Craig Silverman

@craigsilverman.bsky.social

2034

Posts

Reporter at ProPublica investigating platforms, disinfo, scams, digital manipulation.

I write the free Digital Investigations newsletter and edit the Verification Handbook series.

https://digitalinvestigations.substack.com/

craigsilverman.ca

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The latest edition of my free Digital Investigations newsletter highlights two new, free books about open source research, lists 13 new or updated OSINT tools, and links to some great webinars and articles: digitalinvestigation...

NEW: If you bought or received a gift card and discovered the balance was already spent, you may have been a victim of Chinese organized crime. We reveal that a national federal task force has linked Chinese crime orgs to the card draining epidemic: www.propublica.org/article/chin...

Want to learn how to investigate disinfo, trolling & digital infrastructure? Apply for the third cohort of GIJN's Digital Threats Cyber Investigations Training Course. Fellows receive 6 weeks of virtual training and mentoring for free. Deadline is March 24: gijn.org/stories/digi...

In 2022, Walmart bought a banking app called One. Soon, One was plagued by fraud and customer dissatisfaction. One’s issues threaten to undermine Walmart’s biggest opportunity to enter consumer banking after 20 years of trying. Our story: www.propublica.org/article/afte...

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Key tools and approaches for using AI in OSINT and investigations | @craigsilverman.bsky.social

Key tools and approaches for using AI in OSINT and investigationsdigitalinvestigations.substack.com AI and LLMs pose significant risk to information integrity. But they also offer a lot of promise for OSINT and investigations. Here's a look at some encouraging areas.

This is the hardest AI-face-or-not quiz I've seen to date: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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I get asked a lot about what's changed since 2020 in terms of the elections and the online information space. I share 15 ways things have changed in my latest newsletter. anchorchange.substack.com/p/comparing-...

Comparing Tech 2024 Election Effortsanchorchange.substack.com Fifteen things that have changed since 2020

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Will you look at that! Week in #OSINT is back! This week, I want to thank: @webbreacher.com @hatless1der.bsky.social @pangar-ban.bsky.social @raebaker.net @craigsilverman.bsky.social @dutchosintguy.bsky.social and others for sharing their wisdom! sector035.nl/articles/202...

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Did you catch the last NeedleStack episode of Season 2 with award-winning journalist and author, Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social? If you didn't, go check it out now for some brilliant insight and expert knowledge! www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuj...

S2E62 | Digital investigation techniques with Craig Silvermanwww.youtube.com @ProPublica reporter and author of the Digital Investigations newsletter, Craig Silverman joins the podcast to discuss disinformation trends on social media ...

For years Qinbin Chen made a living thanks to Walmart. How? By laundering $7 million in fraudulently obtained gift cards through its stores. Walmart knew fraud was happening. It promised two state AGs to stop it. It didn't. Our new investigation: www.propublica.org/article/walm...

How Walmart’s Financial Services Became a Fraud Magnetwww.propublica.org Scammers have duped consumers out of more than $1 billion by exploiting Walmart’s lax security. The company has resisted taking responsibility while breaking promises to regulators and skimping on t...

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Mike does a great job in this thread of breaking down one of the first big rumors (a conspiracy theory, in this case) of the 2024 primary season. He draws on libraries his UW/CIP team has been building to demonstrate how this latest conspiracy theory echoes false claims from elections past.

It looks like we have our first major electoral integrity conspiracy theory of the 2024 primary cycle. Over on X/Twitter, a number of accounts are promoting a claim by Laura Loomer that the counting software used by the Iowa GOP has ties to DeSantis.

I’m looking for Substack alternatives for my Digital Investigations newsletter. But I’m in a bind. My newsletter is free and I don’t intend to charge for it. I have 10,000 subscribers. All the platforms I’ve checked out cost money. But I make zero from the newsletter. Any suggestions?

New year, new edition of my free Digital investigations newsletter! I run through useful tools for searching YouTube transcripts, monitoring webpages, and more. Plus, links to great articles and a few useful videos: digitalinvestigations.substack.com/p/tools-and-...

Tools and tips round up: Searching YouTube transcripts, monitoring webpages, and moredigitalinvestigations.substack.com Plus: video talks about investigating the dark web and the OSINT mindset.

Here are ProPublica’s most read stories of 2023. Proud to work with colleagues who produce such great work, and grateful to readers and donors who make it possible: www.propublica.org/article/prop...

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🚨Publication alert 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩? 𝗬𝗲𝘀! (𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱), drawing on +150 interviews with experts & employees at 33 publishers in 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇩🇪 🔓🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Finally, it is online: Episode 2023-49 of Week in #OSINT! Maybe slightly later, but hopefully just as interesting! H/T: @cybdetective.bsky.social @pvforosinv.bsky.social @bellingcat.com @honza.bsky.social @needlestackpod.bsky.social @craigsilverman.bsky.social sector035.nl/articles/202...

Week in OSINT 202349sector035.nl Another week, another episode with podcasts, people, tutorials and training! This weekend was a bit more busy than I anticipated, so I didn&

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Award-winning investigative reporter for @propublica.bsky.social and author of the Digital Investigations newsletter, @craigsilverman.bsky.social, joins the show to discuss disinfo trends on social platforms and what journos and #OSINT researchers can learn from each other. bit.ly/46G4ukB

An honor to be included!

BlueSky: Good morning and welcome to week 48 of Week in #OSINT! H/T: @bendobrown.bsky.social @gralhix.bsky.social @fs0c131y.com @craigsilverman.bsky.social @hatless1der.bsky.social sector035.nl/articles/202...

The new edition of my free Digital Investigations newsletter is an interview with Rae Baker, a maritime #osint analyst who also runs an innovative investigative training platform. We spoke about monitoring platforms, her favorite tools, and more: digitalinvestigations.substack.com/p/investigat...

Investigator interview: Rae Bakerdigitalinvestigations.substack.com We talk OSINT training, the value of Google Dorks, and what to do about the decline of Twitter/X

The latest edition of the must read Week in #OSINT from @sector035.bsky.social is out! Some great stuff, including a free upcoming webinar about investigating suspicious websites: sector035.nl/articles/202...

Week in OSINT 202340sector035.nl As most regular readers have noticed by now, I started linking to people's social media profiles differently lately. Instead of linkin

The ICFJ's Disarming Disinformation program is accepting applications from journalists around the world. You can receive training, resources, and a grant to investigative electoral disinfo. I'm fortunate to act as one of the mentors to grantees. Info and how to apply: www.icfj.org/news/new-opp...

A New Opportunity for Journalists to Investigate Election Disinformationwww.icfj.org Journalists from across the world have the opportunity to receive funding, mentorship and training to expose the money behind mis- and disinformation targeting voters, as part of the global Disarming ...

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Researchers of online misinformation (and related topics) aren’t “buckling” to politically-motivated attacks. Our critical work to understand and address online deception and manipulation continues. But only with the support of our colleagues and institutions. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/uw-m...

UW misinformation researchers will not buckle under political attacks | Opinionwww.seattletimes.com As the 2024 election approaches, misinformation researchers at the University of Washington say they won't be deterred by those seeking to undermine their work.

The latest edition of my free Digital Investigations newsletter includes tips about: -Investigating AI -Using Pinpoint -Google dorks -Satellite images -Lots of other tools and guides for journalists and OSINT folks: digitalinvestigations.substack.com/p/tools-and-...

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