Dr. Peterson Interviews Former U.S. Most Wanted Cybercriminal | Brett Johnson | EP 406

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down in-person with Brett Johnson, formerly the United States’ most wanted cyber criminal, now a public speaker and expert on cyber security. They discuss the nurturing of a child into a criminal, the compartmentalization of guilt, the psychology of exploitation, the creation of the precursor to the dark web, and what caused Johnson to walk away completely.

Brett Johnson. Former U.S. Most Wanted Cybercriminal. Now Good Guy. The United States Secret Service called Mr. Johnson "The Original Internet Godfather" for his role in refining modern financial cybercrime. Or to put it another way: Brett was convicted of 39 felonies, placed on the U.S. Most Wanted List, escaped from prison, and … he built the first organized cybercrime community, Shadowcrew. Shadowcrew was a precursor to today's darknet and darknet markets, and it laid the foundation for the way modern cybercrime channels operate today. Johnson was sentenced to 90 months in Federal Prison. End of story? Not hardly. Brett found redemption through his sister, his wife Michele, and finally the FBI. He was given the chance to turn his life around. He took it. Today, Brett is considered one of the leading authorities on cybercrime, identity theft, and cybersecurity on the planet. He works hard to protect businesses and consumers from the type of person he used to be.

This episode was filmed November 20th, 2023

Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+

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- Links -

For Brett Johnson:

On LinkedIn

The Brett Johnson Show (website)

The Brett Johnson Show (youtube)

- Chapters -

(0:00) Coming up

(0:12) Intro

(1:52) Personality traits of the depraved

(7:21) “I ran shadowcrew” - why criminals need a network

(9:23) Raised by criminals

(11:18) Always on the move, manipulative mother

(17:13) Family dynamic

(21:23) Morality and criminal motivations

(27:52) Parents divorce, new step father

(30:44) Shoplifting, stealing books

(33:47) Criminals have associates, not friends

(36:53) “I didn’t drink until I was 34”

(40:10) Juvenile Detention, on-stage therapy

(41:47) Calling dad, the elevator incident

(48:00) It was a small town, “she would stare at me”

(49:35) Consequences of incarceration, excelling in school

(51:30) The first good person…

(54:08) What went wrong, first girlfriend

(55:29) The acting scholarship

(59:53) Fear of the unknown, self destruction

(1:04:17) First identity theft

(1:09:35) Cold check scams

(1:12:23) Crime for convenience

(1:14:04) Were these genuine bonds?

(1:16:07) Top of the food chain, ego-driven

(1:18:03) The justification of harm

(1:22:59) Telemarketing, running a fake charity, learning to manipulate

(1:28:30) Bad ideas: a one man operation

(1:30:22) County jail

(1:32:34) Moving online, the beanie baby scam

(1:38:24) Pirated software, jail breaking chips, “I learned from online forums”

(1:43:06) Moose Jaw, Beelzebub

(1:45:30) Why was “Gollum” your username?

(1:47:06) Power broker for cyber criminals

(1:50:43) Tax return identity theft, “we used the sex offender list”

(1:57:53) 7 Million in backpacks, learning to launder money

(2:01:14) When his first wife left

(2:02:30) Seeing a psychologist, marrying a stripper

(2:08:02) Getting sloppy, getting caught

(2:09:38) They let me out so I could work with them…

// LINKS //

All socials

// COURSES //

Discovering Personality

Self Authoring Suite

Understand Myself (personality test)

// BOOKS //

Beyond Order12 More Rules for Life

12 Rules for LifeAn Antidote to Chaos

Maps of MeaningThe Architecture of Belief

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