What's the best phone to do crimes on? (classic)

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

• The FBI orchestrated 'Operation Trojan Shield' by developing and running the encrypted criminal phone network AN0M for three years, successfully leading to hundreds of arrests worldwide.  Copied to clipboard!
• The AN0M network grew rapidly due to influencer marketing from high-level criminals like Hakan Ayek and Maximilian 'Microsoft' Rifkin, who were unaware they were promoting an FBI operation.  Copied to clipboard!
• The success of Operation Trojan Shield has sown widespread mistrust in the encrypted phone industry, potentially pushing criminals toward mainstream encrypted apps like Signal, which complicates future law enforcement surveillance efforts.  Copied to clipboard!

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Introduction and Incognito Mode Plug

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(00:00:00)

• Key Takeaway: The podcast is rebroadcasting a favorite episode during the holiday season while promoting its premium ad-free feed, Incognito Mode.
• Summary: The episode begins with a promotion for the premium subscription service, Incognito Mode, which offers bonus content and no ads. Listeners are encouraged to sign up to support the show’s operations. This free feed broadcast is noted as one of their favorite episodes, a criminal caper with twists.

Sponsor Segment: SurveyMonkey AI

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(00:01:02)

• Key Takeaway: SurveyMonkey’s AI tools are designed to help users understand people better by quickly analyzing survey data for patterns and trends.
• Summary: SurveyMonkey’s AI is presented as a tool to aid human understanding rather than replace people. Its capabilities include crafting optimal surveys and rapidly analyzing data to surface trends. This helps businesses make confident decisions based on real-person insights.

Sponsor Segment: Mubi Cinema

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(00:01:50)

• Key Takeaway: Mubi is a curated streaming service featuring hand-selected films from iconic and emerging directors, offering a month free trial.
• Summary: Mubi champions great cinema by hand-selecting every film available on its platform. A featured film is The Mastermind, directed by Kelly Reichardt, starring Josh O’Connor. New users can try the service for 30 days free via a specific URL.

Technological Change in Journalism

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(00:03:17)

• Key Takeaway: Technological breakthroughs, like computer audio editing and auto-transcription, fundamentally change industries, sometimes opening doors to innovations in crime.
• Summary: The host reflects on how technology rapidly transforms jobs, citing the shift from editing audio tape with razor blades to digital editing. Auto-transcription eliminated weeks of manual typing for the host. This sets the stage for a story where a small tech breakthrough impacts professional violence and corruption.

Introduction to Joseph Cox and Criminal Tech

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(00:04:25)

• Key Takeaway: Reporter Joseph Cox specializes in journalism focused on the criminal underworld, speaking directly to hackers and users of illicit technology.
• Summary: Joseph Cox, author of Dark Wire, focuses his reporting on the crime side of technology, seeking out those ‘with hands on keyboards.’ He has carved a niche by interviewing drug traffickers and cyber criminals to hear the side often missing from law enforcement press releases. His work covers ingenious criminal inventions that give them an edge against police.

Phantom Secure Precursor to AN0M

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(00:06:47)

• Key Takeaway: The encrypted phone company Phantom Secure, popular with organized crime in Australia, preceded AN0M before being shut down by the FBI in 2018.
• Summary: The story begins in Australia, where law enforcement confronted encrypted phones used by gangs like the Comancheros and Banditos. Phantom Secure advertised to ‘international men of mystery’ but served serious organized criminals, sometimes planning hits. The company was dismantled when its Canadian CEO was arrested in the US after failing to cooperate with the FBI.

AN0M Features and Marketing

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(00:10:04)

• Key Takeaway: AN0M was marketed as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of encrypted phones, featuring advanced security like a calculator-gated app, scrambled voice memos, image redaction, and a remote wipe system.
• Summary: AN0M offered superior features compared to its predecessor, including a hidden messaging app accessed via the calculator (2x2=4). It provided security benefits like scrambling voice memos and blurring faces in images. Its powerful remote wipe feature allowed users to destroy data if the phone was seized by law enforcement.

AN0M’s Influencer Marketing Strategy

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(00:12:28)

• Key Takeaway: AN0M utilized an influencer marketing strategy where high-level criminals earned commissions by selling phones to vetted felonious friends, creating a secure, insular network.
• Summary: The network grew through commissions paid to criminals who sold phones to their contacts, ensuring only vetted bad actors joined the platform. This reseller network kept law enforcement out, unlike public phone stores. When a top-tier criminal adopted AN0M, everyone underneath them needed to switch to maintain communication.

Hakan Ayek and Microsoft’s Role

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(00:14:42)

• Key Takeaway: Drug trafficker Hakan Ayek, head of the ‘Aussie cartel,’ was an early, influential user and system administrator who helped expand AN0M into Europe.
• Summary: Hakan Ayek, a ruthless gangster uniting rival gangs, was an enthusiastic early adopter of AN0M after Phantom Secure collapsed. He saw potential in both using the secure device and profiting from selling the phones, acting as a criminal influencer. His underling, Maximilian ‘Microsoft’ Rifkin, was an even more prolific user and seller, known for orchestrating complex drug schemes.

FBI Takes Control of AN0M

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(00:32:06)

• Key Takeaway: The FBI gained control of AN0M after the founder, Afgu, fearing arrest following the Phantom Secure takedown, offered the embryonic company to prosecutors in exchange for a lesser sentence.
• Summary: After the FBI failed to backdoor Phantom Secure, Afgu, who had planned his own network, approached the FBI with his AN0M project. This provided the FBI an unprecedented opportunity to expose entire criminal social networks by controlling the technical backbone of organized crime. The FBI then hired ordinary Android developers, unaware they were building a surveillance apparatus for law enforcement.

FBI Management and Ethical Dilemmas

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(00:37:01)

• Key Takeaway: Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young, focused on disrupting crime, drove the AN0M operation, which revealed organized crime was far larger and more corrupt than previously estimated.
• Summary: The FBI learned that the value of proceeds of crime in the EU was significantly underestimated, requiring a tripling of prior estimates. The investigation also exposed massive public corruption interfacing with the illegal economy. Agents treated the AN0M data ethically like a wiretap, intervening in about 150 threats to life, though one murder planned on the app was not stopped in time.

Microsoft’s Downfall and Arrests

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(00:46:47)

• Key Takeaway: Swedish authorities deliberately applied pressure on high-value target Microsoft by destroying his infrastructure, forcing him into riskier operations that accelerated his exposure.
• Summary: Swedish police deliberately let Microsoft’s amphetamine lab be discovered and shut down, intending to squeeze him financially and force him to make mistakes. Microsoft’s subsequent failed drug drops and raids on his safe houses demonstrated the FBI’s invisible management of his life. The trap closed globally with coordinated arrests, though Ayek and Microsoft initially evaded the main US-led bust.

Hakan Ayek’s Audacious Capture

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(00:50:56)

• Key Takeaway: Fugitive Hakan Ayek was eventually captured in Turkey after brazenly posting positive Google reviews for local restaurants while on the run.
• Summary: Six months after the main AN0M bust, Ayek was tracked via his public Google reviews in Turkey, demonstrating extreme audacity. Turkish authorities launched coordinated raids that swept up Ayek, Microsoft, and dozens of associates. Ayek was arrested shirtless and on his knees, marking a sensational end to his time as Australia’s most wanted man.

Aftermath and Future of Encryption

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(00:53:51)

• Key Takeaway: The AN0M operation failed to stop the drug trade but succeeded in delegitimizing dedicated criminal encrypted phones, pushing criminals toward consumer apps like Signal.
• Summary: The drug trade continues, suggesting a different approach to enforcement may be needed, as even the largest sting operation did not significantly dent it. The FBI successfully created mistrust in bespoke criminal tech, but this pushes criminals onto platforms like Signal, where they mix with non-criminals. The host suggests targeted device hacking is preferable to monitoring entire consumer networks.