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Millennials are the newest scam target

(First, a weird image for this story, I know. I was playing around with Meta AI. Why? Coming on Monday, tips, tricks and don’ts of using AI to create art, logos and more. You don’t want to miss that newsletter!)

If you’re a millennial, or you love one from a safe financial distance, brace yourself: This age group is losing more money to scams than anyone else, boomers included. 

Yes, the digital natives, the “I’ve got 47 tabs open” generation born between 1981 and 1996, are getting cooked online.

Millennials aren’t getting taken because they’re naïve. They’re falling for scams because the cons have gotten better and faster. Between work burnout, raising mini-humans, pending divorces, rising rents and pretending to understand tax forms, the bandwidth is low and the scams are high. 

💼 The job offer

You get a text about a remote gig. It pays well, sounds flexible and looks like something you could actually do. No experience needed. But there’s a catch: To get started, you have to send money. 

Sometimes it’s a background check fee. Other times, it’s buying a gift card or crypto to complete a task.

These fake hiring managers sound legit. They’ll email you contracts, logos and messages from fake HR reps. But once you send that payment? They vanish. The job never existed. And your money isn’t coming back.

📈 The investment tip

You get a DM from someone talking up a hot opportunity. Crypto, stocks or some new “AI coin” is about to explode. They might claim to be a well-known investor or financial adviser. The pitch sounds smart, like they know what they’re doing.

Sometimes it’s a one-on-one message. Other times, it’s a whole group chat hyping it up. But it always ends the same way: You put money in, and then the coin tanks or disappears. It was a setup from the start.

Pro tip: If your financial adviser has anime in their profile pic, maybe sit this one out.

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Even Queen Bey ain’t safe

You’d think Beyoncé’s secret files crew would be protected by a force field of security, privacy settings and Sasha Fierce energy. But nope, real-world crime doesn’t care how many Grammys you have.

Right before her recent Atlanta show, thieves smashed the glass of a rental Jeep used by her crew and made off with two suitcases. Inside? A laptop, five thumb drives filled with unreleased, watermarked music, confidential tour plans and one very important piece of tech. 

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: That 🙂 emoji? It’s now seen as fake nice. Skip it. Use 😃, 😁 or 🤗 instead. Unless, of course, you’re aiming for “I’m smiling, but I hate you.”

🏝️ Tropic like it’s hot: Mark Zuckerberg just expanded his Kauai compound to over 2,300 acres, making him one of Hawaii’s biggest landowners. The property includes known Native Hawaiian burial sites, which are being preserved, but locals worry about what might stay hidden under NDA-heavy construction. His $300M+ Hawaiian fortress also includes macadamia-fed cattle that moo in cursive. 

The Genius Act

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Are rules about to tame crypto’s wild west? Here’s what the new law means.

By the numbers

$2,000 a week

What some parents pay for digital detox summer camps to help kids kick their screen addiction. Spoiler: It’s just regular camp activities. The real headache? Fixing their messed-up sleep schedules and actually getting them to talk to each other. Unplugging is way harder than it looks.

🍏 Plug in a better camera: If your iPad runs iPadOS 17 or later and has a USB-C port, you can use an external webcam (34% off). Why bother? Way better video quality, especially in low light. No drivers or extra software needed. Just plug it in and go.

How to ace your AI job interview

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Your next job interview might be with a bot. AI recruiters are screening candidates, here’s how to impress the algorithm.

AI faked her daughter: A Florida woman lost $15K after scammers used AI to mimic her daughter’s voice in a fake car crash call. They even called back asking for $30K more, claiming her daughter lost a baby in the accident. Her real daughter was at work the whole time. Have a secret family code word to thwart these crimes. Next up, AI is doing method acting on Broadway.

Too many deals in the kitchen

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🛒 Stuff that just works: Hit up my Amazon storefront to see the kitchen staples I swear by (my order history proves it).

Stolen data for sale

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A startup is cashing in by selling your stolen data to debt collectors, lawyers, and rivals. It’s legal … sort of. Android phones detect earthquakes, Mark Zuckerberg expands his secret Hawaii compound, and cottage cheese has a viral moment.

Charlie Chaplin’s in theaters after 100 years

Charlie Chaplin famously rereleased his 1925 silent classic The Gold Rush in 1942 with new narration and edits, believing it would connect better with modern audiences. Now, thanks to film archivists and AI, the silent masterpiece has been painstakingly restored. The 4K version just premiered at Cannes and hit 250 theaters worldwide.

🧨 Microsoft’s China copilot: Microsoft’s finally getting rid of communist China-based engineers on U.S. military cloud projects after a ProPublica report triggered a Pentagon freak-out. Turns out so-called “digital escorts,” security-cleared U.S. babysitters, didn’t understand the tech they were supposed to be safeguarding. Now the defense secretary’s ordered a full supply chain scrub. Microsoft swears it disclosed everything. The military is now triple-checking everything for leaks and spies.

💻 Track your Windows 11 laptop: If it ever gets lost or stolen, Find my device can help. First, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Location and make sure Location services is On. Then head to Settings > Privacy & security > Find my device and turn it On. To locate it later, visit account.microsoft.com/devices.

Kim Komando Show

Amazon packages pile up on her porch  — July 19th, Hour 1

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What if your house became an Amazon warehouse? Listener Karen from California is stuck in this nightmare. Plus, AI superintelligence, Beyoncé’s secret music files stolen, and how a bad Yelp review could cost you thousands.

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💸 Upgrade to an Instagram business profile: A professional account lets you run ads and see what’s working, including your top posts and the best time to share. Already using a personal account for your biz? No need to start over. Just go to Profile > Edit profile > Switch to professional account and follow the steps.

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