Hello, friend, it’s Wednesday! A YouTuber bought a $38,999 prefab 19-by-20-foot house on Amazon, and the unboxing video just hit 7.5 million views. His gripe? There are no outlets. He can’t plug in anything. Now he’s singing, “Watt is love? Baby, don’t hertz me. Don’t hertz me, n‑ohm more.”

🦸 Want to be my superhero? Just share this email with one friend who’ll enjoy it as much as you do. Your unique referral link at the end of each newsletter is your superpower. One click, one share — that’s all it takes to help our community soar. Thanks for being awesome! — Kim

📹 Watch: On YouTube

⏱️ Daily Tech Update: Latest credit card scams

💡 Digital Life Hack: Get cash for sharing your opinions

Whew, the election’s over. The onslaught of robocalls and texts is over, too … right? Nope.

There are fewer political calls and messages, sure, but there are always scammers and spammers. It may be easier for these creeps to get a hold of us now that our phones aren’t constantly lighting up with election-related notifications.

Today, I’m sharing how to spot scammers faster and the privacy tool I used to cut my spam calls to zero. That’s right — I get none at all.

If you see these, don’t answer

It’s surprisingly easy to spoof phone numbers. A scammer can make it look like they’re calling from your bank or doctor’s office so you’re more likely to hand over your info.

Here’s what they definitely don’t want me to tell you: They spoof numbers from some area codes more than others. If you get a call from one of these area codes and you don’t recognize the number, let it go to voicemail:

• 216: Cleveland, Ohio
• 469: Dallas, Texas
• 657: La Palma, California
• 332, 347, 646: New York City
• 218: Northern Minnesota
• 712: Western Iowa

‘Any specific numbers I should watch for?’

Glad you asked. Certain spam numbers can get past your carrier. Give these a read so you’re better at spotting cybercriminals’ tricks:

• (865) 630⁠-⁠4266: This one’s tied to a Wells Fargo scam telling you your account has been locked.
• (469) 709⁠-⁠7630: Callers from this number will use your name and say you have a package awaiting delivery.
• (805) 637⁠-⁠7243: Hooray! You won a prize from Publishers Clearing House … not.
• (858) 605⁠-⁠9622: Someone’s trying to tell you your bank accounts have been hacked. (They haven’t.)
• (312) 339⁠-⁠1227: This one has a ton of scams associated with it, from weight loss supplements to failed package delivery attempts.
• (917) 540⁠-⁠7996: It’s an automated robocaller advertising any number of products.
• (347) 437⁠-⁠1689: Tax and sweepstakes scams are common for this number.
• (301) 307⁠-⁠4601: This one pretends to be your local post office.
• (878) 877⁠-⁠1402: More “frozen debit card” claims.
• (202) 221⁠-⁠7923: “Kelsey” calls with info about student loan forgiveness initiatives.

So, what can you do about this?

• The obvious one: Put yourself on the Do Not Call Registry. It’s worth doing, but just keep in mind it’ll only make a dent in the number of calls you receive … or have no impact at all.
• Block numbers: On an iPhone, you can block a caller by hitting the Info button (lowercase i icon) next to the call, then tapping Block this Caller. On Android, select the call in your Phone app, tap the three dots > Block/report spam. Blocking a number, though, doesn’t do much; spammers will just fire up a new one.
• Report it to the feds: Go to ftc.gov. Select Report to the FTC > Report Now > Report an annoying call. Maybe they’ll check it out … or maybe not.

You need to get to the root of the problem

Did you know spammers buy your phone number and personal details from sketchy data brokers and people-search sites? That’s how they get your info — and it’s why your phone keeps blowing up with spam calls and texts.

Here’s the solution: Incogni. It works tirelessly to track down all those shady sites where your personal info is listed and submits removal requests on your behalf. No more digging through website after website or dealing with complicated opt-out processes.

Since I signed up for Incogni, the spam calls and messages have completely stopped. I even signed up my husband, Barry, and his spam counts disappeared, too. Incogni’s Family & Friends plan is a total game-changer. It covers you and four others for one unbeatable price.

Let me put it this way: Those sites deliberately make removing your data a nightmare. Incogni has saved me at least 471 hours and 45 minutes of work — that’s 20 full days of my life, plus no more spammy calls wasting my time.

Trust me, it’s worth every penny. Don’t wait until your phone number is sold again. Sign up today and reclaim your privacy.

👉 Stop spam calls and texts right now. I negotiated a 60% discount on Incogni just for you. If you don’t like the results, Incogni comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

⏰ Don’t miss out: If you used Cash App between Aug. 23, 2018, and Aug. 20, 2024, you’ve got less than a week to claim your share of a $15 million settlement. You could get up to $2,500. Submit your claim online by Monday, Nov. 18.

🎬 Sorry, we’re out of business: Thousands of Redbox DVD vending machines are sitting abandoned, and people are grabbing whatever they can. Recent Reddit posts include a person who scooped up 99 movies, another who set up an entire kiosk in their house and a guy who bought eight machines to sell for scrap.

The Beatles’ newest hit: “Now and Then” is the first AI-assisted song to earn a Grammy nomination. Released in November 2023, “Now and Then” was restored using a type of AI called “stem separation,” which cleaned up the 60-year-old, low-fidelity demo originally recorded by John Lennon. The result? A finished master recording. Ah, there’s hope for me yet to win a Grammy.

Bad idea: Mozilla has collected more than 30,000 hours of voice recordings from volunteers worldwide. Its Common Voice project is a free public dataset anyone can use for training AI software in 180 languages. Here’s the catch: Mozilla won’t say how or who will use your voice. Don’t add yours.

Out the door, dinosaur: Microsoft is ending support for its Windows Mail, Calendar and People apps. Starting Dec. 31, 2024, you’ll lose the ability to send and receive emails through Mail. Microsoft wants everyone on its new Outlook app. Here’s the official exporting guide for your Mail emails and contacts. FYI: The Outlook app is slow, so you might want to switch to a different email client altogether. Thunderbird is a good free option.

🔥 Fire and burn risk recall alert: Over 500,000 Govee Life and Govee Smart electric space heaters are being recalled, with the model numbers H7130, H7130101, H7131, H7132, H7133, H7134 and H7135. If you’ve got one, stop using it ASAP and get a refund.

🥊 Night-night, th-leep tight: YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson’s boxing match is happening this week after months of delays. The odds are favoring Tyson, at plus‑190. Paul’s a lot younger, but he’s never fought in the heavyweight division. Who knows? His big brother is kicking butt (literally) in the WWE.

Keep your intimacy wrapped up: The makers of a new app, Camdom, call it a “digital condom” against revenge porn. Camdom blocks all cameras and microphones when two phones are placed together and the app is activated. If one person tries to sneak a pic, an alarm buzzes. Better latex than never.

🫡 These will help you get your shlife together.

• Ever heard of “text neck?” Staring at a computer can cause it, too. Get a monitor stand riser and fix your posture.
• The sun is off partying in Cabo for the winter. Use a sunrise lamp (18% off) to help you wake up.
• This cube timer is gravity-sensing so you can just flip it over to start it. How cool is that?
• Save some trees and get a reusable notebook (15% off). Take a damp cloth to the pages and it’s like nothing ever happened.
• Pop these mop slippers on and clean your floors “Risky Business”‑style.

When your luggage is MIA at the airport carousel: Apple now lets you share your AirTags’ location with your airline (or anyone else). Open the Find My app, tap on your lost item, then tap Share Item Location > Continue > Share Link. If your bag is found, stop sharing its location anytime; otherwise, the link will expire in seven days.

Microsoft Edge can’t take a hint: The browser is importing your Chrome browsing data and tabs without asking. Luckily, you can stop it. When you see the pop-up from Edge to Enhance your browsing experience with Copilot in Microsoft Edge, click the tiny white X in the upper right corner and close it. (It’s tiny — you might have to squint to see it.)

ChatGPT, find me customers: Use AI to find out what people are saying online so you can better target your company’s ads. Take a lesson from Shake Shack: They used a bot to scan 80,000 Reddit threads about chicken sandwiches, narrowed it down to the 30 most active and ran ads for their new sandwich. It worked — sales were 31% higher.

🖊️ Ever write checks? Use a pen (4-pack for $10) with specially formulated ink that gets trapped in paper, helping to prevent criminal check washing and other document alteration.

Your revenue depends on it: It’s not too late to learn everything you can about AI in your business. Grab NetSuite’s “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning” for FREE.* You don’t need to be a CFO to get the guide, btw.

I’ve been using Distraction Control (circled in red above) in the latest version of Safari on my Mac. It really works! It lets you hide whatever you want on a webpage — images, headlines and videos. If it’s distracting, make it disappear with a click. ✨

Speaking of manuals, when you need one, you can always check the support pages of the manufacturer’s website. If not, ManualsLib has a big collection of free, downloadable manuals for various products.

You can also try this pro trick: Search online using precise terms, like “[product name] + [model number] + PDF manual.” Adding “site:[manufacturer’s domain]” can narrow your results to the official source (for example, “site:sony.com Sony A7IV manual”). Or just ask your favorite AI bot for an answer.

Before you go, you owe it to yourself to check out Incogni. I’ve been singing their praise for some time. Now you can add three phone numbers, email addresses and physical addresses to one account so it’ll catch all the various profiles floating around. Love that. Use this link for 60% off an annual plan.

🙏 Thanks for letting me in your inbox. It’s an honor I don’t take lightly. I’ll see you back here tomorrow with another issue of the best newsletter in the USA. If you think so, too, share it with a pal. I appreciate you! — Kim