In this special live episode of Hacking Humans, recorded at ThreatLocker’s Zero Trust World 2025 in Orlando, Florida, Dave Bittner and Maria Varmazis dive into the latest cyber scams, phishing tactics, and social engineering tricks making headlines.
They’re joined by Seamus Lennon, VP of Operations for EMEA at ThreatLocker, who shares expert insights on Zero Trust security and the ever-evolving threat landscape.
🔹 Maria’s Story: The IRS is warning taxpayers about a fake “Self Employment Tax Credit” scam circulating on social media—don’t fall for it!
🔹 Dave’s Story: The Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker reveals that online shopping scams continue to dominate for the fifth year in a row, with phishing and employment scams still on the rise. Plus, fraudsters are now leveraging AI and deepfake technology to up their game.
🔹 Catch of the Day: A listener from West Virginia shares a hilariously botched scam where a fraudster confuses bank account freezing with embryo freezing!
Resources and links to stories:
🔹 Better Business Bureau reveals top local scams of 2024 (https://abc7chicago.com/post/better-business-bureau-reveals-top-local-scams-2024-online-shopping-phone-email-rampant/15741408/)
🔹 IRS warns taxpayers about misleading claims about non-existent “Self Employment Tax Credit;” promoters, social media peddling inaccurate eligibility suggestions (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-taxpayers-about-misleading-claims-about-non-existent-self-employment-tax-credit-promoters-social-media-peddling-inaccurate-eligibility-suggestions)
🔹 BBB Scam Tracker (https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/lookupscam/936488)
🔹 Got a $1,400 rebate text from the IRS? It’s a scam, Better Business Bureau warns. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irs-economic-impact-payment-text/)
Video Credits:
Hosts – Dave Bittner, host of CyberWire Daily podcast, and Maria Varmazis, host of T-Minus Space Daily podcast
Producer – Brigitte Wild and Elizabeth Stokes
Learn more about the Hacking Humans podcast:
Website: https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/hacking-humans
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-cyberwire/
YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7JW9Q3mhniQWxd-8GE9Wr31gn2B9u6vY
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