39,000 more vehicles recalled: The latest round includes Volvo C40 electric crossovers, Mercedes-Benz E 350 and 450 models, Ram 1500s, and the Ford F-150 Lightning. Instead of wading through lists, download the free SaferCar app that alerts you to recalls as they happen.
The crypto investment scam that’s all over social media
I’m all about using AI to get stuff done. No kidding, I use ChatGPT every day to shortcut planning and organize my work and my life.
You know who else loves AI? Cybercriminals. A new scam powered by deepfakes is all over social media. Too many people have fallen for it and lost millions of dollars in the process. I’ve got the dirty details so you don’t become a victim, too.
It’s not Elon
The tactic is called Nomani (yeah, that’s “no money”) and combines AI video, malicious ads on social media and email phishing. It started spiking in May and grew 335% by the second half of 2024. From May to November, ESET Cybersecurity says they blocked about 100 new scam URLs a day, adding up to 85,000 sites.
It starts with a video of Elon Musk or some other celebrity, politician or business leader endorsing a crypto investment on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or X. Some videos look like news broadcasts. Others are “exclusive” interviews or look more like an infomercial. There’s always a famous face you’ll recognize.
Usually, the accounts posting this stuff have tons of followers. The graphics are snazzy, the info is compelling, and, wow, they promise a lot of tremendous gains with no risk. (You smell the scam, right?)
Say you fall for the bait and click over to their websites. At best, you’re handing your info over to someone highly skilled at tricking people out of their money. At worst? The site itself is infected with money- or info-stealing malware.
It gets nastier
Most of these tricks end with an “investment manager” calling to walk you through the process of transferring all your hard-earned money right to them. They pretend they’re helping you put it into a crypto investment account. Nope.
If you’ve already fallen for Nomani, you’re at even more risk. Scammers are going after victims a second time, pretending to be law enforcement trying to help recover your lost funds. Just awful.
Here’s what scammers don’t want you to know
It’s easier than ever to fake famous faces because of how much real video exists online. With affordable or free software, scammers no longer need advanced skills or a huge budget to create deepfakes. AI tools do the heavy lifting, stitching together eerily realistic fakes.
Lost dog finds her way home
Nine days after going missing, 4-year-old German shepherd mix Athena rang her owner’s doorbell. It was Christmas Eve at 2:30 a.m. — a holiday miracle! The Green Cove Springs, Florida fam searched as far as Jacksonville and Saint Augustine.
5 times more data
Collected by holiday apps compared to regular paid apps. The holidays are over, but those festive apps are still gifting your data to anyone willing to pay. Monopoly Go! is the worst offender. Here’s the full list. Ditch ‘em.
🇨🇳 Communist China hacked the U.S. Treasury: They stole a key from a third-party cybersecurity firm called BeyondTrust (ironic name) on Dec. 8 to take a good, long look and steal a ton of unclassified docs. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI are still sussing out how bad the breach was. China denies everything, of course.
1929
Works from this year will enter the public domain on Jan. 1. Included are Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail,” along with “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets” and “Thimble Theater,” which features Popeye and Olive Oyl (and her brother, Castor Oyl). Public domain means they’re not protected by copyright, so anyone can use, copy, distribute or change them. Get ready for some weird Popeye videos, folks. Food for thought: Wouldn’t it be ironic if Popeyes’ chicken was fried in olive oil?
Your very own Rosey
Nvidia, the $3 trillion AI chip giant, is betting on robotics as the next big thing. Next year, they’ll launch the Jetson Thor, a new “brain” designed for robots. The Jetson line includes this teeny-tiny AI computer. The robotics biz is expected to jump from $78 billion to $165 billion by 2029. I want one! Do you?
$100 million
The value of a one-square-mile parcel in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park that’s now protected from development. The state has considered selling the plot — a migration path for pronghorn and elk — to luxury developers. The nonprofit Grand Teton National Park Foundation raised about one-third of the cash; the rest is from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
🐷 Ham radio is a contact sport: There’s a huge potential break in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 mystery. The plane vanished without a trace in 2014. Maritime robotics company Ocean Infinity is using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR), aka ham radio tech, to track flight paths in the southern Indian Ocean. The search area for the wreckage is the size of Connecticut. I spoke with the person leading this theory on my podcast.
Talk about heartwarming: Brianna Cry surprised her grandparents with a trip to Paris for Christmas. The TikTok video of the surprise has over 600,000 views. The couple adopted Brianna, so she wanted to give back. They’re headed for the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles and a ballet at Palais Garnier opera house.
😳 I pass gas: Auto software provider Cariad leaked the location data for 800,000 electric vehicles. We’re talking owners’ names and the movements of politicians, cops and business big-shots driving Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda EVs — all wide open for months. They say nothing was accessed before they patched it, but I’m not buying it.
So bloody amazing: Robots have been helping surgeons for years. Now they’re leveling up just by watching videos. Bots from Johns Hopkins and Stanford can tie knots, suture wounds, pick up dropped needles and even work on animal cadavers. They could help fill the surgeon shortage that’s expected to hit up to 20,000 by 2036.
Keep this in mind: The 2025 predictions from the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center aren’t pretty. The cybercrime job market is booming, with postings for “software testers” all over the Dark Web. Get this: 12% of identity theft victims who contacted the nonprofit for help in 2024 shared thoughts about ending their lives because the impacts of the theft were so devastating. If this is ever you, do me a favor and call 988 or go here.
20 minutes
Of life gone for every cigarette smoked. Yikes! I still cannot believe there were ads in the 1940s that said, basically, cigarettes were good for you. A new study out of University College London found a pack of 20 cigarettes knocks 7 hours off a person’s life. Say you smoke 10 a day and quit on Jan. 1. By the end of the year, you’ve “earned back” 50 extra days. Now, that’s incredible motivation.
😤 Life savings, gone: Here’s another money scam making the rounds. Kay, 80, from Virginia transferred her money to a “secure account” after someone claiming to work for Wells Fargo called, saying her money was in danger. They drained her savings account of tens of thousands until nothing was left. If you get a call your money is at risk in some way, hang up. Call your bank directly using the number on the back of your card.
37% of Gen Z
Plan to skip the gym and use Ozempic instead to lose weight in the coming year. This is so sad. They think the medication is more effective than diet and exercise, but there are scary potential side effects, like nausea, stomach pain and even vision loss.
😴 A pill for sleep apnea: The FDA just approved the weight loss drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, marking the first-ever drug approved to directly treat the disorder. Originally developed for Type 2 diabetes, new trials show it works in patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea. Speaking of … what’s a Scandinavian with sleep apnea called? A Snore-wegian! (I heard you laugh!)
$200 million
The listing price for the 1.84-acre empty lot next to Jeff Bezos’ house in Miami. It’s in the “Billionaire Bunker” area of the Indian Creek neighborhood. The price is over seven times what the last owner paid in 2018 ($27.5 million). Hey, Jeff, how’d you like an amazing house in Phoenix?
YGTR (You Got That Right!): A Stanford study says abbreviations in texts make you come across as insincere. Sure, you might think you’re being laid-back, but others see it as being lazy. Bonus cringe: People who use abbreviations are less likely to get replies. So, if you’re being ghosted, maybe ditch the “IDK” and try a full sentence, just sayin’.