Have a kiddo between the ages of 7 to 12 in the family? Share Google’s Be Internet Awesome, a crash course in internet safety and smarts. There are even slides for teachers or community or church leaders to share.
Don't be fooled: This free Netflix offer is a scam
Those of us in quarantine have plenty of free time to kill. Some folks are spending it keeping up with the news, while others are focusing on the finer things in life: streaming Netflix and binge-watching shows.
Despite the sharp uptick in users, Netflix is still charging existing customers a monthly fee. This flies in the face of other services that are extending freebies during the coronavirus outbreak. Tap or click to see what you can get for free right now.
With money tight for so many Americans nowadays, free Netflix would be a sight for sore eyes. But if you get an offer for free Netflix over text or WhatsApp, delete it immediately. It’s just another scam.
If it sounds too good to be true …
People across the country have been receiving strange text messages promising them a three-month premium Netflix subscription for free in exchange for clicking a link.
The texts seem to be some kind of mass-mailer and are appearing as ordinary SMS texts and WhatsApp messages. A premium Netflix account features 4K streaming and costs $16 monthly, which makes following the text’s instructions highly tempting.
But if you do so, you’re putting your phone’s cybersecurity at risk — as well as your friends’ and family’s.
Following the link in the text will take you to a shady website called “netflix-usa[dot]net.” Obviously, this isn’t Netflix’s real web address, but it can be easy to make the mistake in the moment. Some versions of the text contain even stranger URLs that don’t follow any rhyme or reason.
But the icing on the cake comes once the page loads up. You’re told you’ll get access to your free subscription by inviting 10 other people to visit the website. A pyramid scheme on top of a phishing scheme! Lovely.
Needless to say, if you follow the trail all the way through, you don’t even get free Netflix. You just end up getting asked for more personal data and phone numbers. No thank you.
What can I do to stay safe from this weird scam?
Thankfully, this one is pretty easy to avoid. If you ever get a message that suggests you’ve won something when you didn’t enter a contest, don’t even bother reading it. Just hit “delete.”
Where's your tax refund? Track its status with the IRS app
Whether we like it or not, tax season has arrived. We still have some time before April 15, but it’s definitely better to file now, rather than procrastinate and possibly miss the deadline.
It takes time to find all those receipts, files, confirmations and even your W-2s if you didn’t properly file them. But missing the deadline isn’t the only reason you should file sooner rather than later. Tap or click here for one important reason to file your taxes this week.
If you absolutely have to keep using Windows 7, here's how to stay safe
Are you still using Windows 7? In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft recently ended support and now it’s a huge security risk that’s practically begging hackers to take advantage of it.
Since Microsoft won’t be releasing any further security updates, you’re risking hacks, malware and viruses by staying on the outdated operating system. Tap or click here for more about Windows 7 security risks.
How to set up parental controls on a Chromebook
When you’re a parent, your list of worries feels a mile long and it grows every day. Once your kids are old enough to use a computer, that list gets even longer.
It’s important your kids understand your internet rules once they get their own laptops, and Kim can help. Tap or click here to download Kim’s free safety contract for parents and kids.
How do I set up parental controls on my kid's Android phone?
The internet is a strange and wonderful place, especially for children. Everything is new to kids, so it’s easy for them to click from one site to the next to the next. But what happens when they go a little too far down the rabbit hole?