đ Stop spam texts
April 27, 2024 |
Itâs a beautiful Saturday, friend! Letâs start with a dose of tech trivia. The worldâs first website, created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is still online today. In what year did this website launch? Was it ⌠1965, 1978, 1983 or 1991? Answerâs at the very bottom of this newsletter in a new spot, so keep scrollinâ! Need a laugh? I keep calling him Kawabunga, but his name is Kitboga â and he scams the scammers. Watch our chat on YouTube. Youâll def get a kick out of it if youâve ever been trapped on the phone with a pushy telemarketer. On to the news! â Kim đŤÂ First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itâs free!) IN THIS ISSUE
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TODAYâS TOP STORYMake the spam stopâYou coming?â âYouâre owed $23,060!â âYour package is stuck at the warehouse.â Iâll give you one guess what these lines have in common. Yep, theyâre scam texts â and the scariest part is these kinds of cons work. Americans lost $2.7 billion to imposter scams last year. Think any time someone is pretending to be someone they arenât. Texts are a common way in, especially since so many folks have stopped answering calls from unknown numbers. Donât let yourself become a statistic. I have a list of sure spam signs to watch for and my secret weapon for stopping spam in the first place. They have a lot of ways to fool youItâs no wonder scam texts are so popular. The FTC says text open rates are as high as 98% (compare that to just 20% for email). Dang. Here are a few scammy messages police, government agencies and news outlets are warning about right now:
A hard and fast ruleNever reply to a spam text. That confirms your number is active and youâll start getting even more scammers hitting you up. And donât try replying âSTOP,â âNOâ or anything else, even if that works on legitimate subscriptions. Itâs not worth the risk. Spam texts stopped coming to my phone âŚâŚÂ After I signed up for Incogni. They find all the people-search and data broker sites where your info is listed, then they submit requests to remove you. It all happens automatically after you set up your Incogni account. I regularly get emails from Incogni about its progress. Theyâve submitted the removal of my info from 450 sites so far. I had no idea it was spread across so many data brokers. Even better, they make sure my info stays off these sites for the long haul. If you go the DIY route, be prepared to keep fighting the same fight. â Right now, while youâre thinking about it, let Incogni do the work for you. You really can remove yourself from the internet. I negotiated a deal on Incogni just for you: 60% off. Stop waiting and take back your privacy. I love not getting spam texts and calls, and you will, too. |
DEALS OF THE DAYFor the self-care momMotherâs Day is around the corner. Today, Iâve hand-selected some gifts for the mom who loves relaxation, meditation and treating herself â or the mom who never makes time for it!
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WEB WATERCOOLERđ Net neutralityâs back: The FCC voted to restore net neutrality, saying ISPs canât speed up, slow down or block access to specific sites or services. The FCC also wants to stop ISPs from selling customersâ personal info or using this info to train AI models. Now, the pros and cons of net neutrality are a 20-minute lecture starting with: Do we really want to open the door to government interference and regulation of private enterprise? Drop me a note here if you want to talk about net neutrality or another burning tech topic. đ¨ Heads-up: Hackers are using Google ads for âFacebookâ .â comâ to steal login details. Click one of the ads, and youâll be redirected to a dodgy site filled with malicious pop-ups. Remember, anyone can buy Google ads. Donât search to get to a site; if you know the URL (and we all know Facebookâs URL), just type it in. Am I a robot? CAPTCHA tests are getting tougher. Gone are the good olâ days of scrambled letters and clicking crosswalks. Now, companies are outsmarting bots by making you move a puzzle piece or pick out the ânonaquatic animal.â Bots canât do that âŚÂ yet. Side hustle: An Airbnb host got the shock of his life when his guests used 15,000 gallons of water during their stay. Why? They were running a full-blown laundry business from his property. The water bill was around $375 ⌠They paid about $1,000 for their weeklong stay. âď¸ About time: Soon, airlines will have to refund you in cash or directly to your original payment method if they cancel or delay your flight. Same goes for if you paid for checked bags or in-flight WiâFi. These rules will roll out over the next six to 12 months. Tech on a budget: You donât have to spend $200 or more for high-quality earbuds. Raycons have studio-quality sound and a whopping 32 hours of battery life, and they fit comfortably in every ear with precise fittings. Grab âem for 20% off (and free shipping!) at BuyRaycon.com/kim.* |
IN CASE YOU MISSED ITScience says counting sheep doesnât work. My secret weapon: Sleep podcasts. Works like a charm every time. No snooping. The more crooks know about the layout of your house, the easier it is for them to break in. Hereâs how to remove pics from real estate sites. 2024 smarts: Did AI or a person write that? Hereâs how to spot the bot. Using Temu? The âdealsâ arenât worth it. Yes, I still have folks asking me about it! On the road again: If youâre living that RV life, hereâs how to get WiâFi. |
TECH LIFE UPGRADESSo long, farewell: Anyone who upgraded to Windows 11 on an old PC that technically doesnât meet the latest operating system requirements is out of luck. Folks are reporting their tech dinos are stuck in a reboot loop. If youâre in the market, our IT genius, John, recommends this solid PC for under $650 thatâll last for years. If you edit video or need more power, hereâs his pick for well under $1,000. Waiting game: The wired model of Googleâs Nest Doorbell is glitchy. After lots of complaints, itâs finally getting a fix. No confirmation on when, but itâs still good to know, in case you were considering replacing yours. Boost your Mac: Widgets put reminders, appointments, birthdays, the weather, top headlines, notes and more right on your desktop. Scroll to the bottom of the Notification Center and click Edit Widgets. Click the add button in the corner of any widget, and drag it around to reorder. Goop, begone: Grab a ball of Blu-Tack and press it into your earbud speakers. Pull it away, and all the junk inside comes out with it. Gross, I know. Shopping sites donât want me to tell you this: Prices change on some online retailer websites depending on where you live. Use the VPN I use, ExpressVPN,* and switch servers until you find the lowest price. Buy through there, then ship it to your home address. |
WHAT THE TECH?This was me last weekend. |
Komando Referral ProgramShare this newsletter â Earn prizes!Step 1: Sign up here to get your unique referral link:Step 2: Share your link!Post it on social media, send it in a text or paste it into an email to a pal. If they sign up using that link, you get the credit! |
UNTIL NEXT TIME âŚđ The answer: The worldâs first website launched in 1991 to give details about the âWorld Wide Web Project.â It looks pretty darn boring, but itâs still online here. Take control of your online life. Start by wiping out all the info about you on data broker and people-search sites with Incogni. Go to PrivacyKim.com to stop the spam. I did! See you back here tomorrow with jobs of the past, jobs of the future and jobs of today that are â poof! â simply disappearing. â Kim |