And just like that, Mother’s Day is tomorrow, May 10th, which is too soon for most online purchases to arrive in time. That said, you aren’t alone if you waited too long to pick up a gift this year, and you definitely aren’t alone in feeling guilty for considering digital gifts instead of something your mom can unwrap. But here’s the thing: digital gifts can still unlock memorable experiences, be it movies, games, or music. They can also let your mom choose exactly what she wants, making them both convenient and versatile.
Technology
Two minute tech tricks: Start the year with a clean inbox
Email stinks. OK, it’s not that bad, but I’d much rather get things done in person, in a video meeting or over chat. My rule of thumb: If we get into an email back and forth, I’m calling you instead.
That said, email has its place and you might as well make your inbox as useful as it can be. For me, that starts with my annual ritual: Clearing out all the old mail from the year before. Give it a try.
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The trick is simple: Archive your inbox
You’ll be surprised at how effective this is at giving you back some digital headspace.
Email spoofing consists of scammers forging sender addresses that appears similar to yours, allowing them to bypass spam filters and distribute harmful malware or request money from unsuspecting victims. (CyberGuy.com)
So, what is email archiving? Basically, this keeps a record of everything you’ve sent and received — so you’ll always have a copy of any of your messages and attachments — but they won’t be sitting in your inbox.
Sure, you can file all your emails away into carefully sorted folders, but what are the chances you’re actually going to keep up with that level of organization? Archiving is a great gift to give yourself going into the new year. Plus, it’s an easy New Year’s Resolution to keep. Just click a few buttons, and your life is already easier!
Follow these steps to archive in Gmail
- First, open your Gmail account on a computer and click the Inbox folder on the left.
- Above your emails, there’s an empty checkbox. Click the small arrow next to it, and choose All. This selects only the conversations visible on the screen.
- To select all your emails, click Select all (number) conversations in Inbox. Then, hit the Archive icon (folder with a downward pointing arrow).
Gmail will take some time to process your request. Be patient. You may have to do this step a few times to get everything.
FIVE DUMB TECH SECURITY MISTAKES YOU’RE MAKING
Once you’ve archived a message, you can hit All Mail to the left, right under Inbox and your other email folders to find it. Your best bet is to search by a term you know was in the email or by the sender.
Using Apple Mail? Here’s what to do
- Open the Mail app on your Mac. Look through your inbox or other folders and find those emails you want to stash away. Click on an email to select it, or if you’ve got a bunch, hold down the Command key and click on each one you want to archive.
- Got an ‘Archive’ button (looks like a little box) on the toolbar? Just click that, and you’re golden. No button? No problem. Click ‘Message’ at the top, then choose ‘Archive’ from the dropdown. If you’re all about shortcuts, just hit Control + Command + A and those emails will zip right into your archive.
- Where did they go? Head over to the ‘Archive’ folder. It’s in the sidebar under ‘Mailboxes.’ Got more than one email account? Each one has its own Archive folder.
When you need to find those emails again, just click on that ‘Archive’ folder anytime. All your archived emails are there, ready when you are.
Person holds an iPhone (Fox News Digital)
How to archive emails in Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook doesn’t put archived messages into a separate folder. Instead, they’ll go straight to a data file you can access whenever you want.
- Select File > Cleanup Tools > Archive, then hit Archive this folder and all subfolders. Choose the folder you want to archive. In this case, your inbox.
- Under Archive items older than, enter your date. For example, you may want to archive everything before 2012. Then, check the box that says Include items with “Do not AutoArchive.” Click OK, and you’re good to go.
You’ll see emails disappear from your inbox and subfolders. Now they’ll be under the Archives heading.
2023: A YEAR OF INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION IN TECH
Your inbox should be clean as a whistle
Now that you know my secret, your inbox is sure to look a whole lot cleaner to start the new year. Worried you missed something? Here’s my tip: If it’s really important, that person will email you again.
As a side note, remember that even if you archive emails, they can be subpoenaed for legal cases. We don’t give legal advice, so it’s best to consult a lawyer if you have any questions about this.
Use Yahoo? I have steps for archiving here on the website.
Email on your laptop (Cyberguy.com)
Keep your tech-know going
My popular podcast is called “Kim Komando Today.” It’s a solid 30 minutes of tech news, tips, and callers with tech questions like you from all over the country. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. For your convenience, hit the link below for a recent episode.
PODCAST PICK: Billionaire doomsday preppers, p*rn copyright trolls & nasty Amazon scam
Plus, my 2024 tech resolutions and ways to have AI help you craft yours. California bans this ultra-weird product from Amazon — and yes, it involves donkeys. Peloton tablet goes obsolete, and I’ve got five tech holiday road trip tips.
Check out my podcast “Kim Komando Today” on Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
Listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for my last name, “Komando.”
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Identity fraud is rising in the United States, but the timing does not always line up with the breach behind it. Consumers lost $27.3 billion to traditional identity fraud in 2025, according to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2026 Identity Fraud Study. That followed a sharp 19% jump in 2024, when losses reached $27.2 billion.
FTC identity theft reports also climbed in 2025. Reports through the first nine months of the year had already topped the full-year total for 2024. The FTC received more than 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, according to the agency’s Consumer Sentinel data.
The problem is that breach notices are becoming a regular part of life, even though the risks can last long after the notice arrives. The Identity Theft Resource Center logged a record 3,322 U.S. data compromises in 2025. In a separate consumer survey, the ITRC found that 80% of consumers received at least one breach notice in the previous 12 months. Among those consumers, 88% experienced at least one negative consequence afterward, including account takeover attempts.
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5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
Data from old breaches can resurface months or even years later, giving criminals new ways to target consumers. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why old breach data can turn into new fraud
Stolen identity records often take time to turn into fraud. After a major breach, the data can move through criminal markets in stages. It may be sold to brokers, combined with information from earlier leaks and resold to fraud rings that build more complete identity profiles.
That means a Social Security number stolen in 2024 may not be used to open a fraudulent credit line or file a fake tax return until 2026 or later. By then, the free credit monitoring offered after the breach may have expired. The breach itself may also be long gone from the headlines.
Major breaches that could fuel future identity fraud
UnitedHealth confirmed in January 2025 that about 190 million people were affected by the Change Healthcare breach. The incident exposed personal and health information, making it the largest known healthcare data breach in U.S. history. Affected consumers were offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. The enrollment deadline was Aug. 26, 2025.
National Public Data, a background-check broker, was tied to a massive breach in 2024. Up to 2.9 billion records were reportedly exposed, though not all were unique or verified. The exposed information reportedly included Social Security numbers, addresses and relatives’ information.
AT&T disclosed in July 2024 that hackers stole call and text records tied to about 109 million customer accounts. The stolen data included details about calls and texts, such as the numbers contacted and the timing of those communications, but not the content of the calls or messages. The incident involved data stored on a third-party cloud platform and was part of a wider Snowflake-linked campaign that also affected other companies.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
Stolen personal information can be combined with other leaked records to create more complete identity profiles. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What thieves do with stolen identity data
Stolen identity data can feed several types of fraud. Some of these scams take months or years to show up on a credit report, tax filing or insurance record.
Synthetic identity fraud
Criminals combine a real Social Security number with a fake name and date of birth. They use that profile to open new credit lines, build trust and drain the accounts later.
Tax refund fraud
Thieves use stolen Social Security numbers to file fake tax returns in someone else’s name. Victims often find out only when their real return gets rejected.
Medical identity theft
Criminals use stolen personal or health insurance information to submit insurance claims for care the victim never received. Some victims do not notice until they get a bill, hit an insurance limit or see a collections notice.
New-account fraud
Thieves open credit cards, auto loans or utility accounts using stolen identities. Victims may discover it only after checking their credit report.
Account takeover
Criminals use stolen usernames and passwords to break into your existing email, shopping, banking or financial accounts. They often use automated tools to test that same login information across multiple websites.
WHY A CREDIT FREEZE ISN’T THE END OF IDENTITY THEFT
Ongoing monitoring can help catch suspicious activity after free breach protection ends. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why one-time protection isn’t enough
After a breach, you are often told to freeze your credit, accept the free monitoring offer and watch your statements. Each step can help, but each one has limits. Free credit monitoring offered after a breach usually lasts one or two years. That can expire around the time stolen data starts to show up in new fraud attempts.
A credit freeze can block new accounts from being opened in your name. However, it will not stop every type of fraud. It does not prevent someone from filing a fake tax return with your Social Security number. It also does not stop fraudulent medical bills or takeover attempts on your existing accounts.
One-time dark web scans have limits, too. They show where your data appears at one point in time. They don’t tell you where it may show up next. Once a Social Security number is in criminal markets, it can keep circulating.
Steps to protect yourself after a breach
If your information was exposed in a breach, these steps can help you lower your risk and catch suspicious activity sooner.
1) Freeze your credit
A credit freeze can help stop criminals from opening new credit cards, loans or other accounts in your name. You need to place a freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can temporarily lift the freeze when you need to apply for credit.
2) Change reused passwords
If you used the same password on more than one account, change it right away. Criminals often test stolen usernames and passwords across many websites. A password manager can help you create strong, unique passwords for every account.
3) Turn on multifactor authentication
4) Watch your financial and medical accounts
Review bank statements, credit card charges, insurance claims and explanation of benefits statements. Look for accounts, charges, claims or services you do not recognize. Medical identity theft can be easy to miss until a bill or collections notice arrives.
5) Check your credit reports
Review your credit reports for new accounts or hard inquiries you do not recognize. You can check your reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you spot something suspicious, report it quickly and follow the dispute process with the credit bureau.
What to do after free monitoring expires
Paid identity theft protection services monitor your personal data on an ongoing basis. The goal is to shorten the time between when stolen data gets used and when you notice something is wrong.
Look for a service that monitors all three major credit bureaus, scans the dark web and alerts you to suspicious changes tied to your identity. Some services also monitor data broker sites, identity verification activity, home title records and financial accounts.
Three-bureau credit alerts can help catch new-account fraud. Dark web and data broker monitoring can help spot repackaged records. Account-change alerts can help flag takeover attempts. No service can undo the original breach, but ongoing monitoring can give you a better chance of catching suspicious activity early.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A breach notice can feel like yesterday’s problem once the headlines fade and the free monitoring runs out. But stolen personal data does not expire. Criminals can hold onto it, mix it with other leaked records and use it long after you have stopped thinking about the original breach. That is why identity protection needs to last longer than the breach notice. Freezing your credit, using strong passwords, turning on multifactor authentication and watching your accounts all help. But identity fraud is often a long game. The sooner you spot suspicious activity, the faster you can act before the damage spreads.
Should companies have to provide identity protection for as long as stolen data can be used against you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Below, we’ve curated a list of some of the best digital goodies that folks at The Verge have used or gifted. The list is curated by interests, too, so you can find the perfect present whether your mom is into the arts, exercise, or something else entirely. That way, you’ll at least be able to gift something more thoughtful than an Amazon or Walmart gift card — even if those are still totally viable options in our book.
Gifts for film and TV buffs
Whether your mom is a movie buff or an avid sports fan, there are a number of subscriptions that’ll grant her access to a wide range of content. Below are some of the most popular, as well as a few catered toward anime diehards, horror lovers, and those looking for something more niche.
$25
You can buy Disney Plus gift cards in increments of $25 up to $500. They’re usable toward Disney Plus subscriptions and bundles that include access to Disney Plus and Hulu, which start at $12.99 a month. That way, the family can stream everything from Andor and Paradise to The Bear and Percy Jackson.
- A gift card to a major streaming service like Netflix (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), Peacock (Peacock), or Paramount Plus (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart) is a good gift that’ll cater to all kinds of passions. With a Netflix account, your mom can binge Stranger Things and Bridgerton, while Peacock provides access to shows like The Paper, Parks and Recreation, and Downton Abbey. A Paramount Plus subscription, meanwhile, lets her dive into Survivor 50, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the entire Taylor Sheridan universe — including newer series like Landman and The Madison.
- A Criterion Channel gift card grants access to more than a thousand classic and contemporary Hollywood, international, arthouse, and independent films. It also features programming that spotlights directors, stars, genres, and themes, including a “15-minute-a-month film school.”
- For the anime lovers in your life, a Crunchyroll gift card provides access to hundreds of anime shows and films shortly after they air in Japan, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. They can even use the gift to purchase Crunchyroll’s extensive collection of anime figures, vinyl records, and clothes.
If you’re not sure which type of games your mom prefers, you can gift her an Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo subscription. Not only will these memberships grant them access to free digital games, but they also include perks such as online multiplayer and cloud saves, among other incentives.
$69
Giving the gift of Game Pass unlocks hundreds of great games to play, whether your recipient is a console or PC gamer. If you’re gaming on an Xbox, it also allows for online multiplayer.
- If your mom owns a PlayStation 5, a PlayStation Plus membership grants them access to free titles and discounts every month, lets her play games online, and allows her to access cloud-based backups. PlayStation Plus memberships start at $9.99 a month, and you can subscribe directly via PlayStation or buy a subscription with a PlayStation Plus gift card, which is available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target in denominations starting at $10 and going up to $250.
- Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 lovers, meanwhile, might enjoy an annual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, which starts at $19.99 a year (Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop). The membership lets your mom play more than 150 retro games released during the NES, SNES, and original Game Boy eras. She can also play online with friends, access cloud saves for games, and listen to her favorite Nintendo tunes via the Nintendo Music mobile app.
- If you’re willing to fork out extra money, you can also buy an annual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. In addition to offering all the same benefits as the Switch Online membership, it also grants access to Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 games, as well as DLC content for select titles. One of the latest additions is that the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are included as free downloads for members. Individual annual plans cost $49.99 (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), while a family plan — which allows for up to eight accounts — is available via gift card at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy for $79.98.
- Alternatively, you could buy a gift card to a store like GameStop (GameStop), which is helpful if you don’t know which console your mom prefers, or if you want to give her the option of buying accessories and games.
Gifts for the adventurers and globe-trotters
Is your mom in dire need of a screen break? Fortunately, the internet is filled with travel-oriented gifts, ranging from the obvious — like airline gift cards — to national park passes.
$80
The America the Beautiful pass grants entry to all 63 national parks, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite, along with over 2,000 recreation sites across the country.
- A GetYourGuide gift card provides an easy way to take advantage of guided tours and fun tourist attractions at various destinations around the world, allowing your mom to swim with sharks in Cape Verde or explore volcanoes like Italy’s Mount Etna (when it’s not erupting).
- For aspiring polyglots, a Rosetta Stone membership makes it easy to learn French, Arabic, Japanese, and other languages from the comfort of home. In addition to lessons, memberships come with helpful extras, including speech recognition tech to get the accent just right.
- Finally, a gift card to a rideshare service like Lyft (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) or Uber (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) — the latter of which is also good toward Uber Eats — will come in handy if she ever needs a ride to the airport and you’re (gasp!) unavailable to take her.
Gifts for health and wellness fans
For health and wellness enthusiasts, many services offer a wealth of streamable fitness classes to help them get fit at home. Other gifts can help your giftee practice self-care and lighten their load with meditation or massage. Below, we’ve listed out a range of options that’ll help your mom take care of both her body and mind.
$13
Peloton’s monthly subscription offers thousands of streamable fitness classes revolving around a variety of different workouts, ranging from strength training to stretching. It’s a service that’s available to everybody, so you don’t need to own a Peloton device to use it.
- A gift card for Headspace, a popular mindfulness app, offers members access to hundreds of expert-taught meditations, each designed to help her relax, sleep better, and improve her mental health. A gift subscription will run you $38.99 for three months, or you can save by getting 12 months for $68.99.
- If your mom prefers in-person classes to virtual ones, a gift card toward a ClassPass subscription will let her try thousands of gyms and fitness studios in her local area, not to mention nearby salons and spas.
- If your mom is too busy to prepare healthy meals every day, a gift card to Blue Apron, HelloFresh, or any meal prep service that offers a healthy selection of meal kits will be very welcome.
Whether mom is a diehard foodie, a wine connoisseur, or a caffeine addict, the internet is filled with subscriptions and gift cards for all types. Below are just a few of our favorites.
$90
With a subscription to Eater’s Wine Club, your giftee will automatically receive either two, four, or six bottles of wine carefully chosen by an Eater expert every month. Past boxes have showcased wines from all over the world.
- A Sur La Table gift card (Sur La Table, Kroger, Staples) is a great gift for the beloved chef in your life. Your mom can use it to buy whatever she needs for the kitchen, as well as to take online cooking classes in which live instructors help students make everything from chicken piccata to tiramisu. Classes start at $39 per household and last 90 to 120 minutes.
- If your mom has a sweet tooth, Goldbelly’s monthly ice cream subscription allows her to enjoy up to six pints of ice cream or 24 ice cream sandwiches a month, all of which are sourced from small creameries all over the country. It’s a pricey subscription, however, with a three-month plan going for an eye-watering $298.95. You can explore other subscription types, too, from BBQ to New York City staples, or get a gift card so your mom can order whatever she’d like.
- Counter Culture roasts delicious bags of coffee sourced from all around the globe. If you’re lucky enough to find them in local stores, well, lucky you! For coffee lovers looking to try their next great bag of beans, grab a gift card that can pay for a one-off order, or enroll in the company’s subscription service that sends coffee to you as frequently as you’d like.
- Sometimes, it’s better to leave the cooking to somebody else. If your mom is a foodie, a gift card to a food delivery service like DoorDash (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) lets her nab some crab rangoons from her favorite Chinese restaurant without leaving home.
Whether your mom is a musician or just loves to unwind with music, there are plenty of digital gifts catered toward her interests. We all know about Spotify gift cards (Best Buy), but there are also other streaming services that you can gift as a subscription, some of which we’ve highlighted below.
$25
Apple Music is a great gift for casual listeners, offering more than 100 million ad-free songs alongside support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. There’s no designated gift card for Apple Music, so you’ll have to buy a regular Apple gift card, but that’s not a bad thing, as it means they can also use the card to buy the latest set of AirPods.
- If you think that your mom might want to learn how to play the guitar, a Fender Play subscription can help them do so thanks to a continuously updated catalog of hundreds of instructor-led video lessons. You can gift them six months for $49.99 or 12 months for $149.99.
- Lastly, a Ticketmaster or StubHub (Amazon, Best Buy, Staples) gift card is a present that lets your mom buy a ticket to see her favorite musicians perform live.
Obviously, you could just gift a bibliophile a book, and they’d probably be happy. But what if you want to give them more than one option? In that case, a gift card to her favorite bookstore or a subscription to something like Kindle Unlimited — which grants members access to millions of ebooks and select audiobooks — is a good idea. That said, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite alternatives below.
$15
An Audible Premium Plus subscription grants instant access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts, as well as one premium audiobook a month.
- For fans of Marvel and DC comics, as well as manga like Fairy Tale, a Comixology Unlimited subscription is perfect. For $5.99 a month, your mom will be able to enjoy over 45,000 comics and graphic novels, not to mention more than 2,400 manga titles from her phone or tablet. Subscribers also get discounts on select digital books.
- You can also gift your mom a Book of the Month membership, which currently starts at $59.99 for a three-book plan. The company curates a small selection of five to seven bestsellers and classics for members every month, making it easy to choose something to read quickly.
- If your mom prefers to pick up books from a brick-and-mortar bookstore, a gift card to Barnes & Noble (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Best Buy) might be a good idea. For those who want to support local bookstores, there’s also a gift card for Bookshop.org.
- For those who prefer traditional newspapers and magazines, you can gift a subscription to The New York Times or The Washington Post, or publications catered to specific interests, like Cosmopolitan and National Geographic.
Movie buffs and bibliophiles are easy to shop for, but what do you get the creative mom? It’s actually not that hard — just buy her something to help her create, whether that’s an online course or access to a new tool. Below are a few subscriptions and gift cards that creators will love, all of which you can buy at the last minute.
$69
A subscription to Skillshare grants subscribers access to over 34,000 online classes related to graphic design, painting, photography, film, music, coding, and more.
- A MasterClass membership — which normally starts at $10 a month but is currently 50 percent off for all tiers — provides access to classes taught by world leaders and other subject matter experts, including screenwriters, musicians, and business experts. Going for a Masterclass Plus or Premium subscription allows concurrent viewing on two or six devices, respectively, and also unlocks offline viewing.
- An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription ($69.99 a month) is a great gift for aspiring and experienced creative professionals alike, one that provides access to popular tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and InDesign. Adobe doesn’t support gifting subscriptions, so you’ll need to create a new account or log in to an existing account your mom may have. You can also purchase digitally redeemable Creative Cloud subscription codes from partner retailers like Best Buy, which is currently selling a 12-month plan for $406.99 (about $373 off) right now.
- If you think your mom might be interested in coding, a subscription to the coding educational platform Codecademy ($29.99 a month) can help her build her portfolio with online courses, a community, fun events, cheat sheets, and other resources. There’s even a $39.99-a-month plan for those looking to change career paths, which offers all the above, plus technical interview help.
- For giftees into arts and crafts, a Craftsy membership (normally $123 a year) grants access to more than 2,000 live and on-demand classes led by experts covering everything from baking and cake decorating to woodworking and painting. Members also get to connect with other crafters in the Craftsy community and attend live events.
Gift cards for pretty much anyone
$25
Amazon gift cards start at $25 and can be used toward purchases across a variety of departments. They’re also good for various Amazon services, including Amazon Prime Video, Audible, and Amazon Music Unlimited.
- Sometimes the best gift card is one that’ll give your mom a ton of options, especially if you’re having a hard time figuring out what she wants. Gift cards from major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are perfect in these situations, namely because they’ll let your mom choose whatever she likes from a wide range of departments.
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Have you already tried removing your personal information from data broker sites? Maybe you Googled your name, didn’t like what you saw and spent the afternoon filling out opt-out forms on sites like Spokeo, Whitepages and BeenVerified.
That took real effort, and it wasn’t wasted. Still, it doesn’t mean you’re fully protected. The problem comes down to how data brokers operate. Their system isn’t intuitive, and common misconceptions leave people exposed without realizing it.
For retirees with decades of public records, property ownership and family connections, the gap between feeling safe and actually being safe can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
After years of covering scams, one pattern keeps showing up. The most targeted victims are not people who ignored the risks. They are people who took action and believed it was enough. Let’s fix that right now.
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HOW TO REMOVE YOUR PERSONAL INFO FROM PEOPLE-SEARCH SITES
Data broker listings often include sensitive details like your address, phone number and relatives, making removal a critical first step. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Myth #1: “I already opted out, so my data is gone”
This is the most dangerous myth of all. And it’s the one I hear most often from retirees who’ve already taken steps to protect themselves.
Here’s the reality: there are hundreds of data broker companies operating in the United States. When you submit an opt-out request to Spokeo, you’ve removed yourself from one of them.
The others? They never heard from you. They’re still listing your name, your address, your phone number, your relatives and your estimated net worth — right now, as you read this.
And even the site you opted out of? It will likely relist your information within weeks or months. Data brokers pull from public records — property filings, voter rolls, court documents — that are constantly updated. Every time those records refresh, your profile can quietly reappear.
Unless you repeat them regularly, manual opt-outs don’t protect you in the long term. They buy you a temporary gap in coverage on a limited number of data broker websites.
You can use Incogni’s free scanner to check the biggest data broker sites for your information. You may be surprised by how much is still out there.
Myth #2: “My family members’ data doesn’t affect me — or vice-versa”
This one is painful because it involves the people you love most. Data broker profiles don’t just list you. They list your household. They list your relatives. And they map the connections between all of you.
When your daughter opted out of data broker sites, she removed her own profile. But your profile still lists her as a relative, with her current city, her approximate age, and her connection to you. That’s enough.
A scammer calls you: “Grandpa, it’s me. I’m in the hospital. Please don’t tell Mom-she’ll worry. Can you wire me $1,200?”
Scammers may already have your granddaughter’s name and understand your exact relationship to her. They know she’s your granddaughter, not your daughter, and that detail makes the call feel real. That level of accuracy is what triggers panic and lowers your guard. In some cases, they can even clone her voice using AI.
This is called the grandparent scam. It has evolved from a clumsy, random cold call into a precision-targeted operation built on data broker research. According to the FBI’s Annual IC3 Report, both the losses and number of victims of elder fraud have been climbing steeply over the last three years, with average losses in 2025 reaching $38,500.
10 SIGNS YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING SOLD ONLINE
Taking simple steps early, like removing your data and freezing your credit, can reduce your risk during the most vulnerable time. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Myth #3: “My information isn’t interesting enough to target”
I understand why this feels true. You’re (probably) not a celebrity, don’t have a massive social media following, and have lived a private life.
But here’s what a scammer sees when they pull up your data broker profile:
A paid-off home (public property records show no mortgage). A Social Security income estimate. An address you’ve held for more than 20 years. The names of your adult children and their addresses. A spouse or late spouse. And those specific details that answer every security question your bank still uses: mother’s maiden name, previous address and the city you were born in.
To a criminal, that profile is a goldmine. In fact, personal information is implicated in 72% of elder fraud cases.
Retirees represent the single most targeted group for financial fraud in the United States. Not because older Americans are more naive. It’s because their data broker profiles are richer than anyone else’s, built over 60 or 70 years of public records.
Myth #4: “If I haven’t been targeted yet, I must be safe”
Let me offer a different perspective. You haven’t been targeted yet. Or, more likely, you have been targeted, and the attempt simply didn’t land. A phishing email went to spam. A suspicious call got hung up on. A text message felt off in some way and you ignored it. Does any of that sound familiar? Here’s what hasn’t changed: your profile is still there, still searchable, and regularly being updated.
Data brokers don’t delete inactive profiles. They maintain them, refresh them, and sell access to them repeatedly. The question isn’t whether your information is available to scammers. It is. The question is whether the right scammer has found it yet-and whether they’ve decided the payoff is worth the attempt.
Some data brokers have been caught red-handed packaging large datasets and selling them directly to scammers for elder fraud.
Retirees with home equity, retirement accounts, or Medicare benefits are especially attractive targets. A scammer doesn’t need to reach 100 people. They need to reach one person at the right moment after a loss, during a health scare, when the grandchildren are mentioned and their research pays off.
THE DATA BROKER OPT-OUT STEPS EVERY RETIREE SHOULD TAKE TODAY
Removing personal data from data broker sites can reduce exposure to scammers and help protect finances and privacy. (Phil Barker/Future Publishing)
Myth #5: “This is a tech problem for younger people to worry about”
Your grandchildren grew up online. Maybe you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean digital threats can’t touch you. But data brokers don’t care when you were born. They care what you own, what you’ve signed and what public records document about your life. And for most retirees, those records go back further and run deeper than anyone else’s:
- Property deeds filed when you bought your first home in 1978
- Divorce proceedings from three decades ago
- Probate records from when you inherited property
- Business registrations
- Political donor records
- Decades of address changes.
All of that is legally collected and ends up in data broker databases. And all of it makes your profile more complete-and more dangerous-than your grandchildren’s. This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a paper-trail problem. And the paper trail you’ve left over a lifetime is the most detailed (and valuable) one in the household.
So what’s the solution?
The only real answer is regular, repeated data removal for you, and ideally, your entire family.
Submitting a few opt-out requests once is not enough. Your information keeps resurfacing as public records update, which means you have to stay on top of it. That can involve revisiting sites, sending new requests and checking where your data appears over time.
Some people choose to handle this manually, while others use automated services that send ongoing removal requests across hundreds of data broker sites. The key is consistency, because this system does not stop collecting or refreshing your information.
Think of it like a leak that keeps coming back. You can scoop water out now and then, or you can stay ahead of it with a system that keeps working in the background.
If you want a clearer picture of your exposure, you can run a scan to see where your personal information shows up online. That gives you a starting point and helps you understand how much work it really takes to stay protected.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at Cyberguy.com
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Protecting your personal data starts with action, but real protection takes more than a few opt-out forms. Submitting requests to a handful of data broker sites only limits exposure temporarily, and those same sites can relist your details as public records refresh. Retirees face a greater risk because their profiles hold decades of information that scammers can easily connect across family members. In many cases, scammers reach out but fail to succeed due to timing or suspicion, not because your data stays hidden. Staying protected requires consistent effort, since data brokers keep collecting and updating information behind the scenes.
If your personal data can resurface at any time, how confident are you that it is not already being used against you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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