About this episode
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. We start with some follow up on a phishing scam targeting people tied to Japan’s pension system, with listener Don Roley warning that martial arts communities connected to Japan may also be in scammers’ sights. Joe’s story is on two scams that actually ended well, including a Baltimore man who avoided losing millions in a sweepstakes scam thanks to help from local reporters and law enforcement. Dave’s got the story of a retired engineer who lost thousands after calling a fake airline support number he found through a Google search while trying to rebook a Lufthansa flight. Maria’s story is on suspicious “child safety kits” sent home through schools that collect deeply personal information from parents while quietly serving as lead generation for life insurance sales. From the scams subreddit comes today’s Catch of the Day, where a scammer trying to score a quick fifty bucks was met instead with a barrage of old-timey biblical insults, eventually spiraling into rage messages.
Resources and links to stories:
Springfield Child Safety Kits determined not to be a scam
Sweepstakes scam targets Baltimore-area man who was promised $9.4 million and a Mercedes-Benz
Scam of elderly man goes so well, con artists strike again. But their timing is horrible
Hearken, brethren! Behold how I did smite a worker of iniquity with the Word, and brought him unto great wrath.
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