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New scam trick: Fake sites that look too good
Midjourney
Here’s the newest con in town: Scammers are using AI to clone legit websites, and they’re scary good at it. I’m talking about perfect logos, identical layouts, right down to the fonts and buttons.
The crazy part is that they spin these sites up in minutes. Then, they shove them to the top of Google, where you search for your bank, power company or even a government site. One wrong click, and boom, you’ve handed over your login, your info, your identity.
🚨 Spot the fakes
Want to outsmart these scammers? Slow down and study this list I put together for you. Note: Just so the bad links are not clickable, I used the word dot in the URL.
- Check for funky URLs: If your bank’s site is usually mybank(dot)com, don’t fall for mybɑnk(dot)com (that’s a Latin “a,” not an English one).
- Look for sneaky swaps: Lowercase L’s and capital I’s (l vs I) can look the same, but googIe(dot)com is not google(dot)com.
- Watch for extra words or dashes: If the site is verizon(dot)com, skip anything like verizon-help-login(dot)com or secure-verizon123(dot)net.
- Spot the weird endings: Real companies usually use .com or .org. Be suspicious of .click, .online, .xyz or .info tacked onto legit-looking names, like netflix-account-support(dot)xyz.
- Beware of doubled-up letters: Scammers repeat letters to fool your brain – amaazon(dot)com, netflfix(dot)com, paypaal(dot)com. If it looks off, it is.
- Ignore random security warnings in the URL: Some scam sites toss in words like “secure” or “SSL” to look official; for example, secure-update-google(dot)com. Nope.
- Check for missing letters: Typos cost you. Make sure you’re not clicking on instgram(dot)com or facbook-login(dot)com.
- Don’t trust subdomains: Scam links might start with something familiar such as amazon.fakeupdate(dot)com or wells-fargo.loginverify(dot)net. The real domain is at the end, check it.
🔖 Don’t trust Google search
Instead, build a bookmark list for your important accounts: your bank, credit card, cell provider, insurance, utilities, all of it. Open the real site once, click that little star in your browser, and save it. From then on, use your bookmarks, not search results.
Or use the official apps from the App Store or Google Play. You’ll never wonder if you’re logging into a trap.
🔥 These scams are spreading like wildfire. Use the icons below to share this important information with your family and friends, especially the ones who think the cloud is a weather report.
29 minutes, 3 seconds
That’s how long Vitomir Maričić held his breath, obliterating the world record. Fueled by 10 minutes of pure oxygen, the freediver stayed under nearly five minutes longer than the previous champ. That’s double a dolphin, close to a seal and just enough to find out who lives in a pineapple under the sea. (SpongeBob SquarePants)
📚 Make Kindle page turns clearer: Ever flip a page and wonder if you went forward or back? Turn on the swipe effect, so it’s obvious. Tap on a page, select the Aa (font) icon, go to the More tab, scroll down to Page Turn Animation and toggle it on.
🧬 Cancer vaccine: How about some great news? University of Florida scientists made an mRNA vaccine that cranks up the immune system like a rave DJ, and boom, tumors in mice shrank or disappeared. Pair it with immunotherapy drugs, and it’s even stronger. This is a step toward a universal cancer vaccine. Human trials are next. I hate cancer.
🤳🏼 Oops, she did it again: Britney Spears posted a nude photo on Instagram, just boots and a strategically placed rose emoji, and yep, social media exploded. The next day, she followed it with a raw post about her kids, past trauma and trying to heal. Some are whispering a comeback, others say it screams therapy. I think it’s just so sad.
You gave a game. They gave a nightmare: Nearly 400 families are suing Roblox, claiming the company ignored predators stalking kids. One mom says her 11-year-old was groomed on Roblox, lured on Discord, then raped by a 20-year-old pretending to be 15. He’s in prison now. If you’ve got kiddos, this is your nudge to check in. Ask your kids who they’re talking to online, not just what games they’re playing.
🎂 10 out of 10: YouTube opened the site a decade ago. To celebrate, YouTube Music just rolled out “taste match,” a Spotify Blend clone that fuses your questionable taste with your friends’ also questionable tastes. Fun fact: The YT app hit 125M paying subs with a 300M-track library.
AI browser + Reddit = Theft: There’s a terrifying flaw in Perplexity’s AI Comet Browser. Hidden text in Reddit posts can trick the AI into following malicious commands that give hackers access to your email, banking and cloud accounts. Basically, you could lose your entire savings just by scrolling memes. Wow. Make sure you get the Comet update or else you’ll be telling a tail as old as time.
2.5 million
That’s how many people are stuck on the wait list for Raya. The dating app’s a hit with celebs and athletes, but you have to apply, and some people wait years to get in. And if you do? No screenshots, no bragging about who you’ve seen (paywall link). You might find a cougar or maybe a cheetah.
🚨 Google alert: Hackers sent out 115,000 phishing invites to 13,500 orgs that use the Google Classroom platform. They pitched SEO services, then pushed people to WhatsApp to rope them into scams. Reminder: Always verify the sender, especially when they try to redirect you off-platform. That’s a red flag every single time.
Add subtitles to YouTube videos: They’ll help you reach a bigger audience. On desktop, go to YouTube Studio and select Subtitles on the left. Choose your video, Set the language and Confirm. Then click Add under Subtitles. Upload a file or type them out manually. When you’re ready, hit Publish.
🏈 Benched: Before you get all excited that Yahoo Sports is launching a free, ad-supported streaming channel about sports, know the fine print. They’re shows about the NFL, NBA, MLB and more. Nope, not the actual games. Let me tell you, there’s such a gap between men’s and women’s sports. The difference is nuts! 🥜
Touch screen terror: Volkswagen ditched real steering wheel buttons for chic haptic ones. Now, they’re getting sued because people say the buttons are too sensitive, like “crash your car while parking” sensitive, accelerating unintentionally after accidental brushes. VW quietly switched back to real buttons but not before several garages and hands got wrecked.
😓 Code of silence: This is so sad. Sophie, a 29-year-old policy analyst, died by suicide after months of troubling private chats (paywall link) with an AI “therapist.” It knew her plan. It didn’t tell anyone. There aren’t any mandatory reporting laws for bots, yet, but lawmakers are starting to ask whether your chatbot should call for help before it suggests journaling.
4 years
That’s how much prison time one disgruntled developer is getting for building an IT doomsday device. 55-year-old Davis Lu planted a self-destruct code at Eaton Corp. that locked out thousands of users the moment his name was deleted from the employee directory. There’s quiet quitting, and then there’s quiet ctrl + alt + deleting.
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🕶️ Talk to the wrist: Meta’s new smart glasses, called Hypernova, are coming in September for about $800. They’ve got a tiny screen in the lens for things like texts, maps and photos, no phone in hand. You control it with a wristband that reads your gestures like magic. It’s all fun and games until you swipe left on your grandma.
58%
That’s how many American homes are too messy to charge an EV. We could unlock millions of home chargers if folks just cleaned out their garages. Instead, most are less “charging station” and more “where clutter goes to die,” hoarding broken printers, forgotten hobbies and a suspicious number of extension cords.