Smashing Security podcast #449: How to scam someone in seven days

Hacking stories and cybersecurity insights.

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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 @grahamcluley.com
 / grahamcluley

Smashing Security podcast #449: How to scam someone in seven days

Romance scammers have apparently discovered astrology… and Taurus is their secret weapon.

In episode 449 of “Smashing Security”, we take a look inside an actual romance-fraud handbook – complete with scripts, personality “types”, corporate jargon, and a seven-day plan to get victims from hello to hand over the crypto.

Then Lesley “hacks4pancakes” Carhart delivers a reality check on the dire cybersecurity jobs market for juniors: why entry-level roles are evaporating, how automated CV screening is chewing candidates up, and what hopeful newcomers (and weary veterans) can do about it.

Plus, Graham talks to ThreatLocker CEO Danny Jenkins about why misconfigurations are behind an uncomfortable number of breaches, how default-deny security actually works in practice, and why detecting attacks after they’ve started is already too late.

All this, and much more, in this episode of the “Smashing Security” podcast with Graham Cluley, and special guest Lesley Carhart.

Podcast artwork

Smashing Security #449:
How to scam someone in seven days

Host:

Graham Cluley:

Guest:

Lesley Carhart:

Episode links:

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Thanks:

Theme tune: “Vinyl Memories” by Mikael Manvelyan.
Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and hosts the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on LinkedIn, Bluesky and Mastodon, or drop him an email.

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