Spam callers

April 4, 2025

📞 Spam callers? They’re the worst. “Potential spam” is not the mystery adventure your phone thinks it is. Stop your phone from ringing for numbers you don’t know. For iPhones, go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers and toggle it on. On Android, open your Phone app > Settings (three dots) > Blocked numbers and toggle unknown to on.

Tags: Android, numbers, settings, spam, unknown callers

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Turn on this phone setting before it’s too late

ChatGPT

Oh, that familiar quick pat of the pockets and the spike of panic when you realize your phone is no longer on your person. Maybe it’s in the car. Maybe you left it at the coffee shop. You open Find My Phone.

It’s too late, you might as well be looking for a TI-84 calculator. If your phone isn’t prepped ahead of time, you might never get it back.

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Get paid to stand in line for someone else

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When I saw this, my first thought was, “That’s strange.” But I hate standing in lines. And what if you physically can’t do it but need to?

Then yesterday, I read a story in the WSJ (paywalled) about what a nightmare DMVs are right now with everyone scrambling to get a new ID. Starting May 7, you need a REAL ID to travel. The lines are wrapped around the buildings by people who need it. (I’m one of them!)

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💔 When will people wake up? A 63-year-old woman was ready to leave her husband for a scammer pretending to be Enrique Iglesias. Over two years, he talked her out of thousands of dollars. When her cash dried up, he told her to steal it. Hubby traced the messages to Nigeria and begged her to stop. She even went on TV and still swears it’s Iglesias. So sad.

Tech how-to: Delete your DNA data

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You can freeze your credit. Change your password. Replace a stolen phone. But there’s one thing you can’t ever change: your DNA.

That’s why the news that 23andMe just filed for bankruptcy should set off alarms. This company collected genetic information from over 15 million people. Yours could be sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings, absorbed into a merger or leaked in a breach. You’ll never know until it’s too late.

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Try these April Fools' tech tricks on friends and family!

Tuesday is April 1, and I can’t let it go by without recommending some techy April Fools’ pranks! If you know me, you know I love a good gag. If you know Barry, you know he’s my most frequent victim.

These sneaky tricks are harmless (and hilarious), but be forewarned — they require a little bit of device snooping. Hey, what else do you have going on this weekend?

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💸 IRS scam link: It never stops. This time, if you Google how to get a business tax ID, the top results look official, but they’re not (paywall link). They’re ads from companies that charge you over $300 for something the IRS does for free. The real IRS site ends in .gov. Anything else? Fake.

Tax scams 2025: Tricks, tactics and how to stay safe

The phone rings, and it’s an agent from your local IRS office with bad news. Someone filed in your name. But don’t worry, they can help you sort it out in just a few minutes. Now, what’s your Social Security number?

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No vacancy: Next time you book a hotel, scroll past the random sites you’ve never heard of that pop up first in your search (paywall link). They’re resellers that slap on hundreds in extra fees. Some even look like the real hotel site, so double-check the URL. If you’ve been duped, click here to file an FTC complaint.

The $15 gadget that cuts your electricity bill

It’s only March, and we’re nearing 100 degrees in Phoenix. I’m already sweating, dreading my power bills. It got me thinking about the stuff in your house that’s sucking up electricity 24/7, even when it’s turned off.

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Tech how-to: Delete apps the right way

I just swiped through my apps and found, uh, six I’ve never used or haven’t opened in months. Yep, it even happens to me. You have grand plans to meditate, organize your to-dos, fix your pics, whatever, and you download an app for the job. But then, the romance ends.

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