From its opening minutes, Moves of the Diamond Hand is upfront about what it offers: You’re going to have a lot of strange conversations, and you’re going to roll a lot of dice. Get on board with this proposition, and the reward is one of the most creative roleplaying games I’ve seen in years, even if its many mysteries won’t be resolved until 2027.
Technology
FBI warns email users as holiday scams surge
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Holiday shopping creates a perfect storm for cybercriminals.
The FBI says scammers target Gmail, Outlook and nearly every other inbox this time of year as they push fake messages that trick you into giving up money or sensitive information.
These schemes move fast, and victims often do not realize what happened until their bank accounts show charges they never made.
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NEW SCAM SENDS FAKE MICROSOFT 365 LOGIN PAGES
Scammers use realistic emails during the holiday rush, so even normal inbox alerts can hide dangerous threats. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why the FBI is raising the alarm
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center notes that Americans lose more than $785 million to non-payment and non-delivery scams during the holiday cycle and the months that follow. Credit card fraud pushed losses higher by another $199 million. Complaints usually surge in the early months of the year, which the IC3 ties to holiday activity that happens in November and December.
The agency highlights four major schemes that spike during the season. They include non-delivery scams, where you pay for items that never arrive; non-payment scams, where sellers get nothing after shipping items; auction fraud, where the product is not what the listing claimed; and gift card fraud, where criminals push victims to pay with prepaid cards.
The FBI says one click on a suspicious link can install malware. That malware can capture your name, password and bank account number. Criminals use that information to break into accounts faster than most people expect.
NEW EMAIL SCAM USES HIDDEN CHARACTERS TO SLIP PAST FILTERS
Watching for warning signs and slowing down before clicking helps protect your money and your accounts. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
A growing problem with account takeover scams
The agency is also tracking a sharp rise in account takeover attacks. Since January 2025, IC3 has received more than 5,100 complaints tied to these scams with reported losses of over $262 million.
These attacks start with social engineering. Criminals impersonate bank workers, customer service staff or fraud teams. They send fake emails, texts or calls that claim your account has a problem. Victims then face pressure to share login credentials, multi-factor authentication codes or one-time passcodes.
Criminals also create phishing sites that look like real banking or payroll portals. Some even buy search ads so the fake sites appear at the top of the results. Once a victim enters their information, scammers log in, lock out the real owner and move money. Many transfers go through cryptocurrency wallets to hide the trail.
Criminals design phishing messages to look urgent, pushing people to act fast and give up sensitive information. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to stay safe from holiday email scams
You can lower your risk with a few simple habits.
1) Be cautious with links and attachments
Avoid opening links or files in emails, websites or social media posts you did not expect. Also, use strong antivirus software to catch malware if you accidentally click on something unsafe.
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
2) Look up companies on your own
If a message asks you to update your password or account information, find the company’s phone number yourself and call to verify it.
3) Watch for pressure tactics
Scammers create a sense of urgency. Slow down and confirm what you are being told.
4) Limit what scammers can find about you online
Use a data removal service to pull your personal information off data broker sites. These services scan dozens of brokers that publish your phone number, home address, email and even shopping habits. When less of your data is exposed, scammers have fewer details to use when crafting convincing phishing emails or impersonating trusted companies. This makes it harder for criminals to target you with personalized attacks during the holiday shopping rush.
While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
5) Limit what scammers can find about you online
Use a data removal service to pull your information off data broker sites. This reduces the personal details criminals use to craft convincing phishing messages.
6) Check the website address before signing in
Look for odd spellings or domains that seem out of place. Banks never send sign-in links that redirect through unfamiliar sites.
7) Protect your accounts
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA), avoid reusing passwords and update your passwords as soon as you hear about a new scam or data leak that could affect you. Consider using a password manager, which securely stores and generates complex passwords, reducing the risk of password reuse.
Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.
Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 at Cyberguy.com.
8) Use email aliases to protect your main inbox
Create alias email addresses for shopping and sign-ups. These aliases forward messages to your primary inbox and help reduce spam. They also limit how much of your real information scammers can access if a retailer or website faces a breach.
9) Act fast if money is stolen
The FBI says victims should contact their financial institutions as soon as they notice fraud. Request a recall or reversal and ask for a hold harmless letter or letter of indemnity. Then reset every credential connected to the exposed password, including any account that uses the same login.
For recommendations on private and secure email providers that offer alias addresses, visit Cyberguy.com.
10) Report scams right away
The FBI urges victims to report fraudulent activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov). Quick reporting helps investigators track new scam patterns and may improve recovery chances.
Kurt’s Key takeaways
Cybercriminals count on distraction during the holiday rush. Staying alert helps keep your inbox, money and personal information safer. Awareness is your strongest tool, and even small steps make a big difference when scams grow more advanced every year.
What scams have you seen hit your inbox this season, and how did you handle them? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Moves of the Diamond Hand is an Early Access videogame available on PC, macOS, and steamOS (including the Steam Deck, where I played it) from musician and game designer Cosmo D. The game looks and feels like a 2000s-era first-person RPG or immersive sim: environments are grimy, stark, and blocky; characters’ features are stretched over smooth heads a bit too small for their faces; an eerie soundtrack pulses over all. You’ll arrive on a train and immediately meet an old mentor, disgraced by some kind of political scandal. You convey your desire to join a powerful organization called Circus X, then declare which of several wildly different paths you’ll take into its fold — you can try joining the city council, but could find equal success crafting the perfect sandwich or joining the best band.
These options help introduce the central mechanic. The game gives you one upgradeable die for each of seven stats, ranging from standard fare like Physique and Observation to the more idiosyncratic Cooking and Music. To set a challenge, it will roll a die corresponding to one of those attributes, and you’ve got to match or beat it with your own roll.
Once you emerge into the train station, the complexity quickly multiplies. There are a plethora of sub-mechanics including cooking, performing music, laundering disguises, and mixing cocktails — all of which add additional dice with unique quirks. You can selectively re-roll dice in a manner similar to Yahtzee, introducing an element of strategy within each encounter, and your final score (win or lose) is translated into experience points. The basic system was introduced in Cosmo D’s last game, Betrayal at Club Low, but in a less flexible and elegant form; Diamond Hand feels like its evolution. (Disclosure: My husband has provided outside feedback for Cosmo D’s games.)
It’s all a little intimidating at first. But the game allows you to ease into its options, which happens quickly, since you’re rolling for virtually every action and verbal exchange from making small talk to opening a door. There’s a meaningful element of chance to all this, without descending into unbounded randomness. Some rolls can be mathematically impossible to win or lose at a given skill level, but it’s possible to still damage your health or gain an unwelcome status effect with safe challenges, preventing them from becoming purely rote. You can retry most actions if you fail them, but they’ll become slightly more difficult on a second attempt, so there’s a constant balancing act of deciding when to take the initial leap. The ambient low-level risk makes even simple spaces feel substantive and engaging — it negates the common RPG urge to speed through environmental detail and flavor text while looking for the “real” parts of the game.
Through countless skill checks, you’ll internalize the odd logic of the game’s world. The setting, Off-Peak City, is a garish metropolis shaped by the machinations of sinister corporations, corrupt politicians, and shady operatives, but also musicians, restaurateurs, and literally and figuratively underground tailors — a neon retro-future for streetwise aesthetes. What might be niche skills in any other game prove extraordinarily powerful here. The Music stat, whose uses include sewing (machines can, among other options, be literally operated by improvisation), calming aggressive animal-human hybrids (by whistling tunes), and mixology (which can be performed “rhythmically”), is arguably the single strongest power in the game.
Circus X, you’ll soon learn, is a secretive arts institution that influences everything from politics to the sandwich supply chain — imagine the Factory crossed with the Freemasons. While pursuing membership, you’re embroiled in a local election between a scandal-plagued technocrat, a former boy-band star, and the corporate-controlled clone of a mayor from decades past. In place of a Maltese Falcon, everyone’s scheming for control of a sentient Big Mouth Billy Bass. And meddling behind the scenes is the mysterious, anarchic Diamond Hand, frequently alluded to but not explained.
Diamond Hand’s story evokes real-world parallels, but as a jumping-off point for something that’s rich and alive in its own right. In perhaps the most obvious example, a company in Off-Peak City is pumping the place full of clones, supplanting human artists with corporate-guardrailed regurgitations of old media. But rather than stop at commentary, the game walks this out to explore the idea that clones are also conscious beings who are frustrated by their creative limits and lack of autonomy, while letting human characters reflect on their own relationship with nostalgia and artistic taste.
Put this all together and you’ve got a hard-boiled sci-fi thriller involving subway busking, finding library books, stumping for politicians, harvesting lettuce, arguing about jazz, and doing laundry, infused with the lizard-brain appeal of a nonstop game of chance. It’s irresistible.
Most of Diamond Hand’s main quests end in roadblocks, because its Early Access build includes only the first two of six chapters, with the next scheduled for this summer and a full launch set for the spring of 2027. But even in its current state, Diamond Hand is dense and tantalizing, delivering a string of absurd premises and dry humor with a straight face. (Among many tossed-off jokes that are also actual game mechanics, local pizza-makers require everyone to bake their own pie, so if you don’t like your order, you have only yourself to blame.) You’re granted experience points for letting characters ramble through their backstories and opinions — which lands somewhere between a sly gag about RPG infodumping and a straightforwardly clever decision — but the dialogue pays off even without that prize.
And for all its dystopian elements, there’s something idealistic about a world where art, for good or ill, deeply matters. Diamond Hand may be a work in progress, but it’s a recipe for becoming obsessed with skill and perfection, chasing the world’s greatest sandwich and the string of lucky dice rolls that will get you there.
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Getting hacked once is scary enough. But getting hacked again after changing carriers, replacing cards and trying to recover your accounts can make it feel like the criminals are always one step ahead. That is exactly what happened to Lela in Ohio, who reached out after a frightening string of account takeovers.
“All my accounts have been hacked,” Lela said. “I had my phone number transferred to another carrier, AT&T, and I’m experiencing it again. They have hacked my phone number again.” She said criminals accessed her checking accounts, credit cards and even started charging new cards before she received them.
Then she asked the question anyone in her situation would be asking: “Should I be just getting a new phone number instead of trying to recover the number I’ve had for 20 years?”
The answer is maybe, but changing your number should rarely be the first move. A new number can help in some cases. However, if hackers still control your email, bank login, recovery settings or wireless account, they may keep breaking back in.
SCAMMERS TARGET WIRELESS CUSTOMERS IN NEW PHONE SCHEME
A SIM swap or port-out scam can let criminals take over your phone number and intercept security codes for sensitive accounts. (Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images)
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Why your phone number matters so much
Your phone number may feel harmless. After all, it is how friends, family, doctors and businesses reach you. But today, that number is also connected to some of your most important accounts. It may be tied to your bank accounts, credit cards, email accounts, Apple ID, Google account, medical portals, shopping accounts and password resets.
That makes it valuable to criminals. If a scammer takes control of your number, they may receive your calls and text messages. That includes security codes meant only for you. From there, they can reset passwords, break into email, access financial accounts and keep returning even after you think you fixed the problem.
What is a SIM swap or port-out scam?
A SIM swap scam happens when a criminal tricks your mobile carrier into moving your phone number to a SIM card or eSIM they control. A port-out scam happens when they move your number to another carrier.
Once that happens, your phone may suddenly lose service. Meanwhile, the scammer may start receiving your calls and texts. That can give them access to verification codes for email, banking, credit cards and other accounts.
In some cases, victims do not realize what happened until money disappears or accounts get locked.
Should Lela get a new phone number?
Maybe, but not immediately. If Lela gives up her long-time number too fast, she could lose access to accounts that still use that number for recovery. Even worse, if a criminal still controls the old number, they may continue receiving password reset codes for accounts tied to it. Before changing the number, she should secure the number she has and update her most important accounts.
A new number may make sense if the number keeps being targeted despite carrier protections. It may also help if hackers keep using it to reset accounts, the carrier confirms unauthorized SIM swaps or too many accounts tied to that number have already been compromised. A new number may also be worth considering if the old number is widely exposed on the dark web or data broker sites. Still, keeping the number may be safer for now if she needs it to recover critical accounts.
First, lock down the wireless account
Lela should call AT&T directly using the official number on AT&T’s website or on her bill. She should avoid numbers from texts, emails or voicemails. She should ask AT&T to check for SIM swap attempts, port-out requests, unauthorized account changes, new devices, call forwarding, number transfer activity and unknown authorized users.
Then she should ask AT&T to add stronger protections, including a strong account PIN, port-out freeze or number transfer lock, SIM lock if available and extra account verification. She should also remove any unknown authorized users. This makes it much harder for criminals to move her number again.
Secure your email before changing everything else
Your email is often the master key to your digital life. If a hacker controls your email, they can reset passwords for banks, credit cards, shopping accounts and social media. Before changing every password, Lela should make sure her main email account is clean and secure.
She should change her email password from a safe device, sign out of all sessions, check recovery email addresses, review recovery phone numbers and remove unknown forwarding rules. She should also review connected apps and devices and turn on stronger two-factor authentication (2FA). If email remains compromised, a hacker can keep undoing every recovery step.
Stop relying on text message codes
Text message codes are better than having no protection. However, they become risky when criminals target your phone number. For important accounts, use an authenticator app, a security key or passkeys where available.
This matters most for email, banking, credit cards, Apple ID, Google account, social media, password managers, tax accounts and government accounts. This makes your accounts much harder to break into, even if a criminal gets control of your phone number.
ARE BANK TEXT CODES ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU?
Hackers can use a stolen phone number to reset passwords, break into email and access bank or credit card accounts. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Change passwords from a safe device
If your phone, tablet or computer has malware, changing passwords from that device may hand the new passwords right back to the hacker. Before resetting passwords, make sure the device is safe. Update the operating system. Delete unknown apps. Run strong antivirus protection. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
Avoid links in suspicious texts or emails. Then use a password manager to create unique passwords for every important account. Never reuse old passwords after a hack. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at CyberGuy.com.
Protect bank accounts and credit cards next
Since Lela said criminals charged new cards before she received them, she should treat this as possible identity theft or account takeover. She should call each bank and credit card company directly and ask for the fraud department. She should explain that her accounts, phone number or identity may have been compromised.
Ask each bank to cancel compromised cards, issue new card numbers, review recent activity, add verbal passwords or extra verification and remove unknown devices from online banking. She should also turn on transaction alerts and ask whether wire transfers, Zelle or other payment tools need temporary limits. Finally, she should check whether criminals opened any new accounts in her name.
Freeze your credit and file an identity theft report
If criminals have enough information to keep attacking your accounts, a credit freeze can help stop them from opening new credit in your name. Place a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can also place a fraud alert.
Then file an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov. That report can help create an official recovery plan. It can also provide documentation if banks, lenders or credit bureaus need proof.
Check whether your personal information is exposed
If scammers already have your phone number, email, address, date of birth or other personal details, they may use that information to impersonate you.
A data removal service can help reduce the amount of personal information exposed on people-search sites and data broker sites. Data removal will not fix a hacked account by itself. Still, it can reduce the information scammers use to target you again. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting CyberGuy.com.
Warning signs your phone number may still be under attack
Even after you lock things down, keep watching for signs that criminals are still trying to use your number or accounts. These red flags should get your attention fast.
1) Your phone suddenly loses service
If your phone switches to SOS mode, loses service or stops receiving calls and texts, contact your carrier right away. That can be a sign of a SIM swap or port-out attempt.
2) You receive password reset codes you did not request
Random security codes can mean someone is trying to break into one of your accounts. Do not share the code with anyone. Go directly to the account website or app and change your password from a safe device.
3) Your carrier sends account change alerts
Take any wireless account alert seriously. This includes alerts about a new SIM, eSIM, device, PIN change or number transfer request.
HOW SIM SWAPPING LED TO A $1.8M CYBER FRAUD CASE
A new phone number may help after repeated attacks, but victims should first secure email, banking and wireless account settings. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
4) Your bank alerts show strange activity
Watch for small test charges, declined transactions, new payees or changes to contact information. Criminals often test an account before making bigger moves.
5) Your email shows unfamiliar logins
Check recent login activity, connected devices, forwarding rules and recovery options. If anything looks unfamiliar, remove it and change your password.
When changing your number may be the right move
If the warning signs keep showing up after you lock things down, then changing your number may be worth considering. Changing the number may help if the current number remains a constant attack path. But before switching, Lela should update her phone number on critical accounts first.
That includes email, bank accounts, credit cards, Apple ID, Google account, Social Security account, IRS account, password manager, medical portals, insurance accounts, investment accounts, utilities and shopping accounts. Then she should remove the old number from account recovery settings wherever possible.
Do not forget account recovery settings
A common mistake after a hack is changing the password but forgetting the recovery options. If the scammer added their email, phone number or device, they may still be able to get back in.
Check every important account for recovery phone numbers, recovery email addresses, trusted devices, backup codes, linked apps, forwarding settings, authorized users and payment methods. Remove anything unfamiliar.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A new phone number can help, but it is no magic fix. If hackers still have access to Lela’s email, bank logins, recovery settings or personal information, they may keep getting back in even with a new number. The smarter order is to lock down the wireless account first. Then secure email, stop using text codes, change passwords from a safe device and protect bank accounts. After that, freeze credit, file an identity theft report and remove exposed personal information from the web. Only then should you decide whether changing your number is necessary. Your phone number may feel personal, especially if you have had it for 20 years. But once criminals use it as a doorway into your life, the real goal is cutting off every way they can use it against you.
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Have you ever had your phone number, email or bank account hacked? What was the first sign that something was wrong? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Nothing’s next budget phone is the latest victim of RAMageddon. As 9to5Google reports, Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced in a post on X that a follow-up to the CMF Phone 2 Pro won’t be coming this year:
We were working on a successor but with memory prices where they are right now, we can’t build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF. As a result, we’ve decided not to launch a new CMF phone this year.
Last week, Nothing CEO and co-founder Carl Pei also said the RAM shortage has impacted the cost of the company’s mid-range phone, stating, “For Phone 4A, memory costs doubled between when we decided to build the device and when it launched. They’ve doubled again since.” According to Pei, “memory is now the most expensive component in a smartphone.” Nothing is far from the only company facing RAM pricing challenges — earlier this week, Tim Cook announced Apple will be raising prices, saying “the situation has become unsustainable.”
While there won’t be a new CMF phone this year, Evangelidis added in his post that CMF still has “several new products launching as well as some entirely new categories.” He also hinted that “the smartphone launch season at Nothing isn’t over yet.”
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