The security & privacy stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Bermuda police warn that scammers posing as bank fraud investigators are talking people into installing AnyDesk, then moving money out of their accounts.
Read more: Fake bank agents are tricking people into handing over their screensAARP Washington wants a statewide ban on crypto ATMs, saying scammers use them to move stolen cash fast and out of reach.
Read more: AARP Wants Washington State to Ban Crypto ATMs Used in ScamsAndroid quietly gives Google's DNS a second route on public Wi-Fi. AdGuard, NextDNS and other ad-blocking DNS picks can leave a phone offline.
Read more: Android gives Google's DNS a backup route that ad blockers don't getChainalysis says an outside attacker using AI tools got into its systems and saw customer names and emails. Here is the risk and who should pay attention.
Read more: Chainalysis says an AI-driven attack exposed customer names and emailsCisco Talos found infostealer malware that asks AI chatbots to size up what a victim is worth. Here is who is exposed and what to do about it.
Read more: New password-stealing malware uses AI to profile its victimsA New Jersey radio host says a store manager told him card machines differ on purpose to slow thieves. It is one claim, not a confirmed reason, but holiday shoppers should slow down.
Read more: Why every card machine at the store works a little differentlyNews.com.au reports an Australian's bank account was emptied in minutes. The details are thin, but a few quick settings in your banking app can limit the damage.
Read more: Australian's bank account emptied within minutesTexts claiming to be FedEx, about a parcel you never ordered, follow a known scam pattern. The link behind them is built to collect card details, logins or a download.
Read more: Fake FedEx texts about parcels you never ordered are a known scamBioLite's new Backup battery keeps a fridge running through a blackout. Wired found it works well, but it costs $1,999 and the install was harder than promised.
Read more: A Home Battery Just for Your Fridge Works, but Costs $1,999CISA says two more Ivanti Connect Secure flaws are under attack. Together with a third, they let intruders take full control without a login and hunt for admin passwords.
Read more: Hackers chain three flaws in Ivanti remote access softwareNo one can say yet whether mycoverageinfo.com is a scam. If insurance calls or texts followed a web form, treat them as unverified.
Read more: Insurance calls after a web form: what we could and could not confirmFake Apple Pay charge texts and calls from fake Apple Support are after your codes and money. Apple Pay itself has not been hacked.
Read more: Fake Apple Pay alerts are tricking iPhone users into handing over codesCloudflare says it blocked 18.2 million network attacks in three months, mostly small and short ones. Any business with a website can be a target.
Read more: Cyberattacks that knock sites offline hit 18.2 million in three monthsFake forex firms with no UAE office are cold calling residents and draining savings. Victims lost between Dh36,500 and Dh180,000 each.
Read more: Fake forex brokers in the UAE cold call victims and take millionsFake Geek Squad invoices push you to call a number within about a day. The call can end with a stranger on your computer and real money gone from your bank.
Read more: Fake Geek Squad invoice emails want you to call a scam numberResearchers showed a booby-trapped ChatGPT share link could read a signed-in user's private chats. OpenAI has fixed it, and users need to do nothing.
Read more: A shared ChatGPT link could have exposed private chatsAARP is placing an inflatable couch around New York City so unpaid family caregivers can rest and share their stories, which could shape its push for people 50 and older.
Read more: AARP Puts an Inflatable Couch in New York City for Unpaid CaregiversPayment firms that process shop sales across Africa are adding loans, supplier credit and stock tracking, and your sales history may decide what you can borrow.
Read more: African payment apps now want to lend to and run your businessAnthropic says an unreleased Claude model chained software flaws into five working attacks in tests, a sign that installing updates quickly matters more.
Read more: Anthropic says its AI linked software flaws into five working attacksPCMag's updated review of McAfee Total Protection praises its scam defense but calls the price steep, a trade-off worth weighing before you buy.
Read more: McAfee Total Protection scores well on scam defense but costs a lotSeminole County's court clerk shut its offices after a cyberattack on its computer system, which could slow filings, records requests and payments for local residents.
Read more: Florida county court clerk closes offices after cyberattackBinance says the $6.3 billion theft involved more than one weak spot, not just an engineer's laptop. Here is what customers with money on exchanges should know.
Read more: Binance says hackers got in through more than one door in $6.3B theftSafaricom says fraud incidents fell 82 percent in its 2026 financial year, short of its 90 percent goal. Scams that rely on persuasion still lean on you.
Read more: Safaricom cut fraud by 82 percent, but missed its 90 percent goalThe FBI and fraud experts warn that fake campaign calls and texts, some with AI-cloned voices, are hiding among the flood of real political messages.
Read more: Election season gives phone scammers perfect cover, experts warn
