Jesse Mueller When 23andMe went public in 2021, it was a big deal. The popularity of its genetic tests carried the company to a valuation of US$6 billion. But in recent times, some dramatic changes have occured with its leadership and finances, and now 23andMe is worth very little. This leads to some worries about the future … Read more
This scam has been around for a long time, and when I blogged about it in 2022, I was able to show you how easy it was to recognize. Not so with the latest edition. The Microsoft 365 Renewal Scam, v2.0 is “new & improved”, and much more likely to fool someone. Here’s what to … Read more
Concerns over the use of Kaspersky Antivirus grew for several years, until our government enacted a full ban on their software in 2024. Here we are, just 4 days from the total shutdown of Kaspersky software on American computers, and there’s one last surprise for Kaspersky users. For anyone still using their antivirus, they may … Read more
If you use Venmo, I want you to stop and take a moment to check its privacy settings. Your payment activity in Venmo may be visible to the world! I wager that many people would not want that, so I’ll describe how to hide your Venmo history: You’ll want to pay attention to two settings … Read more
More and more websites & tech companies are using your info to train their artificial intelligence. And not everyone wants that. So I am frequently asked: What I can do about it? Am I allowed to opt out of AI? It depends on the company: LinkedIn LinkedIn just opted everyone in to their AI program. … Read more
I am frequently asked on Facebook, “How can you tell?“, when I call out a bogus poster. And there’s no short answer. There are many, many different tells. I’ll try to compile them all here, as a “Guide to Spotting Fake Facebook Profiles.” Major Giveaways Does their Facebook URL match their Display Name? A lot … Read more
Is there anything that AI can’t do (badly)? I am a bit fascinated and alarmed to notice that AI-generated books are readily found online, available for purchase. If you’re not sure what a book written by AI looks like, here’s what I’ve learned so far: Amazon, Of Course Where will you find AI-generated books? Your … Read more
Many people are getting a scary type of message right now. It claims to be a legal notice about Walt Disney Studios and copyright infringement. While the email is realistic and scary-looking, I am sure it is a fake. If you receive this Meta Legal Phishing in your inbox, do not cooperate with it! The … Read more
DirecTV subscribers need to beware unexpected calls about upgrading their receivers. Anyone calling you to upgrade or replace your DirecTV receiver is likely a scammer. How The Scam Works A scammer calls and identifies himself as a DirecTV representative. They’ll claim that the DTV receivers in the house urgently need a software update. “We can … Read more
I have a lot of conversations that start with “Did you hear about the big data breach?” My response is typically: “Which one?”, because there are just so many of them. I honestly can’t keep track of all of them. Data breaches are, sadly, common, and there’s very little we can do to prevent them. … Read more