Category: Internet (Page 2 of 9)

Wi-Fi Calling

wi-fi calling

Wi-Fi Calling is a commonplace function, built into most smartphones by now. But as ubiquitous as it is, I still meet people unfamiliar with it, or suffering without it. So here’s all you need to know about Wi-Fi Calling:

The Basics

Wi-Fi Calling (rarely called Voice over Wi-Fi calling or VoWiFi) is another service that allows your cellphone to make or receive phonecalls. And also text messages! Whether you have an iPhone or an Android, this feature is probably already running, inside your device.

Normally, your phone would connect a call over the cellular network, using the local cell towers. But when that cellular signal is weak or lost, Wi-Fi Calling can take over. Your call/text will still happen, but it will travel over the internet, through your local Wi-Fi network, instead.

Wi-Fi Calling is typically free and included with whatever calling plan you’ve purchased with your cellular provider.

Where Is It Useful?

They say that “Home is Where the Wi-Fi Is” but Wi-Fi Calling isn’t just for when you’re inside your house. It can help your phone work better wherever you go and the cellular reception is lacking:

  • Vacation at a remote location
  • Working in a densely built, cinderblock basement
  • Walking through a parking garage/warehouse/convention center

If you can connect your phone to any working wireless network, Wi-Fi Calling kicks in and you’ll have uninterrupted service. The calls and texts will flow! So, as you travel, you may want to connect your phone to every Wi-Fi network accessible to you. The public Wi-Fi at the library. The free Wi-Fi at Costco. The municipal Wi-Fi at the downtown walking mall. The hospital’s Wi-Fi.

This feature may also help you avoid international calling charges (but check with your carrier before you travel and rely on that). And, if you have a very-limited data plan, Wi-Fi Calling may also help you avoid extra charges for data usage. Calls and texts that travel over Wi-Fi Calling should not count towards your data consumption!

Finding This on Your Phone

You do not need to install any extra apps or software for this to work. It’s already inside your smartphone’s OS. But I want you to know how to find this on your phone, just to verify that it is Enabled/On. Plus, if you ever have any trouble with your Wi-Fi Calling, your first troubleshooting step should be: Find this setting, and turn it off and on again.

Use any of the following links for steps and info on where to find it:

Make calls over Wi-Fi, by Google

Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling, by Apple

Set up Wi-Fi Calling, by T-Mobile

AT&T WI-FIĀ® Calling, by AT&T

Wi-Fi Calling at Verizon FAQs

If you have a smartphone, but cannot find this feature on your phone, call your carrier to ask about it! It cannot be used on really old phones (or flip-phones). But if this is missing from your modern smartphone, it could be that the carrier didn’t activate it for you from their end. That’s usually a quick fix, after a call in to customer support

Recurring Facebook Scams

Here’s a (hopefully? for a while?) final run-down on recurring Facebook scams I’m seeing out there. Don’t fall for any of these, please!

Celebrity Impersonation Pages

Johnny Depp is not going to private-message you on Facebook. Lori Loughlin will not respond to your comments and Likes. Margot Robbie would never send you a Friend request. Celebrities live in a different world than us and have handlers and layers of protection that separate us from them. If an ultra-famous person on Facebook is giving you explicit attention or asking you for things, please suspect a scam. You are almost certainly dealing with a con artist.

Creepers in the Comments

This should be a no-brainer, but I have to mention it. There arelurkers & creepers on Facebook and they manifest unexpectedly in the comments of Reviews and Public Posts.

Don’t ever respond to these characters. Block them or report their comments, but don’t initiate any contact. They’re just looking to start a private conversation, and try to take advantage of you after that begins.

Puppy Adoptions

Legitimate people will try to adopt out their puppies or other baby animals. And then there’s the scammers:

These scams can often be spotted with ease. The scammer will be out-of-the-area, or pressure you for a down payment before seeing the animals. As with most internet offers, don’t hand over money before seeing firsthand what’s for sale.

Car Detailing Offers

I’ve written at length about this type of service scam, but it merits a special mention here. Bogus car detailing offers persist in many Facebook groups, and I recommend you avoid them.

Much like the duct cleaning offers, you might actually get your car cleaned through one of these posts. But you’re not dealing with a local company. If you comment on one of these posts, someone from Pakistan, using a sock puppet account, will contact you to schedule your car detailing. S/he will send some unknown person to your house to “take care” of your car.

That person may actually clean your car, or not. If anything suspicious or illegal occurs, that person is going to vanish. The individual from Pakistan will block you. And you will have no one to hold accountable, the police will be unable to assist. It’s best to report these posts and find a truly local company to clean your car for you. Shop local!

Bargain Offers for TV Streaming

I’ll be breaking this out into a separate, detailed post soon, but for now, watch out for this nonsense:

Avoid these offers, as they are too good to be true. If these were legitimate, everyone would be flocking to them, and no one would ever pay for cable TV again. People who have a go at this type of streaming might actually get to watch some of their favorite shows. But the service will be spotty. The support will be non-existent. And then suddenly, the law will catch up to the copyright infringers at the top. Suddenly, the streaming service will wink out of existence as the top executives quit the country with whatever money they still have. Spoiler alert: these companies are not paying for or obtaining licenses for the shows they allow you to stream. That’s IP theft!

Facebook Account Help

If you’ve ever been locked out of your Facebook account, you know then how decidedly unhelpful Facebook is. You cannot call Facebook for help. They don’t offer any email or chat support. It’s just crickets and tumbleweed. This creates a perfect void for the scammers to fill:

Cybercriminals have crawled all over Facebook and other social media sites, creating posts, comments and even Group Pages, promising to help recover lost Facebook accounts. And anyone who comes to them for help? These bad guys will take whatever they can: your money, your Facebook account, your email and its password, and more.

These dreadful people are also constantly scanning public posts and comments for anyone looking for this kind of help. Sometimes, they will just pop up and comment back on people’s comments, promoting fake-help scammers on Instagram.

If you’ve lost access to your Facebook, check out what I’ve written on this blog post, or head straight to the legitimate Facebook article on this topic. You’re welcome to reach out to me for further advice. But please: Avoid or ignore any strangers that claim to have magic recovery powers. They don’t.

Everyday Facebook Scams

I’ve posted recently about several scams on Facebook; here are some more! Since Meta is so negligent at policing its platforms, bad actors and their schemes thrive on their social media platform. I may often have some new everyday Facebook scams to tell you about.

Catalytic Converter Theft

If you see post about catalytic converter theft, be suspicious. They’ll have some interesting photos but no real details about the crime or who to contact. They just want you to Share the post and boost the signal.

But don’t do it! Don’t Like the post, don’t Share it. There’s no real scam to these posts, but that comes later. These posts serve as gullibility checks. The scammers watch and notice who is spreading their nonsense info, and may PM those people later with targeted scams.

Giving Away a MacBook

This is the same plan as when the scammer tries to give away a PS5. They’ll privately message you and ask you to cover their Fedex shipping costs. If you pay that, they’ll disappear with the money and you’ll then learn that there is no such thing as a free MacBook.

everyday facebook scams

Amazon Work from Home Opportunities

Amazon does offer a lot of job opportunities, and some of them are work-from-home. But you won’t find them in posts that look like these:

These posts are not associated with Amazon in any way. They often direct you to click on a Google Sites URL, which would take you to a scammy site that tries to collect all of your PII. Don’t click the links! Don’t fill out any forms on these sites! You won’t get a job, but you will become inundated with spam email and junk postal mail and other scammy offers.

If you want to peruse legitimate jobs with the Amazon company, check out the real Amazon Jobs website.

Duct Cleaning Offers

I think most people know by now that these things are suspicious. But since they remain pervasive, I thought I should remind you to beware these nameless duct cleaning offers.

I’ve written at length on how these things work, but in short: The poster is in Pakistan, ready to take your info. He will schedule your duct cleaning with a mystery person in your region, and collect a commission. An unlicensed worker will come to your house and perform some kind of duct cleaning procedure. But the work may be lousy, or the bill may turn out higher than what was agreed upon. Play it safe and hire a local, licensed company for this type of work.

RV & Tiny Home Giveaways

This is another one that I’ve gone over, but deserves a mention since they are still commonplace. These posts claim that there was a lottery for a free RV or other small home, and the winner did not claim the prize! They offer the chance for someone else to step up and be a winner.

This scam presses people to Share, Share, Share their post, but please don’t do that. Don’t help the scammer get this rubbish in front of more faces. And don’t Like the post or Message the poster. They’ll just tell you that you’ve won the prize, and then try to collect a “transport fee” from you. And then, they’ll ghost you.

More Telltale Signs of a Facebook Scam

  • The poster Likes their own post.
  • The first comment is also from the poster, urging you to message them or click a URL.
  • The language seems off, for example: “Kindly check your private messaging.”
  • They ask you to text them, email them or otherwise go off-platform (away from Facebook messages).
  • They claim they are licensed, but won’t produce a license number or other hard details for you to verify.

Commonplace Facebook Scams

There is no end to the scams I see on Facebook. I know I’ve posted at length about specific FB scams, but in this post, I want to run down quickly on a bunch of commonplace Facebook scams. Watch out for these, don’t fall for these, definitely report these:

(Don’t) Buy This Shirt!

This offer may tug at your heartstrings, because they’ve mentioned their son is autistic. But there is no son, and the poster is from another country. The URL will take you to a web-storefront, where you can pay money for a shirt. But it’s at an online marketplace where anyone can quickly open up a shop and have shirts printed:

commonplace facebook scams

You might actually get a (lousy) shirt, but please realize that you’re giving your card info to a stranger who may be halfway around the world. The big risk here is getting mystery charges on your card, later on.

Neon for Free

Want a neon sign? You’re not going to get one from these jokers. Their plan is to privately message you, gently guilt you towards making a small donation, and then disappear with any money you’ve sent them.

Vendor Fee for Non-Existent Fair

Looking to sell your hand-crafted art in your region? Community fairs and festivals are the way to go, but beware generic scam posts as shown below.

While at first glance, these may look legitimate, it’s a lie and a trap. The poster has used Google to find an address commonly used for public events. Any email or phone number provided is not connected to the stated address; they go straight to the scammer. They’ve crafted this post so that people will contact the scammer and not the venue. And if you contact the scammer, they’ll take your “reservation fee” and disappear with it.

Egg Sales

I’ve picked this scam apart before, but it deserves a mention, since I’ve seen it often this month. It’s similar to the above scam, in that they want to privately message you and get an advance payment for eggs. But you’ll be sitting by the door waiting forever for that henfruit. The poster is just using a sock puppet account, as they sit in an internet cafe in Kenya.

Giving Away a Gaming Console

Those PS5’s are super-expensive, so seeing someone giving away one for free on Facebook may seem like a miracle. And even more convincing is to see someone local, someone believable!, posting about how you can have their unwanted video game hardware:

But this type of scam is usually carried out using a stolen Facebook account. If you contact them for the console, they’ll say that they moved to another state, but can Fedex the device to you, as long as you cover their shipping. Once again, if you send them any money, they’ll ghost you and you’ll never get anything in return.

Moving, Everything Must Go

If a real person has to move and sell off a lot of stuff, they’ll give you an address to visit, and a phone number to reach them at. But some posts only lead to private messages, where you are urged to pay a small amount to “hold” the item for you. I think by now you know what’ll happen if you give them any money.

And other “moving” posts lead you to other weird websites or private Facebook groups, where you’ll meet with other scams and attempts at collecting your personal information.

Fake Job Listing

If you think you’ve found your dreamjob on Facebook, think again. Many of them are traps:

A real job listing should state a well-known company name, and will refer you to Indeed.com or some other corporate website. This scam job listing has no real contact info, and will only lead to a fake job interview over chat, and then they’ll try to get your bank account info or worse.

Telltale Signs of a Facebook Scam

  • The poster has a locked account, or has turned off Comments to their post.
  • They need you to pay them a little bit of money first, to prove that you are not scamming them!
  • They won’t meet you in person for a transaction.
  • You cannot call to speak with them.
  • They want you to use Venmo or CashApp instead of a credit card.
  • You meet with resistance when asking for basic info, like a website URL or address or phone number.
  • They comment a link to a website, but the URL shows a Google sites address, or something that just doesn’t look relevant.

Saturn Concerns

saturn concerns

Folks are asking me to sound off on the Saturn app. If you have Saturn concerns, please consider this blog post:

The Saturn App

Saturn is an iOS app, intended for high school students. Saturn can help kids manage their schedules, and it also has social media functions, too. Teen users may enjoy using Saturn to announce their activities, coordinate with their peers, share their schedules and communicate quickly with their schoolmates. Students are allowed to input user photos and other personal info, as well as link to their other social media accounts (TikTok, Snapchat, even Venmo).

Saturn has been around since 2018, and was started by a couple of college kids. But they acquired a significant chunk of money from Jeff Bezos, Ashton Kutcher and other investors, and their company took off. The app seems to be popular and work very well, but shows no signs of arriving on the Android scene…

Saturn Concerns

In past and present years, parents and school officials have raised concerns over Saturn. Does this app expose our kids to online threats? How bad are the risks for letting my children onto this app? Should we limit or ban this app?

These questions are legitimate. Sharing personal info online always carries some amount of risk. But let’s not make snap decisions about it. If Saturn concerns you, I’d like you to learn more about the app, consider the current state of its security, and make your own personal judgment call on it.

One worrisome piece of news emerged this month, from a parent who claimed he’d installed the app and crossed some privacy boundaries with it. He said that by fudging some sign-up data, he was able to see other students’ schedules and pictures. This parent didn’t want to do anything harmful! He was instead demonstrating the lax security of the app, and encouraging more mindfulness about our teenagers’ online safety. Thank you, sir!

In response to this news, Saturn developers quickly changed the app, and announced their security improvements. It was no longer possible to do what the concerned parent had done. Presently, Saturn users have a stricter sign-up and verification process. If you don’t “get verified“, you can still use the app for calendaring, but verified users and their data will not be shown to any unverified users.

Testing the New Security

So I did similar to that concerned parent. I installed the app and tried to use it, even though I do not have a highschooler in my home. Here’s what I encountered:

Saturn asked for my birthdate. I lied. I put in some DOB that suggested I was 40-something years old. It accepted it and moved on.

The next requirement was my mobile number. I had to give it a way of texting me an access code. So I cooperated and then Saturn welcomed me in. But I would not have gotten any further without giving it a real textable number.

Then I immediately set about trying to see other people’s info. Could I see someone else’s calendar? Could I start chatting with other students? No, I met with these screens:

I tried to get verified as if I were a student. The next screen asked me to sign in with my school email. I didn’t have one of those, but I sure have plenty of Microsoft and Google emails, so I tried using some of those. Saturn quickly rebuked me:

At this point, I stopped trying to gain access. For me to penetrate these defenses, it was pretty clear I would have to go beyond the pale. I would have to compromise other systems in order to gain access to Saturn’s sensitive info. Stopping here, I could only see and use my own calendar space in the Saturn app.

Summary Judgment

Take all of this with a grain of salt. I cannot possibly advise every parent on how to best run their household and their technology. Please take what you want from all of this and use it any way you see fit.

I look at Saturn and I see some amount of risk. I look at all online social apps that way. Sharing personal info of any kind on the internet can be both useful and hazardous. Rather than admonish people to never do it, I have to be more practical and urge you to be mindful of where and when you do it.

Mindful = judgmental. When I judge Saturn, with just this small amount of testing and probing, I think it’s got some good security in place. Is it perfect? No, a determined bad guy could get in and cause harm. But that goes for any social-technology construct. Facebook. Snapchat. Discord. When I start comparing Saturn against all of the other apps that I see young people using, I judge Saturn to have above-average security. My opinion is that your teens are in far more danger using Facebook and Instagram. It is far easier to game the system and cause harm on the other platforms we use.

Whether you allow or prevent your teen from using Saturn is up to you. But after you make that choice, I encourage you to think about all of the other ways your son or daughter uses the internet. We can’t afford to be hyper-focused on one app with the larger issue of Internet Safety looming over our heads. There are many online resources to keep your child educated and safe on the internet. Perhaps the Saturn app is here to deliver a teachable moment amongst the many lessons in your child’s digital upbringing.

Mobile Broadband

When shopping for internet service, you may have plenty of options: Cable, Fiber, Fixed Wireless, Satellite, DSL. But one oft-overlooked option needs to be included: Mobile Broadband. This home internet service is powered over the airwaves and through the same towers as your cellular phones. Consider these options from the big cellular companies:

T-Mobile Home Internet

AT&T Internet Air

Verizon Home Internet

If you have terrestrial options for internet service, you may want to stick with them. But the new residential mobile broadband service can be a moneysaver/lifesaver for people in rural, underserved areas. If you are suffering under super-slow DSL, or flaky satellite internet service, or high-priced Starlink, the above options are worth considering!

But mobile broadband is not available everywhere. The first step for anyone considering this type of internet is to talk with the provider. Visit a T-MO, ATT or VZ store and have them check your address. They’ll let you know if your residence is serviceable.

When someone signs up for mobile broadband service, the provider sends a Wi-Fi modem, as shown above. The user plugs it in, uses an app to setup the household Wi-Fi, and then starts connecting the household computers and devices. It’s usually pretty streamlined and easy. And their Wi-Fi modem serves as a regular router, allowing you to connect multiple computers, streaming devices, printers, etc..

These home internet options are not as blazing fast as cable or fiber, but they should be significantly better than DSL. If you investigate this type of internet, make sure to ask the provider what type of speeds they think you’ll get in your area. They can vary wildly from one region to the next.

The Facebook Edited-Post Scam

Anyone who posts to Facebook can edit what they’ve posted. You simply go to the post and click the 3-dots button in the corner, and then select Edit Post. It’s a pretty handy tool, but it’s also being abused in what we can call The Facebook Edited-Post Scam.

Innocent Beginning

The scams starts with some harmless-looking posts, usually appearing in Facebook groups. Here are some examples:

These posts don’t seem to ask for much, so they aren’t likely to trigger your spidey-sense for scams. Sometimes they ask that you care & share, others just encourage you to comment with “Got It!” And many people do what is asked, and then move on.

The Switcheroo

But some time later, the scam develops. After the post has been spread through multiple Shares, and/or after many people have commented “Got it” underneath, the scammer makes a big change. Using the Edit Post function, the bad guy deletes the photo of the hurt dog or missing kid, and inserts something altogether different. They also delete the original text and enter in new verbiage:

The benefit (to the scammers) here is that the post retains all of its comments and Shares. That lost puppy post has metamorphosed into a money-lure scam, that has been shared to many other groups and still has many positive comments underneath it. It can really look convincing!

But please know that all of these things are scams. If you interact with the posting account, they will strive to steal money from you. Please don’t play their game. Report them and their posts to Facebook and the group admin or moderator.

How to Defend Against These Scams

One good thing is that you can check for the switcheroo-edit. Remember the 3-dots button in the corner of each post? Click that and select Edit History. That reveals any and all changes that have been made to the post. It becomes very obvious, if you know to use this tool.

That 3-dots button also holds your reporting functions. You can first report the post to Facebook, but don’t expect much of a response. Their bots usually get back to me to state that they saw nothing wrong with the post. What’s most important is that you report the post to the people in charge of the Facebook Group. Those mods and admins are usually good people who care about the group, and will yank the post once they get your report.

If you are in a group where the moderators do NOT fulfill their duties, leave the group. You will know when this is the case, because the group will appear to be overrun with scammy posts! Sure, you can report the group to Facebook, but they will not respond. Your best bet is to save yourself and not be a part of that chaos.

If you’ve accidentally Liked, Shared or Commented on a Facebook Edited-Post Scam, try to undo that action. You can always unLike a post and delete a comment or Share. Having trouble finding what you’ve been doing on Facebook? Use the Activity Log to locate your Likes, Comments and more. And if you see that a friend has interacted with a scammy post, reach out to them to let them know. Encourage them to undo their actions, so that they’re not contributing to the spread or success of the scam.

Last thing: When someone tells you to what to share or type on Facebook, be suspicious. Share and comment what you want to, not when a stranger pushes you to.

The Facebook Location Tracking Settlement

The Facebook Location Tracking Settlement

Here we go with another Meta-related settlement! The Facebook Location Tracking Settlement is your chance to sign up for a piece of the money that settles this latest lawsuit.

Once again, Facebook is in trouble for tracking its users when it shouldn’t have. For this case, Facebook stands accused of tracking people who had “Location Services” turned off on their phone or in the Facebook app. Purportedly, Meta continued tracking its users using other information (IP addresses, etc.). As in other settlements, Facebook is paying money to resolve things, admitting no fault or wrongdoing.

You can visit this website for all the information about the Facebook Location Tracking Settlement. Or you can use this link to fill out your claim straightaway.

But please know: Some people are reporting that they can’t submit their claim right now. After typing in all of their info, this vague message appears:

No, I didn't make any errors on the Claim Form.

If you receive this error, bookmark the claim website (or this blog post) and try again another day. They may still be working out the kinks, and you have until August 11, 2023 to get your claim submitted. Or you could print, fill out, and mail their paper claim form.

Facebook Winner Scams

I imagine most of you have encountered Facebook Winner Scams by now. These posts usually show an eye-catching puzzle, and suggest that if you have the answer, you can comment or PM the poster for some free money. Again, this is a scam.

Facebook winner scams

Using a stolen Facebook account, the scammer is looking for trusting or naive people to contact them. They’ll ask for your CashApp or Zelle account, as if they are going to send you some cash. That’s the ruse. If you cooperate with them, they’re ready to confuse the situation and trick you into exposing your funds.

Do not fall for this and do not reveal your CashApp or other payment account information to these people! Report Facebook Winner Scams to Facebook and the Facebook Group Admin.


After reading one of these sus posts, I had to check things out a little further. Using a sock puppet account, I contacted this scammer:

They clicked my fake CashApp link, which immediately showed me that they were in Lagos, Nigeria. Then I asked them about their location. They responded with a bad word in Yoruba and then blocked me.


An Even Sneakier Variant

Sometimes the scammer alters the post to make this scheme even harder to spot. How this scam works is:

  1. The scammer posts the silly puzzle, telling everyone to search for the hidden item in the picture, and they ask everyone to comment “Got it!” when they find something.
  2. They wait for the comments of “Got it!” to pile up under the post.
  3. They edit the original post, to say something different and show a new photo. The edited info says how you can visit a website for free money or financial aid.

This scam-variant is especially tricky, as the altered post retains the comments from earlier. It shows a lot of replies — from real people, possibly people you know — commenting “Got it!” to this new fake offer for cash. To a trusting first-time viewer, it may appear that all of their friends are truly getting free money.

If you see this, don’t believe it, and definitely report the post. And you might reach out to anyone you recognize in the comments. You can let them know that they might want to delete their comments and report the post, too.

Big Tech Status Websites

Even the biggest tech companies have outages and service failures. If your email or website is on the fritz, it may not be your fault. If iCloud or MS Teams won’t load, it could be their problem to fix. Bookmark this post or any of the Big Tech Status Websites below, so that you can check them at the first sign of trouble.

Microsoft Service Health – relevant to Outlook.com, Teams, OneDrive, Skype and more

Apple System Status – ranging from iCloud to AppleTV+, from Siri to MacOS Updates and many, many more

Google Workspace Status Dashboard – pertaining to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs and various other consumer apps

Meta Status and Outages – covering Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and related APIs

As I find other useful big tech status websites, I’ll add them to this post.

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