A silhouetted hand holds a smartphone with Zelle’s logo on the screen against a purple backdrop featuring lightning bolts and dollar bills.

Why Zelle reversed course on refunding fraud victims

The banks that own payments app Zelle are changing their minds about refunding scam victims.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • November 15, 2023
An eggplant locked inside a birdcage against a pink background.

Hackers will hack anything — including your sex toys

As the Internet of Things grows, vulnerabilities emerge in all sorts of devices — even sex toys.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • September 13, 2023
counterfeit software on a computer

Why so much of the world runs on counterfeit software

Burned DVD discs, roadside vendors, and customers who have no idea what they’re buying

Olatunji Olaigbe • June 23, 2023

Saying you run a business is easier than actually running one

You, too, could run a $61.7m cannabis startup — if you don’t mind lying and federal prisons.

Ben Berkley • May 30, 2023

People love stealing stuff from Target

Organized retail crime is crushing US retailers.

Ben Berkley • May 22, 2023

The secretary who helped uncover one of America’s strangest Ponzi schemes

Carpet cleaning, reputed mobsters, and a woman who refused to be fleeced.

Mark Dent • April 28, 2023

Wash trading and crypto, explained

Wash trading is a market manipulation tactic that dates back to the ‘30s. It’s since come to crypto.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • February 14, 2023

Scandal: JPMorgan accuses founder of faking 4m+ accounts

JPMorgan Chase claims the founder of a financial aid platform faked 4m+ accounts prior to its $175m acquisition.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • January 13, 2023

How LinkedIn’s handling its bots

Social media is teeming with bots and scammers, and LinkedIn is no exception.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • December 12, 2022

Zelle is a hotbed for fraud — and banks aren’t helping

Scammers love the immediacy of the P2P transfer service, and banks aren’t helping.

Rob Litterst • March 10, 2022

Lonely Americans were swindled out of millions in romance scams

Romance scams, in which a scammer fakes a relationship with a victim to get money, have become increasingly prevalent — and costly.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • February 1, 2022

How scammers manipulate smart contracts to steal crypto

Scammers can hide fees or other tricks in smart contracts, while hackers look for vulnerabilities to exploit.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • January 28, 2022

How hackers keep North Korea’s economy afloat

North Korea’s lucrative side hustle is an elusive cybercrime unit.

Jacob Cohen • December 28, 2021

Black Oxygen Organics made a fortune selling magic dirt. Then it got caught

Black Oxygen Organics, a multilevel marketing organization, made millions selling “magic dirt” before it got caught.

Rob Litterst • December 24, 2021

The OpenSea scandal can teach us a lot about blockchain scams

OpenSea’s insider trading scandal exposed the risks of blockchain technology, but also highlights its strengths.

Juliet Bennett Rylah • September 22, 2021

A spyware breach has Apple feeling the heat

People are sounding the alarm on NSO Group, whose tech was used to infect phones belonging to journalists and activists.

Jacob Cohen • July 21, 2021

It’s not just pipelines; everyday gig workers are getting phished too

Gig workers (e.g., DoorDash, Postmates) are victims of a new phishing scam. Their status as contract workers does not help.

Kolby Hatch • June 11, 2021

America’s massive ransomware problem, explained

In 2020, ransomware victims coughed up $350m. A group of experts has a plan to stop the madness.

Jacob Cohen • May 25, 2021

Uber was swindled out of $100m in ad spend and no one is talking about it

Uber losing $100m on ad spend shines light on the (often ineffective) programmatic ad industry.

Ethan Brooks • January 7, 2021

Scammers have ripped off as much as $36B in unemployment benefits this year

US states are fighting back against an unemployment benefits scam originating from Nigeria.

Ethan Brooks • January 6, 2021

Venmo and Cash App are a scammer’s paradise

Fraud rates on payments apps are 3x to 4x more than on debit or credit cards.

Michael Waters • October 14, 2020

The big business of honey laundering

There’s about a ⅓ chance the honey on your shelf isn’t real.

Michael Waters • September 30, 2020

A fraud-detection company just got busted for committing fraud

NS8 claimed to have $62m in the bank. Actually, it was more like $28k.

Michael Waters • September 22, 2020

The boarding-pass hack that hit Australia’s former prime minister

Maybe don’t upload your boarding pass to Instagram.

Michael Waters • September 21, 2020

Are Nikola’s electric semi trucks bullshit?

Nikola -- the electric truck company that is becoming the source of endless internet jokes -- is fighting charges of fraud. We pass our verdict based on the early evidence.

Bobby Durben • September 17, 2020

It’s prime time for coronavirus swindlers

Scammers and fraudsters are having a field day with the pandemic.

Nick DeSantis • April 8, 2020

Con artist scams Alabama town out of millions with fake business incubator

A main claiming to be an ex-Google exec scammed 50 people from the small town of Opelika, Alabama, out of $1.9m with a fake business incubator

Wes Schlagenhauf • February 27, 2019

Holy Hua-camole: The US is pursuing criminal charges against Huawei

The DoJ unsealed 2 separate court cases against Huawei and revealed that it is pursuing criminal charges against the mobile giant.

Wes Schlagenhauf • January 30, 2019

The Mt. Everest of scams: Travel insurance companies crack down on helicopter fraud

Insurance companies have issued an ultimatum against fraudulent trek operators and helicopter companies in Nepal.

Conor Grant • January 28, 2019

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