NPR's most-read stories of 2024 include a scam-fighter and zombie second mortgages

How can you outsmart scammers? What would you do if your friend was attacked by a wild cougar? NPR readers wanted to know the answers to those questions and more in 2024.

(Image credit: From Left: Vanessa Leroy for NPR; National Transportation Safety Board via AP; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; Courtesy Marjie Alonso; Andy Manis/Getty Images; Saul Martinez for NPR; Gerard Albert III/BPR; Tim Agne/KJZZ; Solar Dynamics Observatory; Ratcliff family; Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)