5 text scams going around right now
It’s not just clingy exes popping into your messages out of the blue. Scammers are ramping up phony texts across the country. You can make the texts stop (more below). Here are the latest ones making the rounds and the red flags to watch for:
😱 This AI voice assistant sounds human: Startup Sesame is working on AI that’s nothing like Alexa or Siri. There are two models right now where you can have a full-on conversation naturally, complete with pauses and laughs like a human. Take a sec and try it now. It’s wild.
$750,000
How much TikTok star Khaby Lame rakes in per branded post. The twist? He doesn’t say a word. All he does is silently react to so-called “life hacks” with shrugs and funny facial expressions. It’s things like this that make me wonder if I picked the wrong career path.
What really happens when you delete a text?
We’ve all had those texts we want to delete — from bad jokes and typos, to (gulp) sending something sensitive to the wrong contact. Can you really ever remove a text from your life? Is a deleted text really deleted for good? It’s complicated.
🚘 It’s a car, not a phone: Volkswagen gets it. After plenty of complaints, VW is ditching haptic sliders and touch controls and bringing back physical buttons. Climate control, hazard lights and volume will return to good old-fashioned knobs. The change starts rolling out next year.
50,000
How many orders Edgar’s Bakery gets each year for its famous three-layer strawberry cake. Social media swears it’s the best cake in the world. The catch? You can actually make it yourself. Here’s the recipe. It doesn’t look that tough. (Jan, I hope you’re paying attention ’cause that lemon cake was awesome!) Speaking of … What do you call a sad strawberry? A blueberry. So good!
779% increase
Mentions of AI in corporate earnings calls last year. The hot topic: “digital labor.” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff believes today’s leaders will be the last to manage a human-only workforce. It’s no wonder 72% of Americans view AI negatively and almost a third fear fewer jobs. No turning back now.
❄️ This blows me away: LG’s upcoming Artcool AI Air can detect a room’s layout and direct cool air to the people it senses. It knows when a window is open and will automatically switch to energy-saving mode. Plus, it’s got a sleek black mirror finish. Price and ETA? Both TBA.
“A lot of people want it”: That’s what President Trump says about TikTok. ByteDance has until April 5 to sell the app. Rumored U.S. buyers in the running include Oracle, Perplexity AI, a group led by real estate mogul Frank McCourt and Reddit’s cofounder Alexis Ohanian, and maybe MrBeast. The price? Over $400 billion and definitely out of my budget.