Scams are getting personal – Don't get fooled by fakes
Callie Smith from Virginia was excited to see an Olivia Rodrigo concert. The $700 price tag? Not so much. Luckily, she found an Instagram account selling two-for-one tickets to the show.
Callie did a quick Google search and even video-chatted with the seller. Feeling comfortable, she sent $700 through Apple Cash. Instead of sending tickets, the seller immediately blocked her. She lost out on the show, and, thanks to Apple Cash’s lack of fraud protections, Callie lost her money, too.
Alexa as an alarm clock: Amazon’s latest Echo model, the Echo Spot, displays the time and weather above a simple speaker. It’s 44% off right now, too — a great price if you want one. Plus, with this alarm clock, you can leave your smartphone in the kitchen for even better sleep.
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Say “No way” to Waymo: A Phoenix police officer pulled over a self-driving Waymo veering into oncoming traffic. Waymo says the vehicle was confused by the construction signs. Nobody got hurt. Check out the video here.
Finding stolen cars on Facebook
You can never be too careful when it comes to your stuff. I suggest putting an Airtag or Tile in your car so you’re always covered. I did it!
Your network is a target for hackers
“That would never happen to me.” That’s probably what these people thought.
And don’t forget the countless other stories of home security cameras being hacked.
🐭 Remote work warning: Companies are rooting out mouse jigglers, devices that make it look like you’re online and working when you’re not. Surveillance systems identify repetitive cursor movements and keyboard clicks, as well as scrape screen images (paywall link). If you’re using this stuff, stop.
🛰️ Something to ruin your sleep: Hackers’ newest target is outer space, where they could disable satellite GPS signals for airplanes, boats and cars … or take down all satellites providing the internet. The right mind could even corrupt planetary probe data, giving inaccurate atmospheric or water readings on Mars. Yikes.
🔊 Old Hollywood returns: AI company ElevenLabs is bringing dead celeb voices to its Reader app. Soon, James Dean, Burt Reynolds or Judy Garland will voice your next audiobook. The app can turn PDFs and other text formats into voiceovers, too.
Recall alert: Over 900,000 Hatch Rest first-generation baby sound machine adapters are being recalled, because the adapter housing can come off, exposing power prongs. If yours has model number CYAP05-050100U stamped on it, get a free replacement here.
🚫 Teenage mutant bullies: Kids at Great Valley Middle School in Pennsylvania created fake TikTok accounts to impersonate their teachers, posting lewd pics, racist memes and homophobic statements (paywall link). They were suspended. It’s got to be so hard for a teacher today.