What the Hack?

One of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year and a vocal advocate for diversity in tech, Tracy Chou built Block Party after discovering firsthand that the platforms have no real incentive to protect you from the people who want to harm you.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Clemente, former FBI agent and behavioral profiler who consulted on Criminal Minds and the Unabomber series. He recounts profiling training and forensic linguistic work on the Unabomber case. He compares psychological 'hacks' for gaining access to suspects with modern digital scams. He also tells how his own debit card was bought on the dark web and drained via peer-to-peer app transfers.

Jason Koebler, technology reporter who covers surveillance and security, and Benn Jordan, musician-turned-investigator who exposes camera flaws. They discuss Flock Safety camera vulnerabilities and no-opt-out tracking. They explore AI beyond plate reading, nationwide network effects, potential wrongful arrests, exposed live feeds, and how data sharing enables broad surveillance.

No deep fake here. This week, Al Franken does his own impersonations of Bernie Sanders, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins in this mock Senate Hearing featuring Siri (played by the actual voice-over talent Susan Bennett) and Al’s fellow SNL alum Laraine Newman playing the part of Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Benn Jordan—musician, acoustic scientist, and one of the sharpest minds on surveillance technology—joins 404 Media’s Jason Koebler and the ACLU’s Jay Stanley to trace how surveillance went ambient— and what it means when everyone’s being watched. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charity Clark, Vermont Attorney General and former consumer lawyer focused on data and biometric protections. She breaks down digital surveillance from school apps to AI-powered romance scams. She explains state-level legal coordination, challenges of AI regulation, and why educating the public beats blanket bans.

Kathy Stokes, Director of Fraud Prevention at AARP who leads the Fraud Watch Network, explains how scams have become organized, global operations. She discusses why older adults are targeted and shares harrowing victim stories. The conversation covers fraud-as-a-service, law enforcement gaps, recovery limits, and practical steps like AARP helplines and community prevention.

Charlotte Jupp, VP of Customer Success at Outthink who focuses on human risk in cybersecurity, breaks down how a single phone call can topple huge organizations. Short, punchy takes on phone‑based pretexts, SIM swapping, AI‑enabled social engineering, why awareness training fails, and real‑time nudges and dashboards to spot risky behavior.

Virginia Heffernan, writer and cultural critic who wrote Magic and Loss, explores Groundhog Day as an allegory for the internet. They discuss surveillance, how platforms reward repetition over reflection, personal data becoming identity, and AI’s performance of empathy. The conversation also touches on oversharing, social engineering risks, and ways to break the loop through genuine care.

Jacob Sims, researcher on Southeast Asian scam compounds, and Gary Warner, cybercrime tracer of online fraud, discuss scam networks and trafficking. They trace big crypto seizures, explore on-the-ground compound operations, and debate tools like sanctions, takedowns, and labeling crypto addresses. They also cover how AI aids outreach and why unilateral intervention is difficult.