Security

How to know if your identity has already been stolen, and what to do right now

You don’t have to wait for disaster. These are the warning signs and the free checks that tell you whether someone is living as you.

Google’s AI gives strangers your phone number

A man’s phone rang for a month straight after Google’s AI handed his number to anyone who asked. Here’s the data broker pipeline that made it happen, and the only move that protects you.

The next big identity theft target isn’t your Social Security number. It’s your camera roll.

A passport pic on your phone sells for $600 on the dark web. Your photos contain GPS coordinates, faces, license plates and the inside of your house. The five photos to delete tonight.

Your car has been logging your texts, contacts, garage codes and home address. The free site that shows you exactly what’s in there.

Most cars sold since 2018 are basically smartphones with seats. And 8 out of 10 used cars still have prior owners’ data sitting inside. Punch in your VIN and see yours.

Texas says Netflix was spying on your kids. And selling it.

Texas sued Netflix for secretly tracking your family’s every click and handing the data to strangers. Here’s exactly what got collected, how dark patterns kept you hooked and what to do about it right now.

Your router got hacked. You don’t know it yet.

Your home Wi-Fi is the front door to everything you own online. Hackers know this. They’ve been quietly breaking into routers for months, watching everything you do. Here’s how to tell if yours is compromised.

‘Mom. He’s gone.’ A babymoon. A body. An $18,000 wire. And the cry for help wasn’t real.

A daughter calls sobbing from Mexico. Her husband is dead. She needs cash right away to bring his body home. The voice was perfect. It was AI. Choose the single word that can stop it.

Canvas just got hacked. 275 million students exposed. The 5 steps to take tonight.

If your kid does homework through Canvas, listen up. Hackers stole 3.65 terabytes of data, including names, emails, student ID numbers and billions of private messages between kids and teachers. They’ve given Canvas’ parent company 48 hours to pay or they leak everything. Here’s exactly what to do before the clock runs out.

Your passwords are already for sale. Here’s the proof.

A family member didn’t believe stolen passwords were for sale online. So I showed him. What we found for $12 will make you change every login tonight.

He clicked “Accept.” It cost him everything.

David emailed me asking what he could do after losing $47,000 to a phone scammer. I called him and heard the whole story. I’m sharing it so you don’t make the same mistake.

ADT got hacked again. Your address may be out there.

The company paid to protect your home just got burglarized. For the third time. And it’s not just an ADT problem.

Your ex has your Social Security number. Here’s what they can do with it.

Divorce, breakups, estranged family. Millions of people handed over their most sensitive info to someone they no longer trust. Here’s the damage they can do and how to stop it.

The password is dying. Microsoft, Google and Amazon already started replacing yours.

A passkey is sitting in your phone. Most people don’t know they have one. Here’s how to get organized before the transition happens to you.

That store camera isn’t just watching for shoplifters. It’s watching you.

Every time you walk into a grocery store, a big box retailer or a pharmacy, AI-powered cameras track how you move, where you linger and what you almost bought. Here’s what they know.

There’s a new kind of camera spreading across America. It doesn’t care how fast you’re going. It’s listening.

No radar gun. No officer. Just a very patient microphone running 24 hours a day. And the tickets are already in the mail.

She chats with him every day. He’s stolen her heart and possibly her savings.

A 78-year-old mom has a “boyfriend” in Nigeria. He’s almost 30 years younger. He’s promised to visit four times. Something always comes up.

Your email inbox is the skeleton key to your entire life

If someone gets into your email, they own every account you have. Here are the three moves that lock them out for good.

Data brokers are selling lists of the recently widowed, diagnosed and broke. Here’s who’s buying.

It’s not your credit score they want. It’s your worst moment. Already packaged. Already sold.

The internet is carding you. And it’s not working.

Half of U.S. states passed laws to keep kids off social media. Kids route around them in minutes. But YOUR government ID? That stays in a database forever.

Your iCloud is not a backup (and Janet learned that the hard way)

Seven years of photos. Her son’s first steps. His first day of kindergarten. Gone. Here’s the difference between sync and backup, and why it matters more than you think.