Tech/Gear

You grab a box of cereal off the shelf. Your neighbor grabs the exact same box at the exact same store on the exact same day. She pays less. You pay more. Why? Because the store's algorithm decided you would.That scenario sounds like a conspiracy theory. It isn't. Retailers have been quietly using this kind of pricing for years, and now one state has finally had enough.Maryland is set to become […]

Earlier this month, the California Attorney General's office filed charges against 21 people tied to a $267 million Medi-Cal hospice fraud ring.The case, dubbed Operation Skip Trace, accuses the defendants of buying stolen personal information on the dark web, enrolling those identities in Medi-Cal through Covered California, and running 14 shell hospice companies that billed the state for end-of-life care that was never provided.The patients were not dying. In many […]

If you use an Android phone, there is a good chance this case affects you. Google has agreed to a $135 million settlement over claims that its Android system used people's cellular data without permission. The part that caught our attention is when it allegedly happened.According to the lawsuit, these data transfers could take place in the background, even when your phone was not in use. Most people assume that […]

Go to any people finder site right now and type in your name. What comes back might shock you: your age, home address, phone number, the names of your relatives, where you used to live and even what your property is worth.You didn't put that there, and you never consented to it. Still, it's out there, and anyone with an internet connection can see it.Scammers figured this out a long […]

There is a new AI model called Mythos. Anthropic built it for defensive cybersecurity research. It is so effective at finding software vulnerabilities that Anthropic decided the general public cannot have it.  Instead, it is letting a small circle of trusted partners like Microsoft and Google experiment with it first under controlled conditions, while researchers figure out what guardrails need to exist.That decision alone should tell you something. When the […]

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:- Dairy Queen's new drive-thrus without humans spark backlash by frustrated customers- Meta informs staff of layoffs affecting 8,000 employees amid AI push- Fox News Poll: Voters see AI as a risk to privacy and paychecksCOLD OPEN: Dairy Queen's new drive-thrus without humans spark backlash from frustrated customers – Fast-food chain Dairy Queen is moving toward new, fully automated AI drive-thrus operating without human workers.TRUST DEFICIT: Fox News […]

A new move from the Federal Communications Commission is being framed as a national security step. But if you already have a router at home, the bigger question is simple: how long will it keep getting security updates?The FCC recently updated its "Covered List" to include routers produced in foreign countries, which blocks new models of that covered equipment from being approved for sale in the U.S.At the same time, […]

Chances are, you have never thought much about who owns the satellites keeping your phone connected in the middle of nowhere. That could change soon. Amazon is betting $11.57 billion that you will start paying attention. Its acquisition of Globalstar is a major move against Starlink, and the stakes go far beyond bragging rights.Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportAMAZON TAKES ON ELON MUSK, LAUNCHING 27 INTERNET SATELLITESGlobalstar has operated […]

Brian Oliver is retired, sharp and financially savvy enough to have a stock-and-bond portfolio worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He is not the type of person you picture getting scammed. That is exactly why scammers picked him.What happened to Oliver, 85, is the kind of story that makes your jaw drop, and your stomach turn at the same time. It started with a routine-looking email and ended with a […]