – Joseph Cox (57:47)
• If criminals now use mainstream encrypted apps, could/(should) governments surveil all? Should they demand “back doors”?
• Joseph Cox’s preferred answer: targeted hacking is the “least bad” option (61:40).
  • “If those are the three options [more data to authorities via subpoena; run the entire app as a sting; targeted hacking], I would take the hacking one.” – Joseph Cox (59:10)

10. So… What’s the Best Phone for (Not Just) Bad Guys?

• Joseph’s recommendation (for privacy, not crime!):
  • “I would probably use a GrapheneOS phone... and then use an app like Signal.” (62:41)

QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• “The US government was the secret venture capitalist and puppet master and manager of Anom for its entire existence.” – Joseph Cox (26:18)
• “Ordering assassinations with like emojis... at one point Microsoft asks, can I get a bulk discount if I have a hitman do three or four hits at once?” – Joseph Cox (41:13)
• “It's sort of like Girl Scout cookies.” – PJ Vogt on Anom’s criminal reseller model (13:49)
• “If you're a search engine listener who wants privacy for any reason. No judgments here, you criminal freaks... your question has been answered.” – PJ Vogt (63:30)
• “Even the biggest sting operation ever can't really put a sizable dent in the drug trade. Like, maybe there should be a different approach.” – Joseph Cox (54:30)
• “Now we have to decide: are we OK with law enforcement reading all encrypted messages, or should their power be more limited?” – Paraphrased summary of closing debate

TIMESTAMPS OF KEY SEGMENTS

• 03:17–04:24 | Tech change in media vs. crime
• 07:05–09:33 | Phantom Secure: the first criminal smartphone
• 10:07–12:39 | Anom’s slick design & features
• 13:13–14:57 | “Influencer marketing” in criminal sales
• 19:02–19:53 | Anom’s international growth through criminal networks
• 26:10–34:40 | How (and why) the FBI took over Anom
• 39:02–41:13 | The scope of crime and corruption discovered
• 43:12–44:33 | Law enforcement dilemmas: preventing violence
• 47:58–48:59 | Authorities “playing God” with Microsoft
• 50:45–54:30 | The global sting: upshot and ethical ambiguity
• 55:25–56:48 | Aftermath: criminal distrust of encrypted phones, the privacy/policing dilemma
• 61:40–63:30 | What’s the “best phone to do crimes on” (or just to stay private)?
• 63:43 | Plug for Joseph Cox’s book and final thoughts

TONE & STYLE

Conversational, lively, and occasionally irreverent. The hosts and guests combine deep expertise with surprising humor and empathy. The episode is briskly paced, easy to follow, and takes pains to avoid dry academic language—even when discussing serious topics like murder, privacy rights, and police overreach.

RECOMMENDED IF…

• You enjoy true crime with a tech twist
• You want to understand both the technical tricks of modern organized crime and the law enforcement cat-and-mouse game
• You’re interested in the ethical crossroads of privacy, surveillance, and public safety
• You appreciate darkly comic moments: “criminal influencer marketing,” assassination emojis, and Google reviews from fugitives

For more on this story, check out Joseph Cox’s book, Dark Wire.