Zapped back to life: After years of crippling rheumatoid arthritis, Lynn Milam got her life back thanks to a lima bean–size nerve stimulator implanted in her neck. It zaps her vagus nerve once a day, dialing down the immune system’s overreaction. The FDA just approved it, meaning thousands of drug-resistant patients could see real relief, and maybe hug their kids again. Love this.
Meet your financial evil twin
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A man named William Woods spent years trying to prove he was … himself. Why? Because another man, Matthew David Keirans, stole his Social Security number and birth certificate, built a whole new life with them and lived under Woods’ identity for decades.
The guy really committed to the bit. Keirans got caught only after DNA tests exposed the fraud, and now he’s in prison.
Recently, a woman used my husband’s name and his SSN with her address to get a set of new dentures in Tampa, Florida. Maybe she looks like a guy named Barry?
Law enforcement is also seeing an uptick in kids’ Social Security numbers being used to build fake “Franken-identities.” Why? Children don’t have credit histories yet. By the time families discover it, the synthetic persona has credit cards, loans and debt all tied back to an innocent name.
🔧 Here’s how it works
Criminals stitch together real and fake info, say your SSN with a made-up address, and nurture that “new person” into a believable identity. They start small (a prepaid card or phone plan), then scale up to big loans or credit lines.
When the debt piles up, the synthetic identity vanishes, but creditors chase the real person behind the stolen SSN. Banks call this the fastest-growing type of financial crime.
🚨 Signs of synthetic identity theft
- Strange addresses where you’ve never lived pop up on your credit report.
- New accounts or loans show up in your name, but the contact info (phone, email) isn’t yours.
- Collection calls demand payment for debts you never took out.
- Mismatch alerts from banks say your SSN doesn’t match your name or DOB, even though you typed it correctly.
👉 If any of these hit your radar, it could mean someone’s cooking up a “Franken-identity” with your info.
That’s why I use NordProtect, a sponsor of my radio show. It monitors your most sensitive info like your Social Security number, phone number, email and mailing address, then alerts you the moment something suspicious pops up.
Think: Someone uses your name to try to take out a loan, open a credit card or file for insurance. If it happens, NordProtect doesn’t just notify you, they guide you step-by-step to shut it down fast.
📸 Add Instagram highlights secretly: Create highlights without posting to your story. Open the app, tap your profile button, then the (+) in the top right. Select Story, pick a photo and hit the arrow at the bottom. Under Close Friends, choose someone who doesn’t follow you back and tap Share. Then hit Add to Highlights.
🐭 Mickey needs the cash: Disney+ and Hulu are raising prices again starting Oct. 21. Ads-on plans jump to $11.99/month. Premiums hit $18.99. Even ESPN Select sneaks up to $12.99. Oh, and Hulu’s getting folded into Disney+ soon anyway. Just a reminder, that’s three price hikes in three years.
CapCut’s hidden side: Think CapCut’s just a video-editing app? Nope, it’s TikTok’s little cousin without seat belts. No parental controls, weak age checks, and kids can run into strangers or even see posts with phone numbers. Docs say it fuels oversharing and self-esteem hits. If your kid’s using it, check their settings, peek at their uploads and talk about what not to share.
🦠 Fake downloads scam: Hackers rigged Google and Bing with fake GitHub pages for Mac apps like LastPass, Robinhood, 1Password, Audacity and Davinci Resolve. Instead of software, users got “Atomic” malware stealing passwords and crypto. The pages redirected to macprograms-pro[.]com before being pulled, but one still lingers. Pro tip: Only download apps from official sites or the App Store.
Big TikTok news: Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that officially puts TikTok’s “sale” in motion. Word is that ByteDance will drop its control and the U.S. will lease TikTok’s algorithm so it stays “American enough” to keep running.
🪓 He DoorDashed zip ties, bleach and a hatchet: In Sweetwater, Texas, a delivery driver got an order that didn’t exactly scream “movie night.” Instead of shrugging it off, they called the police and probably saved a life. When officers arrived, 42-year-old Neil Cooper had barricaded himself inside a motel room, claimed he was armed and refused to come out. A hostage managed to escape before negotiations began, and Cooper eventually surrendered. He’s now facing kidnapping and drug charges. Here’s the twist: The hostage was also arrested on an outstanding warrant after failing to identify themselves. Wow.
🍊 Fruit ninja: Coca-Cola has teamed up with MIT to save … oranges. Seriously. A bacterial disease is wrecking citrus trees, and Coke’s using AI to fast-track a cure. If they don’t figure it out, orange juice could be basically extinct in 25 years. The project’s called “Save the Orange.” Yes, that’s real. I’m rooting for juice. Your future breakfast might just be toast.
📱 Scratchgate is here: iPhone 17 Pro owners already started posting battle scars within 24 hours of launch. Apparently, the anodized aluminum frame scratches super easily, revealing shiny silver underneath. YouTubers warn that the camera bump chips, too. Here’s a solution: Buy a $13 case or embrace the “relic guitar” vibe.
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Clever scam spreading: Venmo, Zelle and Apple Cash are being used for the “accidental deposit” trick. Scammers send you money (using stolen cards, of course), then say oops before begging you to send it back. If you do, your bank later reverses the original payment, and you’re out real cash. PSA: Never send money back to strangers. Let the app deal with it.
🚨 Insurance info spill: Hackers dumped 150,000 American Income Life insurance records online. Names, emails, birthdays, even policy details, all out there in the wild. Normally this stuff gets sold quietly, but giving it away for free? That’s like handing out candy to every scammer in the neighborhood. Expect a wave of phishing, fake claims and identity theft soon.
⚡ Secret SIM bust: The Secret Service just shut down a rogue telecom network in NYC. Think abandoned apartments stuffed with 300 SIM servers, 100,000 SIM cards, illegal guns, and to top it all off, 80 grams of coke. Investigators say the system could’ve spammed 30 million texts a minute, crippled 911 and blacked out cell towers near the U.N. Assembly.
⚡ Apple Pay’s “free money”: You have to see this TikTok of a woman crying because she thought Apple Pay was Apple’s way of giving her money. She thought every tap, every time she accepted cookies and every app she downloaded earned her cash. I bet she thinks American Express is a train. Watch the short video here. Real or not? Let me know when you rate the newsletter at the end.
🛏️ Fake sleep science: Turns out sleep trackers are only 65% accurate at guessing your sleep stages. They’re basically playing a slightly smarter version of “Are You Asleep Yet?” based on your wrist twitches. Helpful? Maybe. Lab-grade reliable? Not even close. Still, 1 in 3 adults say they aren’t getting enough sleep, which explains why we keep buying the devices.
Chips off the ol’ motherboard: Nvidia just tossed $5B at Intel to build next-gen chips, mashing Intel CPUs with Nvidia GPUs for better PCs and AI gear. Intel’s had a rough patch, but this? Might be the glow-up it needs. Their stock jumped 28%. All they needed was a rich friend with a vision board. Don’t we all?
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🥶 Not the ad fridge: Samsung swore they had no plans to put ads on smart fridges’ screens. We know that song and dance. Cut to now and a new software update turned into full-blown Cover Screen promotions. Samsung says, “The ads are added value.” Talk about having big meatballs. At this rate, I’ll need a pop-up blocker in the produce drawer.
TikTok gets a chaperone: Instead of a ban, TikTok’s getting a weird fix. ByteDance will lease its algorithm (paywall link) to a U.S.-controlled company. Oracle handles the “don’t spy on Americans” part, and the app on your phone? Works the same. No re-download needed, no sudden disappearance.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Facebook, save interesting posts for later. Tap the three-dot menu on a post, select Save post and find them anytime under the Saved section.