How Hacks Happen
Many Worlds Productions
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About This Podcast
Hacks, scams, cyber crimes, and other shenanigans explored and explained. Presented by your friendly neighborhood cybersecurity gal Michele Bousquet.
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Recent Episodes
S6E4 Spotify: Making Millions With Bots
When musician Michael Smith couldn't find an audience for his music, he manufactured it. By unleashing thousands of bots to listen to thousands of fake AI-generated songs on Spotify and other…
S6E3 Voiceprint, Face ID, and Sneakers
Voiceprint ID is the latest virtual gadget for banks and financial institutions. But how secure is it, really? Let's look at the pros and cons of voice recognition, facial ID, and the AI systems they…
S6E2 Magic Movie Money
Scams touch every part of life, including the movies. In this episode, we talk about three scammers from the land of the silver screen: Alison Gu, a convicted fraudster who tried to hire…
S6E1 Glitches in the Matrix
Glitch or fraud? Let's explore "money glitches" popularized on social media, and the consequences faced by people who used them. Resources:The Chase Money 'Glitch': How a Viral Fraud Scheme…
S5E13 2025: The Year of AI Scams
AI is undoubtedly the technology of the year for hacks and scams. While scammers are busy using AI to make scams more convincing, scam baiters are fighting back with ingenious grandma-style AIs that…
S5E12 The Barber Shop Scammers
Ever get your hair cut and wonder, "Is my barber part of an international scammer ring?" In November 2025, the FBI arrested Victor Marion, the owner of Mecca Barber Shop in San Diego, and eighteen of…
S5E11 It's Official: Facebook is Scammy
If Facebook has seemed scammy for the past few years, it's not your imagination. A leaked internal document shows that Facebook, and its parent company Meta, are well aware that many of their ads and…
S5E10 Signing Your Life Away: Subscriber Agreements
Do you tap "Accept" without reading subscriber agreements? Those long-winded documents can strip away your legal rights, and even hijack your face, your voice, and your life. Let's peek inside the…
S5E9 Personal Pest Control: Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it's time to clean house! Let's get rid of all those dust bunnies (weak passwords) and vacuum under the sofa cushions (no multi-factor authentication)…
S5E8 AI Gone Rogue: Delusional Chats Lead to Heartbreak
AI is great for researching topics and digging up information. But what happens when people start to humanize their chatbots, and think they're talking to God? Or that they are God? Let's look at…
S5E7 Quick Tip: Protecting Your Money With Face ID
There's a new scam going around, where a thief gets you to unlock your phone under the guise of needing to make a call, then runs off with the phone and sends themselves all your money through your…
S5E6 Bug Bounties: Getting Paid to Hack
The finale of HBO's Silicon Valley series pointed up a subtle parallel to the real-world challenges in vulnerability reporting—rather than risk going to jail, Pied Piper chose to burn the company to…
S5E5 Red Team: The Best Job in Cybersecurity (Until You Get Arrested)
What is Red Teaming, and what does it have to do with cybersecurity? In this episode, we look at how Red Teamers are hired to attack company security using all manner of tactics, from tossing…
S5E4 Random Number Generators Pt 3: Under the Hood
What goes on under the hood of random number generators (RNGs)? Here we look at one of the best sources of randomness—static from electronic chips—and discuss terminology like entropy and bias, the…
S5E3 Random Number Generators Pt 2: Unsecure Devices
Ever heard of the Internet of Things, or IoT? This episode explores the use of random numbers in our everyday devices, and how they’re often not as secure as our PCs. We also look at how Apple gets…
S5E2 Random Number Generators Pt 1: Cheating at Video Games
This episode explores the mysterious world of random number generators (RNGs) in video games. Looking at popular games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Diablo II, we describe how players hack…
S5 Welcome to Season 5!
New season, new theme music—and even more hacks and scams to explore. Thanks for coming on these adventures with me. Let's do some more! Send us Fan MailSupport the show
S5E1 Payday Loans: A Very American Scam
Need cash quick? Why not try a payday loan? While it might look like a better option than a credit card on its surface, the truth is that payday loans can be rather ugly and expensive, and can trap…
S4E14 Summer 2025 Tour of Scams: Job Scams, Sextortion, and Threats
Scammers are still at it, happy to ruin our lives in search of a quick buck. Let's look at job scams that attempt to steal personal information, sextortion scams preying on teenage boys, and a really…
S4E13 Hacks Ain't What They Used to Be
Hacks used to be impressive, utilizing bits and pieces of technology that made us sit up and pay attention. Nowadays, every scam, breach, or sketchy text message gets labelled a "hack" when it's…
Frequently Asked Questions
How Hacks Happen has published 86 episodes since May 2021, covering topics in News, Tech News.
How Hacks Happen is currently moderate with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 21m.
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