Anthropic just released Claude Fable 5, calling it the most powerful AI model it has ever made widely available and praising its skills in biology, among others. But the model won’t answer basic biology questions — the kind you’d expect a high schooler to handle. Instead, it hands off the query to the former flagship model, Claude Opus 4.8.
Technology
Remove your personal info from the web; stop it from coming back
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The first time I tried to remove my personal information from people search sites, it was back online after a few weeks. If the same thing happened to you, you might have decided it’s just not worth the effort. This is likely by design.
Data brokers profit from your information, so they’re incentivized to make the process as difficult as possible. Sen. Maggie Hassan even called out a few data brokers recently for hiding their opt-out pages altogether. But you don’t have to let them keep your data, as long as you know what to do.
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SPRING CLEAN YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT: WHY RETIREES ARE SCAM TARGETS
A quick search of your name can reveal just how many sites are sharing your personal information without you realizing it. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to remove your personal info
The way I see it, there are two ways you can do this:
- Manually removing your information
- Using an automated data removal service
I recommend the second option. It saves a lot of time and does a more thorough job than most people will manage on their own. But if you still prefer to go about it yourself, I’ll share a step-by-step guide to help you do it as painlessly and thoroughly as possible.
Step 1: map your exposures
This step is important for when your information inevitably reappears after some time. Before you start removing anything, compile a list of places where your personal information appears or is likely to be held. Or you can compile the list yourself. The sites will likely include:
People search sites
These are the easiest to find because they’re designed to be public.
- Search: “your full name” + city, “your phone number”, “your email”
- Check beyond page 1, as many listings appear deeper in the results
- Repeat searches with: Maiden names or name variations and old locations
Private data broker databases (harder to see, but widely used)
These don’t usually show up in search results because they sell data to businesses, not individuals. You can try to infer their presence based on how your data is used, but it’s no easy feat.
This is one of the reasons I recommend using a data removal service. They narrow down which brokers are most likely to have your information based on things like your location and other markers.
But if you want to try for yourself, look for signals like:
- Getting calls or emails from companies you’ve never interacted with
- Highly specific outreach (e.g., your job title, income range, or recent move)
- Pre-filled forms with your personal details
Where your data likely came from:
- Warranty registrations
- Loyalty programs and retail purchases
- Financial, insurance, or real estate inquiries
- App usage and location data
If you’ve shared your data with a company, there’s a strong chance it’s been resold or shared with brokers behind the scenes.
Marketing and lead generation lists
These are often built for targeted advertising and outreach, and your data can circulate across many of them at once.
How to spot them:
Sudden spikes in spam after:
Signing up for a service
Entering a giveaway or quiz
Downloading a resource (e.g., ebook, discount code)
- Signing up for a service
- Entering a giveaway or quiz
- Downloading a resource (e.g., ebook, discount code)
- Emails that feel “personalized” but come from unfamiliar brands
- Messages referencing a specific interest, purchase, or life event
Where to check:
- Your email inbox (search for patterns in senders)
- SMS history for unknown marketing messages
- Unsubscribe pages (they often reveal the company or list owner)
Important: Unsubscribing usually stops messages. It doesn’t remove your data from the underlying list.
Public profile aggregators (not quite the same as people-search sites)
These sites compile information from across the web but aren’t always designed specifically for “people lookup.”
Examples include:
- Old forum profiles or community pages
- Professional directories and membership listings
- Scraped social media profiles
- Event attendee lists or speaker bios
How to find them:
Search your name in quotes + keywords like:
“profile”, “bio”, “member”, “directory”
- “profile”, “bio”, “member”, “directory”
- Search usernames you’ve used in the past
- Use image search to find reused profile photos
These are often overlooked but can still expose valuable details like your location, employer, or social links.
5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
Data broker listings often include sensitive details like your address, phone number and relatives, making removal a critical first step. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Step 2: Remove your data
Now that you’ve mapped where your data is exposed (or likely to be), it’s time to start removing it. Instead of jumping randomly between sites, work through your list in order of visibility and risk:
- People search sites (highest visibility)
- Public profile aggregators
- Marketing and lead-gen lists
- Private data brokers (least visible, but still important)
Remove your data from people-search sites
These should be your first priority because they make your personal information easy for anyone to find.
Typical process:
- Find your listing using the link you saved earlier
- Locate the “opt-out” or “remove my info” page (usually in the footer)
- Submit your profile URL
- Verify your request (via email or CAPTCHA)
What to expect:
- Time per site: ~5-20 minutes
- Removal timeframe: a few days to a couple of weeks
Tip: Save confirmation emails or screenshots. You may need them if your data reappears.
Remove your data from public profile aggregators
These can be less standardized, since they’re often scraped or republished pages.
Typical process:
- Look for a “Contact,” “Support,” or “Privacy” page
- Request removal directly (or delete your account, if possible)
- If no response, identify the site owner via WHOIS or hosting info
Alternative option:
- If the page won’t be removed, you can request de-indexing through Google, but this only hides it from search results, not the site itself
These take more effort, but they’re worth addressing because they often contain contextual details (job, interests, affiliations.)
Remove your data from marketing and lead-generation lists
This is less about a single listing and more about stopping ongoing data use.
Typical process:
- Use the “unsubscribe” link in emails or reply STOP to SMS messages
- Look for a “delete my data” or privacy request option
- Submit a formal request if available (often under GDPR/CCPA rights)
Important:
- Unsubscribing stops messages
- It does not always delete your data
If the company has a privacy page, look specifically for:
- “Right to deletion”
- “Do not sell my information”
Remove your data from private data broker databases
These are the least visible and often the most frustrating to deal with manually.
Typical process:
- Find the company’s privacy or legal page
- Submit a data access or deletion request
- Verify your identity (this may require ID documents)
What makes this harder:
- You often don’t know which brokers have your data
- Some require detailed verification
- Responses can take weeks
This is where most people hit a wall and where ongoing monitoring or automation becomes useful.
Keep track as you go
As you work through your list, track:
- Sites you’ve submitted requests to
- Dates of submission
- Confirmation emails or case IDs
This makes it much easier to:
- Follow up if needed
- Re-check later when your data reappears
1 BILLION IDENTITY RECORDS EXPOSED IN ID VERIFICATION DATA LEAK
Even after you remove your information, it can reappear, which is why ongoing monitoring or automated removal matters. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
The best way to deal with resurfacing data
My recommendation is to use a personal data removal service. These services handle the entire removal process for you, so there’s no need to search for your own data online or return to data broker sites to repeat opt-out requests. Everything is managed in the background.
They also tend to do a more thorough job than most people can manage on their own.
Many data removal services can request deletions from a wide range of websites, including some that are not easy to find on your own. They also scan for new exposures, alert you if your information shows up again and allow you to submit additional removal requests when needed. In some cases, these requests are handled by privacy specialists.
Most services also include a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free and see how much of your information is exposed online.
YOU COULD BE SHARING YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WHEN YOU DON’T NEED TO
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.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Removing your personal information from the internet is not a one-and-done task. It takes persistence, a bit of strategy and the right tools. The frustrating part is that your data can come back even after you remove it, but that does not mean the effort is wasted. Every step you take reduces your exposure and makes it harder for your information to spread. If you want the most control, doing it manually gives you a clear view of where your data lives. However, if you want consistency without the ongoing time commitment, a data removal service can take that burden off your plate and keep working in the background. Either way, the key is to stay proactive. Your data has value, and once you start treating it that way, you will approach your privacy very differently.
Have you ever removed your personal info online only to see it show up again later, and what did you do next? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Bluesky will be getting “communities,” which will function as smaller spaces where you can “go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff” sometime this year, according to head of product Alex Benzer. They will be built on the decentralized AT Protocol that underpins Bluesky, with Benzer saying that “it’s a new structure for everyone” that’s part of the “Atmosphere” (a shorthand for the AT Protocol ecosystem).
Benzer listed out a “few ideas we have in mind so far” in a thread. “On Bluesky, you’ll be able to create communities, join them, post in them, and get updates,” Benzer says. “The core features on Bluesky stay simple. The magic comes from communities also existing on the open web. This means you can truly customize them and add features with other Atmospheric apps and tools.”
Communities will get a handle that “doubles as a URL,” and if you go to that URL, you’ll “land on a custom homepage for the community,” according to Benzer. “Builders can also host a completely custom experience there instead.” There will be three privacy levels for communities: public, invite-only, and private. And each community would have its own feed, Benzer says.
Benzer’s thread follows Bluesky COO Rose Wang saying last week that the company wanted to move away from being a “public square” and that it was “very inspired by companies like Reddit.” Meta’s Threads is currently testing a communities feature, while X announced in April that it would be shutting down its own take on communities.
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Amazon is getting ready for Prime Day, and you can bet scammers are, too. In fact, I received a fake Amazon email that looked like an account recovery warning. It claimed there was unusual activity on my account and pushed me to “Sign In to Verify.”
That kind of message can make anyone uneasy. It certainly did for me. After all, who wants to lose access to an account right before a major sale? Then came the part that really stood out: the email said I might need to upload a document to confirm my account.
That was the giveaway. A real deal can save you money. A fake Amazon email can cost you your login, your payment details and even your identity.
Here’s how this scam works, the red flags that exposed it and the steps you should take before clicking any Amazon account warning.
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A fake Amazon account recovery email is targeting shoppers ahead of Prime Day, using urgency and document requests to steal sensitive information. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fake Amazon email warning before Prime Day
The timing made this phishing email more convincing. With Prime Day coming up, many people are already watching for Amazon emails. They may be checking delivery updates, deal alerts and order confirmations. That creates the perfect opening for a fake account warning.
The email used the same tricks you see in many phishing scams. It claimed there was account trouble, used urgent language and pushed me toward a sign-in button. That is exactly what scammers want.
Screenshot of scam fake Amazon email (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
They want you to react before you inspect the message. They want you to sign in before you think through the request. And in this case, they wanted me to believe a document upload was part of a normal Amazon account check.
Amazon phishing scam red flags
This fake Amazon email had several warning signs. First, it landed in my junk folder. That alone does not prove fraud, but it should make you cautious.
Second, the subject line sounded awkward. It said, “Account Recovery: Sign-in and Verify your Amazon account.” That wording felt stiff and a little off.
Third, the greeting was generic. The email said “Dear Customer” even though it claimed to be about my Amazon account. That alone does not prove the email is fake, but it adds to the concern.
Fourth, the message created urgency. It claimed the account was on hold and that orders or subscriptions had already been canceled.
Fifth, the sender display name said “Amazon,” while the address appeared as account_update@amazon.com. That may look official at first. Still, scammers can spoof sender names or make email addresses look convincing.
Under the yellow “Sign In to Verify” button, the email also says, “Don’t share it with others.” That may sound protective, but in this context, it felt like another attempt to make the fake warning seem official.
The biggest warning sign came from the document request. The email said I would have the option to upload a document with the required information to verify the account.
That should stop you cold. Scammers may be after more than your Amazon password. They may also want your driver’s license, passport, address, phone number or payment details.
Screenshot of fake Amazon email sender address (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why fake Amazon account emails fool shoppers
This scam works because it hits a very real fear. Most people do not want to lose access to an online shopping account. That concern grows when a big sale is about to start. If you are planning to buy something on Prime Day, an account warning can feel urgent.
The email also borrowed Amazon’s familiar look. It used the Amazon name, a logo area and a yellow sign-in button. It also included a footer that appeared to show an Amazon.com link. That can make the message feel safer than it really is.
Here is the problem. The visible link text in an email can mislead you. A link can appear to point to Amazon while sending you somewhere else. It can also pass through tracking links, redirects or look-alike pages. That is why you should avoid signing in through any account warning email.
120,000 FAKE SITES FUEL AMAZON PRIME DAY SCAMS
Scammers are impersonating Amazon with convincing account alerts designed to capture login credentials, payment details and personal documents. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What happens if you click a fake Amazon link
If you click the link, you may land on a fake Amazon sign-in page. It may look close enough to fool you. Once you enter your email and password, scammers can try to access your real Amazon account. They may check your saved payment methods, shipping addresses and order history.
They may also try that same password on other websites. That becomes a bigger risk if you reuse passwords.
The document request adds another layer of danger. If a fake page asks for your ID, scammers could use that information for identity theft, account takeovers or other fraud. That is why one quick click can turn into a much bigger mess.
Ways to stay safe from fake Amazon emails
A fake Amazon email can look convincing at first, so the best move is to slow down and use these simple checks before you click, sign in or share anything.
1) Do not click the sign-in button
Skip buttons like “Sign In to Verify,” “View details” or “Restore access.” Open the Amazon app or type Amazon.com into your browser yourself.
2) Check Amazon’s Message Center
After signing in directly, go to Your Account > Message Center. If the alert is real, you should see a matching message there.
3) Watch for pressure language
Scammers often say your account is locked, your orders were canceled, or you must act right away. That pressure is designed to make you click before thinking.
4) Never upload ID through an email link
If an email asks for a passport, driver’s license or other document, stop. Contact Amazon through the app or website before sending anything.
5) Use a password manager
A password manager can help you spot fake login pages. If the page is fake, your saved Amazon password usually will not autofill. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at CyberGuy.com.
6) Turn on two-step verification
7) Use strong antivirus software
Install strong antivirus software on your computer, phone and tablet. Good security software can help detect malicious links, phishing pages, malware and other threats before they do damage. This is especially important if you clicked a suspicious link or downloaded anything from a fake email. Security software should back up your smart habits, not replace them. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
8) Use a data removal service
Scammers often build more convincing attacks with information they find about you online. That can include your name, address, phone number, relatives, old usernames and other personal details from people-search sites and data brokers. A data removal service can help remove your personal information from many of those sites. That makes it harder for scammers to personalize phishing emails and identity theft attempts. 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.
9) Report the suspicious email
Forward suspicious Amazon emails to reportascam@amazon.com. Then delete the message from your inbox or junk folder.
JANUARY SCAMS SURGE: WHY FRAUD SPIKES AT THE START OF THE YEAR
Cybersecurity experts warn consumers to avoid clicking links in Amazon account warning emails and verify alerts directly through Amazon. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Prime Day is a great time to find real deals, but it is also a busy season for fake Amazon emails. Scammers know shoppers are checking delivery updates, watching for discounts and hoping nothing gets in the way of a good buy. That is what made this email so sneaky. It used a familiar fear at the perfect moment: losing access to your account right before a major sale. The safest move is to slow down before you click. Do not trust the button. Do not trust the sender name alone. Open the Amazon app or type Amazon.com into your browser and check your account yourself.
Have you ever received an email that looked official enough to make you click, and what finally made you stop? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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HOW TO DETECT FAKE AMAZON EMAILS AND AVOID IMPERSONATION SCAMS
Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
It isn’t because Fable doesn’t know the answers. It’s because Anthropic won’t let it, by design.
Fable is a public-facing, Mythos-class model, a family so capable at cybersecurity tasks Anthropic said it was too dangerous to release publicly. But while Anthropic has spent much of the extended Mythos rollout warning about cybersecurity, it is biology where Fable’s guardrails are the most obvious — and most limiting.
When I tried the model, it refused to answer a range of basic biology questions, many that felt about as far away from any plausible safety risk as any question could be. It would not respond to “tell me about cell membranes” or answer “what are mitochondria,” that famous powerhouse of the cell. It refused to explain “what is a prion,” the proteinaceous particles behind mad cow disease, or “how mRNA vaccines work.”
“We made this tradeoff so customers could benefit from the model’s capabilities sooner without the risks.”
The restrictions applied to ordinary and objectively rather harmless medical queries too. Fable would not answer “what causes hay fever,” explain how asthma medicine works, explain how antibiotic resistance arises, or tell me what Ebola is and how it spreads. Some of my basic queries occasionally got through, with Fable answering questions like “what is cancer” and “what is DNA.” When Fable refused, Opus 4.8 generally answered perfectly well.
Anthropic says the broad biology filters are an intentional choice and are deliberately conservative, with bioweapons the primary concern. “With the launch of Claude Fable 5, our first Mythos-class model, we believe models now have a greater ability to accomplish real-world scientific tasks and for malicious actors to potentially use our models for highly risky biological research,” spokesperson Paruul Maheshwary told The Verge. “We have always used classifiers to block our models from helping with bioweapons-related requests. To deploy Fable 5 safely, we believe it was necessary to be overly conservative with our safeguards so they block most queries tied to biology work.”
Anthropic has previously highlighted four key areas where it would throttle Fable’s responses for safety: chemistry, biology, cybersecurity, and distillation, a technique for training smaller AIs using the outputs of larger ones. The company has accused Chinese rivals like DeepSeek of using distillation on its models on an “industrial” scale.
While I could not meaningfully test distillation, Fable seemed more willing to answer questions about chemistry and cybersecurity. For example, it gave a basic overview of the explosive TNT, though withheld synthesis instructions “for obvious reasons.” It readily answered questions on the use of chlorine gas as a chemical weapon, common password threats, and nuclear fusion and fission, as well as explaining how to secure an iPhone from hackers. It still limits: Fable deferred to Opus when I asked it about sarin gas, a highly toxic nerve agent. Fable and Opus both refused the prompt “how to make anthrax,” and Claude paused the chat entirely. That made sense. The mitochondria prompt refusal seems like a false positive.
“We made this tradeoff so customers could benefit from the model’s capabilities sooner without the risks,” Maheshwary explained, adding that Anthropic is working hard to improve its detection and reduce the false positives. “We intend to make Mythos-class models available without these safeguards to the broader biology and life sciences community so these capabilities can be used to accelerate biomedical research and drug discovery.”
Anthropic did not answer questions about whether this kind of restricted release will become the new norm for future models.
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