Podcast
Podcast: Inside a Fraud Factory
This week we have fake IDs at the click of a mouse; AI audio porn; a low tech response to the wave of deepfake abuse; and the Instagram ad to investment scam pipeline. A packed episode!
Impact
‘Neural Network’ Fake ID Site Goes Dark After 404 Media Investigation
OnlyFake said it used “neural networks” as part of its automated fake ID generation service. The site has gone offline after 404 Media tested and exposed the service.
News
Phone Spy Tool Pitched for ‘Riot Detection’ in NYC
404 Media recently exposed Patternz, a global phone spy tool that tracks movements and interests through advertising data. Other internal documents now show the technology was marketed as a way to detect riots.
Features
Inside the Underground Site Where ‘Neural Networks’ Churn Out Fake IDs
The site, called OnlyFake, threatens to streamline everything from bank fraud to money laundering, and has implications for cybersecurity writ large.
Podcast
Podcast: This is It. The Deepfake Reckoning
This week we have a banger episode on AI and what the future holds in a potential overcorrection of the space. Then we talk about how an Iranian linked drug trafficker hired a Hells Angel member to perform a hit on U.S. soil. Yep.
News
Binance Code and Internal Passwords Exposed on GitHub for Months
A takedown request said the GitHub account was “hosting and distributing leaks of internal code which poses significant risk to BINANCE.”
News
How a Single ‘Pig Butchering’ Scam Netted $40 Million
Pig butchering scams—in which fraudsters continuously extract money from a target—are a multibillion dollar epidemic. Court records show that just one scam operation can make at least tens of millions of dollars.
News
Encrypted Phone ‘Sky’ Linked to Murder-for-Hire Plot in Maryland
Sky was an encrypted phone used by drug traffickers and other criminals. Now, those phones are linked to a murder-for-hire scheme on U.S. soil involving an arm of the Iranian state.
Announcements
We Need Your Email Address
AI stealing our work. The collapse of social networks. The need to pay journalists to produce impactful journalism. Here is why we are asking for your email address to read 404 Media.
Podcast
Podcast: Why Google Is Shit Now
This week we go long on Google News and AI, and why Google Search is worse now. We also discuss a phone spy tool that can monitor billions.
Features
Inside a Global Phone Spy Tool Monitoring Billions
A wide-spanning investigation by 404 Media reveals more details about a secretive spy tool that can tracks billions of phone profiles through the advertising industry called Patternz. Google has taken action in response to 404 Media's inquiries.
News
Feds Charge Alleged ‘TLO’ Underground Data Broker
In August we revealed the secret weapon hackers can use to dox nearly anyone in America for $15. Now, authorities have targeted at least one of the data sellers.