I was shocked by this stat the other day. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says identity theft–driven insurance fraud is projected to spike 49% by the end of 2025. Really, insurance fraud? You see, identity theft isn’t just about someone opening a store credit card or taking a car loan out in your name anymore. […]
Picture this. A farmer is out in the fields when his $300,000 John Deere tractor shuts off with an error code. He knows what’s wrong. But he can’t touch it. An authorized (pricey) technician must come to his farm, unlock the tractor’s operating system and fix it. You see, the farmer doesn’t own the right […]
Your smartwatch is great for counting steps and buzzing you when you’ve been sitting on your butt too long. But have you ever stopped to think where all that personal data is going? From sleep patterns to how stressed you are on a Tuesday afternoon, it’s all being logged in a digital diary. And guess […]
Alert: This article is a spoiler for Unknown Number: The High School Catfish on Netflix. Imagine you’re a high school girl. Your phone won’t stop buzzing. It’s not friendly DMs, texts or social media notifications. Instead, hundreds of cruel, anonymous messages flood in, calling you names, threatening you, turning your friends against you and even […]
Remember when robot vacuums were basically remote-control bumper cars with anxiety? They’d bounce around, get stuck under the couch and scare the cat. These days, they claim to do it all – vacuum, mop, empty themselves and learn your floor plan better than your dog has. Here’s the thing no one wants you to know: […]
Think Bluetooth is just for headphones and car calls? Think again. It’s one of the sneakiest ways apps track you, and most people have no clue it’s happening. Even when GPS is off, your phone is constantly “sniffing” for nearby devices like AirTags, smartwatches and fitness trackers. That’s normal. Here’s where it gets shady: Some […]
That’s me, virtually trying on Meta’s glasses on their website, doing my best Tom Cruise Risky Business impersonation. Spoiler, I didn’t buy them. These remind me of Google Glass. Those awkward $1,500 face computers from 2013 that made you look like a cyborg at brunch. They launched with a ton of hype and died just […]
When was the last time you logged into that old Gmail account or your photo storage app? If it’s been a while, don’t be shocked if all your stuff is gone for good. Most tech companies have policies that let them totally wipe out your account and everything in it if you haven’t signed in […]
You already know the usual scams. Romance, crypto, tech support, job offers, fake investments, and the list goes on. But what you might not realize is that a growing number of people behind these scams aren’t evil masterminds. They’re victims, too. Across Southeast Asia, scam compounds have become a massive underground industry. These operations run […]
Our phones hold everything: photos, texts, money apps, health info, even our bad selfies. Handing over access to your partner? That’s not just convenient. That’s trust on a whole new level. Some people think it’s the 2025 version of giving someone a house key. Others worry it’s a recipe for drama, or even the prequel […]
Ashley in Washington asks: “Kim, do I really need identity theft protection? I used to have LifeLock years ago and dumped it because they constantly were selling me other things. I heard you say on your radio show that you use NordProtect now. Why? How is any of this different than freezing your credit? Love […]
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, […]
This is insane. Like almost cartoon-villain-level shady. Say you’re trying to delete your personal information from some shady data broker’s website that’s selling your data to advertisers, marketing companies, stalkers, coworkers or anyone else with the money. But when you search for their opt-out page on Google? Nothing pops up on the results page. Did […]
Think your phone is just for calls, texts and scrolling? Think again. You’re carrying around a secret lab in your pocket. The accelerometer that flips your screen when you turn it? That’s what your fitness app uses to count steps. The barometer that helps your weather app? It can tell if you’ve climbed a flight […]
I’ll never forget the time I was in Paris, sitting at a café, staring down at a menu I couldn’t read. Out came Google Translate on my phone, and suddenly I thought, Wow the future is here. Fast-forward to this fall, and that “future” looks downright primitive compared to what Apple and Google are about […]
School is back in session, but here’s something no one told you at orientation: Your kids may have more eyes on them than just their teachers’. Even if you don’t have kids in school, you really need to know about this. A new study from UC San Diego uncovered what’s really going on with those […]
Here’s something used car dealers and private sellers won’t shout from the rooftops. The average new car has 1,400 to 1,500 semiconductor chips. And high-end EVs? Try 3,000. Those computer chips power everything from heated seats to emergency crash alerts. The problem: When the car’s network or software support ends, so do those fancy features. […]
In late November 1987, Nashville police got a call about a revolting stench on Charlotte Avenue. What they found under a dirt-floor crawl space shocked even the most hardened crime scene veterans: two decomposing bodies, buried and forgotten beneath a broken-down home. The address traced back to James Shaffer, a convicted rapist already serving time […]
Ever get a text that feels … a little too real? You know the ones: “Your account has been locked. Click here to verify.” Most of us roll our eyes and delete them. But the new generation of scams? They’re scarier and a whole lot smarter. 📱 Smishing goes high-tech In the past month, investigators […]
You know that little GPS icon that pops up when an app is using your location? That’s the polite part. The tip of the iceberg. The warm handshake before your phone whispers your every movement to Big Tech behind your back. Your phone has more than one way to know where you are. Cell towers, […]
