6 holiday scams you need to know about
Whoa, we blinked and it’s mid-November! The days are shorter, your to-do list is longer, and scammers are ready to catch you off guard. Luckily, you’ve got me on your side with the top holiday scams.
Criminals and AI voice bots are calling, emailing and texting, claiming to be Amazon employees. Oh, no, your account is on hold! Or there’s been suspicious activity you need to deal with now. They’ll ask you for your payment info — that’s a glaring red flag.
Mark Zuckerberg x T-Pain – 'Get Low' (Z-Pain)
I hope you’re ready for Zuck’s “Get Low” cover. Heads-up: The lyrics are pretty explicit. In case you love it, they also dropped it on Spotify under the artist name “Z-Pain.” Does anyone have a Tylenol? I need a Z-Painkiller after listening to that.
Amazon’s next big delivery: Jeff Bezos, 60, and Lauren Sanchez, 54, are tying the knot in a very expensive (I can’t even imagine), festive Aspen wedding this Christmas. Hey, Lauren, share your Amazon wedding registry list with me. I’m not sure if you already have these “Let’s get ship-faced” glasses on your $500,000,000 yacht, but I’m guessing knot.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
LG’s display tech just hit a big milestone: 50% stretchability. Imagine pulling out your phone and being able to twist and turn it all around.
🤖 No truckin’ around: Late musician Jerry Garcia’s voice has been cloned by AI company Eleven Labs. Grateful Dead fans using the ElevenReader app (on iOS and Android) can now listen to the legendary guitarist read audiobooks, articles, poetry, PDFs and more in 32 languages. His daughter says it’s all about continuing his legacy as a tech enthusiast. Uh-huh … I’m seeing dollar signs all over this.
Social Security recipients get a 2.5% raise in January: Scammers are on it. The increase will show up automatically in your bank account or as a check in the mail, no action needed. If anyone contacts you asking for “extra steps” to get your raise, it’s a scam. Report any suspected fraud.
🥊 Night-night, th-leep tight: YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson’s boxing match is happening this week after months of delays. The odds are favoring Tyson, at plus-190. Paul’s a lot younger, but he’s never fought in the heavyweight division. Who knows? His big brother is kicking butt (literally) in the WWE.
🔥 Fire and burn risk recall alert: Over 500,000 Govee Life and Govee Smart electric space heaters are being recalled, with the model numbers H7130, H7130101, H7131, H7132, H7133, H7134 and H7135. If you’ve got one, stop using it ASAP and get a refund.
Bad idea: Mozilla has collected more than 30,000 hours of voice recordings from volunteers worldwide. Its Common Voice project is a free public dataset anyone can use to train AI software in 180 languages. Here’s the catch: Mozilla won’t say how or who will use your voice. Don’t add yours.
The Beatles’ newest hit: “Now and Then” is the first AI-assisted song to earn a Grammy nomination. Released in November 2023, “Now and Then” was restored using a type of AI called “stem separation,” which cleaned up the 60-year-old, low-fidelity demo originally recorded by John Lennon. The result? A finished master recording. Ah, there’s hope for me to win a Grammy yet.