🚨 Prime Day scams are coming: Scammers are ramping up fake emails, texts and calls ahead of July 8. Most say there’s a problem with your account or order to trick you into giving up your login or payment info. Don’t click sketchy links.
Your browser is snitching on you
ChatGPT
You’ve heard me say it a hundred times: Clear your cookies, block third-party trackers, use private browsing. But here’s something new, something creepier.
Now, even after nuking cookies from orbit and going full incognito ninja, websites still know who you are. How? Something called browser fingerprinting.
And unlike actual crime-fighting fingerprints, this one just helps companies charge you more for socks.
🚰 How it works
Every time you visit a website, your browser leaks little clues about who you are: your screen size, time zone, where you live, your device and operating system, even how fast your processor runs.
None of these sounds personal, but when combined? They create a unique invisible fingerprint that websites use to identify you.
A new study from Texas A&M and Johns Hopkins shows this is no longer a fringe trick, it’s mainstream.
👣 Tracks in real time
Websites now know who you are even if you’re not logged in, cleared your cookies and browse in incognito mode. Researchers watched sites change in real time depending on the fingerprint they detected.
Here’s the kicker: Your “harmless” device fingerprint is used to change the prices you see. Researchers watched websites adjust pricing in real time based on things I’ve mentioned.
In other words, you could see higher prices simply because you live in an expensive area or use a newer iPhone. Creepy? Totally. Legal? For now, yes.
✋ So what can you do?
This hidden setting stops fraud in its tracks
ChatGPT
Here’s something you probably don’t know. Your banking app is packed with credit card tools that can help you fight fraud, track every dollar and even shop safer online.
Yep, your boring old banking app is secretly a money-smart ninja. You just haven’t poked around enough.
$225 million
That’s how much crypto the FBI wants to give back to scam victims. Unheard of, right? Usually, it’s “sorry for your loss,” but this time, federal agents are trying to return stolen Tether to 430+ duped investors. Sounds great until you realize crypto investment fraud racked up $9.3 billion in losses last year alone.
🔐 Wyze’s new safety feature: “VerifiedView” tags every video, image or live feed with a unique ID tied to your account. If someone tries to watch your footage, the app checks whether their ID matches the one in the video. If it doesn’t, they’ll get a 403 error. Update your Wyze app and firmware to enable it.
☣️ OpenAI issues a bioweapon warning: This is frightening. OpenAI says its next-gen models might be dangerously helpful, like “here’s how to cook up a bioweapon” helpful. They’re beefing up safety tests as models approach high-risk territory, where even amateurs could make deadly agents. So yes, your AI intern might someday help someone go full Bond villain. We wanted cancer cures, not anthrax recipes.
🪞 Deepfake boss attack: A crypto employee thought they were on a Zoom call with their company’s C-suite. Turns out it was North Korean hackers deepfaking the entire leadership team. That “Zoom extension” they asked you to download? Straight malware on macOS. Someone out there is cosplaying your manager to steal your crypto and mess with your M1 chip.
It’s rough out there: You need to be proactive. This is one of the smartest things you can do to protect your identity. Don’t wait till it’s too late, sign up for NordProtect today and get 65% off. Bet you save a ton of money making the switch to NordProtect, too!
📞 Hackers love call centers: They’re bribing low-paid call center workers to bypass security (paywall link) and loot crypto wallets. Coinbase alone may be out $400 million. All it took was screenshots, Chrome bugs and $2,500 Venmo bribes.
💻 Israel vs Iran online: The conflict isn’t just happening on the ground. It’s playing out in cyberspace, too. A hacking group linked to Israel apparently hit an Iranian bank, cutting off access to people’s money. Then, fake texts were sent to Israelis, warning of terror attacks on bomb shelters to stir panic. Tense times.
Grand Theft Grandma: An elderly Montana woman thought “Amazon” was helping prevent ID theft. Instead, scammers made off with nearly $1M by spoon-feeding her a crime thriller plot starring fake marshals, dirty gold and suspicious cash pickups at her house. She eventually snapped, and helped bust the scammer herself with a Trojan money box.
Aflac breach gets messy: Hackers cracked into Aflac’s system using social engineering tricks, possibly swiping health data, SSNs and more. No ransomware dropped, but still, duck insurance just got real personal, in the bad way. Keep an eye on your inbox (and your identity).
⚠️ Data fire hose leak: Cybernews found 30 data hoards oozing 16 BILLION records, basically half the internet. Blame info stealers. Some leaks were old, most were new, all were unsettling. The good news: They’re offline now. The bad news: They were online, and no one knows who posted them. Yup, all your account credentials are probably in the leak. Take a deep breath. Here are the links you need to protect yourself.
🚨 Fake CAPTCHAs: You know those little tests that ask you to prove you’re not a robot? Scammers are planting fake ones on sketchy sites (like free movie pages) that ask you to press keys or download software. Some even redirect you to a browser extension or tell you to run a command. Plot twist: It’s malware.
Hackers don’t wait, why should you? I’ve said it for years, viruses attack fast. That’s why I trust TotalAV. Rock-solid protection on up to five devices. Only $19 for the first year. Smart, simple, and it works!
$32,000
That’s the life savings scammers stole from a schoolteacher in North Texas. They called pretending to be Chase Bank, saying his account was compromised and he needed to move his money to a “secure” one. It was all fake. The worst part? Chase only refunded about $2,000 since he wasn’t covered by fraud protection.
🦗 Bugs in the system: Insects aren’t paying off. Some of the biggest insect-farming startups have gone bust, and investors are tapping out. The pitch: sustainable protein. The reality: not cheap enough, not scalable yet. But researchers think genetic engineering (without the scary GMO label) could fix it, turning flies into nutrient factories and faster breeders.
🤖 OpenAI’s working with the Pentagon: The ChatGPT maker just landed a $200 million deal with the U.S. Defense Department. The goal? Use AI to tackle military and national security challenges. No, it’s not for weapons (yet). The focus is cutting paperwork and improving cyber defense.
Reason #452 why I sold my Tesla: FSD was a pile of poopy hype. In repeated trials, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature rolled past stop signs and mowed down child-size mannequins like a GTA side quest. Elon says safety is top priority, which is reassuring to the mannequins’ plastic parents.
😨 Data brokers turn deadly: This is horrifying. The man accused of assassinating Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband allegedly used people search sites (paywall link) to stalk them. If criminals can track politicians, they can track you. That’s why you need Incogni to get your info off those websites.