The Fitbit app is no more. Along with the launch of the new Fitbit Air (which you can expect a full review of once we’ve spent more time with it), Google has officially replaced it with Google Health, as previously announced, and many of the responses we’ve seen so far are full of confusion, frustration, and requests to get the old app back.
Technology
Identity theft losses surge 70% for older Americans
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The FBI has just released its latest annual internet crime report, and the numbers are staggering: Americans filed 1,008,597 complaints with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) last year, with losses nearing $20.9 billion.
Buried in the new data is an eerily familiar trend getting more expensive for older adults. Identity theft complaints involving Americans 60 and older totaled 5,359 complaints and $48.5 million in reported losses in 2025, a steep jump from the year before.
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DO YOU KNOW THE TRUE COST OF IDENTITY THEFT?
Identity theft tied to major data broker breaches has cost Americans more than $20 billion over the past decade, according to a Senate report analyzing hundreds of millions of exposed records. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Seniors account for a disproportionate share of losses
The report shows a clear fault line by age. Americans 60 and older filed more than 200,000 complaints in 2025, with reported losses reaching $7.7 billion, the highest total of any age group. By comparison, people in their 30s and 40s submitted more complaints overall, but reported lower total losses. Complaints from older adults more often involve bank accounts, retirement funds, and investment portfolios, where a single identity fraud incident can result in a large withdrawal or transfer.
IC3 data is based on self-reported complaints submitted by victims and businesses throughout the year. Each report includes details such as transaction type, payment method, and estimated losses. The FBI aggregates these submissions to identify where money is moving and which groups are being affected.
Identity theft appears within this data as one of several fraud types. Identity theft prompts fewer complaints than categories such as investment or tech support scams. In many cases, it’s used to get access to existing accounts, where stolen personal details can pass verification checks and move funds.
Identity theft losses trail other fraud types
Investment scams led all categories in 2025, with reported losses of more than $4.5 billion. Business email compromise followed, with losses exceeding $2.9 billion, while tech support scams accounted for more than $1 billion. These categories make up a large share of the $7.7 billion in total losses mentioned earlier.
Identity theft sits below those totals, though it remains part of how some of these cases unfold. Among victims age 60 and older, identity theft complaints added up to $48.5 million in reported losses last year. That’s a roughly 70% increase from 2024.
Other federal data shows how common identity theft remains. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) receives more than a million identity theft reports each year, placing it among the most frequently reported consumer issues, even as total losses remain lower than other fraud types.
5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
How are victims getting scammed?
Complaints from older Americans span a wide range of fraud types, with a few categories appearing consistently across IC3 reports.
- High-volume scams: The most frequently reported complaints include phishing and spoofing, tech support scams, and government impersonation, all of which involve direct contact through phone calls, emails, or online messages. Other commonly reported cases include non-payment or non-delivery scams, extortion, and personal data breaches, each contributing to overall complaint volume among victims aged 60 and older.
- High-loss scams: The categories tied to the largest losses are different. Investment scams, business email compromises, and confidence or romance scams account for a significant share of reported losses, even with fewer complaints.
- New categories also appear in the 2025 data. AI-related scams are included for the first time, with thousands of complaints and substantial reported losses among older victims. Charity fraud is also listed as a newly reported fraud type for this group.
An identity theft victim in Albany, New York, looks over documents he’s gathered. Victims of identity theft frequently spend weeks disputing fraudulent accounts, contacting lenders and restoring their credit reports after stolen data is misused. (John Carl D’Annibale/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
How to avoid these scams
With losses climbing, knowing how these scams work and how to spot them early can make all the difference.
1) Limit how personal information is shared
Be cautious when asked for Social Security numbers or account credentials. Government agencies, banks, and tech companies do not request this information through unsolicited calls, emails, or messages.
2) Pause before sending money
Scams that lead to the largest losses often involve urgency. Requests to move money quickly – especially through wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or gift cards – should be treated with caution. Taking time to verify the request can prevent large losses.
3) Verify contacts independently
If a message claims to be from a bank or government agency, use a known phone number or official website to confirm. Do not rely on contact details provided in the message itself.
4) Watch for unusual account activity
Regularly review bank and investment accounts for unfamiliar transactions. Small or unexpected changes can be an early sign of unwanted access.
5) Use account protections where available
Enable two-factor authentication and account alerts where possible. These tools can help flag or block unauthorized access attempts.
Monitoring can help catch identity misuse earlier
When identity theft happens, the first sign could be a new account or a transaction the account holder didn’t authorize. Credit monitoring and identity protection services can track activity across credit files and financial accounts, alerting users when new accounts are opened or when personal information appears in known data breaches.
That can give victims a window to act, such as freezing credit, locking accounts, or disputing fraudulent activity, before they lose money. Many services also offer identity theft insurance and fraud resolution support, helping cover certain losses and guiding victims through the recovery process.
If fraud does happen, that support can include working directly with banks, credit bureaus, and creditors to restore accounts and remove fraudulent activity.
For older Americans, where accounts often hold larger balances, timing can mean the difference between a small loss and a much larger one, and how quickly accounts are restored.
MICROSOFT ‘IMPORTANT MAIL’ EMAIL IS A SCAM: HOW TO SPOT IT
No service can prevent every kind of identity theft. However, monitoring tools and guided recovery support can make it easier to detect suspicious activity early and respond quickly.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at Cyberguy.com
Kurt’s key takeaways
OpenAI joins the Global Anti-Scam Alliance as bad actors use AI to scam victims out of money and data. (Halfpoint/Getty Images)
The numbers tell a clear story. While identity theft may not top the list of total losses, it plays a critical role in how many of the biggest scams succeed. For older Americans, the stakes are higher because the accounts being targeted often hold decades of savings. What stands out isn’t just the increase in complaints. It’s how fraud is evolving. Scammers are combining tactics, using identity theft to unlock accounts, then moving money through investment scams, impersonation schemes or social engineering attacks. Once they get in, the damage can escalate quickly. The takeaway is simple. Slowing down, verifying requests and adding basic protections like alerts and two-factor authentication can make a real difference. Catching suspicious activity early often determines whether a loss stays small or becomes life-changing.
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If scammers only need one piece of your personal information to get started, how confident are you that yours isn’t already out there? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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One post on Reddit calls out a common issue, saying, “I can’t even completely fill up my home screen. They only have 2 large tiles available and I can’t just scroll down to see everything.” The landing page has a small section up top showing steps and some other basic stats, but part of the app’s main page is now reserved for recent activity updates and chatty notes from Google’s AI health coach.
The AI didn’t have much to say to me, but for my senior editor, Richard Lawler, it started a conversation about today’s plans that he wasn’t quite ready to have with a chatbot.
Screenshot: Richard Lawler / Google
Not everyone is annoyed by the AI bot however, with one person commenting, “When I ask it to design a moderate workout using my office gym equipment, circuit style, I usually end up feeling great afterwards.” Another person called it “quite a helpful feature,” showing how they were able to update their sleep log with a missed session by chatting with the AI bot.
Another user said, “This graphic UI looks like something an 8 year old would make,” while someone else complained, “Why must I now scroll through paragraphs of AI slop on every tab before I can actually see my activities and data? I don’t want or need to read platitudes about my 15 minute walk to the grocery store. I want to see my stats from my morning run.”
One post on Google’s help center sums things up, saying, “This app is a huge disappointment and a total time drain to get minimal results. How can I get back to using what worked?!” Many others were in agreement, with one reply saying, “it’s no longer a genuine fitness app.”
On Google’s blog post, its sample image shows a version of the Today screen with all of the information and an AI chat that we couldn’t get to show up, but did appear for some users. There doesn’t seem to be any way to remove the Ask Coach / activity window that takes up so much of the screen, but the bot can be disabled from within the new app’s Feature Privacy Controls.
1/3
Even though I knew the switch to Google Health was coming, I was still disoriented for the first several minutes after opening the app this morning.
If you want to see more of your stats and health tracking data, you have to either swipe left in the small top box on the “Today” page or tab over to the “Health” page. To find logs for my rowing workouts that I had stored in the old Fitbit app, I had to go into “Health,” then down to the “Fitness” section in “Focus areas”, where my logs were viewable under “Exercise days.” In the old Fitbit app, I could see the “Exercise days” block by just scrolling down on the app’s main “Today” page.
According to a support page, if you have a supported wearable connected, Google Health shows two additional tabs for Fitness and Sleep that would make things easier, but before the redesign I didn’t need those. While Google’s Rishi Chandra told The Verge earlier this month that Google Health will eventually support third-party wearables, my Nothing Watch Pro 3 currently isn’t enough to unlock those two extra tabs.
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It starts with a small moment that feels a little too coincidental. You say something out loud, then an ad shows up that feels way too specific.
Bill recently reached out to us asking if the Apple devices in his home are actually spying on him.
It is a fair concern. The short answer is no, your Apple devices are not secretly recording everything you say. But they are listening in specific ways and collecting some data. Once you understand how it works, you can decide what to change. If you have an Android, here are the privacy settings you should review.
The iPhone actually collects some data based on your settings but does not secretly record your conversations. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
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What is actually happening behind the scenes
To understand what is really going on, it helps to break down how your devices listen, what data gets collected and where the bigger risks live.
Voice assistants are always on standby
If you use Siri on your iPhone or other Apple devices, your device is always listening locally for the wake phrase. It isn’t recording full conversations. When it hears the trigger, it starts processing your request.
MUST-DO PRIVACY SETTINGS ON YOUR IPHONE IN IOS 18.1
Siri may send that request to Apple’s servers when needed, although much of the processing now happens directly on your device. Even so, accidental activations happen. That can lead to short snippets of audio being processed when you did not intend it.
Apple still collects some data
Apple markets itself as privacy-focused, especially compared to Google and Meta Platforms. That is generally true, but Apple still gathers certain types of data, depending on your settings, including:
- Device usage patterns
- Location data if enabled
- Siri interactions
- App analytics if you allow it
5 TECH TERMS THAT SHAPE YOUR ONLINE PRIVACY
Apple says much of this is anonymized; simply put, that means it isn’t directly tied to your name or identity, but it still exists.
Apps are often the bigger privacy risk
Here is where things get more important.
Most privacy exposure does not come from Apple itself. It comes from the apps you install.
Many apps request access to:
- Your microphone
- Your camera
- Your contacts
- Your location
If you approve those permissions, apps can collect more data than you expect. Some of that data can be shared with advertisers or third parties.
IS THAT IPHONE APP SPYING? APPLE’S APP PRIVACY REPORT REVEALS ALL
Why it feels like your phone is listening to you
You have probably had this experience. You mention something out loud, then an ad appears later. That usually has nothing to do with your microphone.
Instead, it is driven by:
- Your browsing activity and search history
- Tracking data from websites
- Location patterns
- Data brokers connecting activity across devices
All of that creates a detailed profile of your interests. The ads feel personal because they are based on your behavior, not your conversations.
How to take control of your iPhone privacy settings
If you want more control over your privacy, a few simple changes can make a big difference.
1) Turn off “Hey Siri” if you do not use it
- Go to Settings
- Tap Apple Intelligence & Siri
- Tap “Talk & Type to Siri”
- Disable “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’” by tapping Off
2) Review which apps can use your microphone
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Microphone
- Turn off access for apps that do not need it
3) Limit app tracking
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Tracking
- Turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”
4) Disable analytics sharing
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Scroll down and tap Analytics & Improvements
- Turn everything off
5) Check location access
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Location Services
- Set most apps to “While Using” or “Never”
IS YOUR PHONE LISTENING TO EVERYTHING YOU SAY? IT’S COMPLICATED
Start in Settings to review the privacy controls that determine what data your iPhone can access and share. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
6) Review camera access
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Camera
- Turn off access for any app that does not truly need it
7) Turn off Bluetooth tracking for apps
Some apps use Bluetooth to track nearby devices or location patterns.
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Bluetooth
- Turn off access for apps that do not need it
8) Check Photos access (often overlooked)
Apps can access your entire photo library, including metadata like location.
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Photos
- Set apps to “Selected Photos” or “None” where possible
9) Use Apple’s App Privacy Report
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Scroll down and tap App Privacy Report
Turn it on to see which apps access your data and when
10 Audit location system services (advanced but valuable)
- Go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Location Services
- Click System Services
Some of these run quietly in the background. You can turn several off without affecting how your iPhone works day to day.
Turn these OFF (for more privacy, minimal impact)
- Alerts & Shortcuts Automations (only needed if you use location-based automations)
- Apple Pay Merchant Identification (used to verify store location during payments)
- Cell Network Search (helps Apple improve carrier data)
- Device Management (mainly for work or enterprise devices)
- Home (only needed if you use Apple Home automations tied to location)
- In-App Web Browsing (not essential for most users)
- Suggestions & Search (location-based Siri suggestions)
- System Customization (personalized system behavior)
- iPhone Analytics (shares location data with Apple)
- Improve Maps (sends location data to improve Apple Maps)
Optional depending on your usage:
- Routing & Traffic (turn off if you don’t use Apple Maps for navigation)
Leave these ON (core features & accuracy)
- Emergency Calls & SOS (critical for emergency response)
- Find My iPhone (needed to locate a lost device)
- Networking & Wireless (improves GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth accuracy)
- Compass Calibration (keeps directions accurate)
- Motion Calibration & Distance (used for fitness and movement tracking)
- Setting Time Zone (automatically updates time when traveling)
- Satellite Connection (important for emergency connectivity on newer iPhones)
- Wi-Fi Calling (helps with calls in weak signal areas)
Leave ON (unless you have a specific reason)
- Share My Location (turn off only if you don’t use Find My sharing)
- Significant Locations & Routes → TURN OFF if you want maximum privacy (This tracks places you visit frequently.)
What those arrows mean (from your screen)
- Purple arrow = recently used your location
- Gray arrow = used your location in the last 24 hours
You don’t need to flip everything off. Focus on ads, analytics, suggestions and tracking features. Those give you the biggest privacy win without breaking anything.
11) Add an extra layer of protection
Even with strong settings, your data can still circulate through data brokers or exposed databases. Using an identity protection service can help monitor your personal data, alert you to suspicious activity and add financial safeguards if something goes wrong. See my tips and best picks on best identity theft protection at CyberGuy.com.
Turning off analytics sharing limits how much usage and location data your device sends back to Apple. (Portra/Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Apple devices are not secretly recording your conversations all day. Still, they do listen for Siri and collect certain types of data. The bigger concern comes from the apps you install and the broader tracking ecosystem that follows you across the internet. The good news is you have more control than you might think. A few minutes in your settings can significantly reduce what your devices share.
If your devices already know so much based on your behavior alone, how much privacy are you willing to trade for convenience going forward? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
- Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox.
- For simple, real-world ways to spot scams early and stay protected, visit CyberGuy.com – trusted by millions who watch CyberGuy on TV daily.
- Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide free when you join.
Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Nearly four years after the last version of Sennheiser’s Momentum headphones debuted with a redesign that traded a retro aesthetic for a more contemporary and comfortable design, the company has announced its Momentum 5 Wireless headphones. They look very similar to their predecessors, the Momentum 4, with large ear cups and a design that doesn’t quite stand out from the competition. But under the hood there are welcome upgrades, including improved ANC and, for the first time, a user-replaceable battery to extend their life.
The Momentum 5 Wireless will be available starting on June 30th for $399.99, a $50 price bump over the Momentum 4. The headphones feature the same 42mm drivers as the Momentum 3 and 4 models, but Sennheiser is introducing “Hi-Res Audio certification” and expanding the Momentum 5’s Bluetooth codec support to include AptX Lossless. That allows the headphones to stream 16-bit/44.1kHz CD-quality sound, but only from devices with a Qualcomm processor supporting that codec through the Snapdragon Sound platform. Smartphones from Sony and Motorola should be compatible, however Samsung, Google, and Apple devices won’t be.
Sennheiser has also doubled the number of microphones on the Momentum 5, which now feature four on each side to improve noise cancellation. The company claims its latest headphones are up to three times more effective at reducing the sound of voice chatter and the drone experienced in airplane cabins. The upgraded ANC and added mics also help improve call quality, both when it comes to picking up your voice and ensuring you can hear the person you’re talking to.
The Momentum 5’s battery life lasts up to 57 hours. It’s a small hit from the Momentum 4’s 60 hours, but still nearly double what you’ll get from the Sony WH-1000XM6, which can only muster up to 30 hours with ANC turned on. Other Momentum 5 upgrades include a new carrying case that’s 20 percent smaller, support for Dolby Atmos and spatial audio with head tracking, and the ability to upgrade from Bluetooth 5.4 to Bluetooth 6.0 with a future firmware update, although Sennheiser didn’t share a timeline for that.
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