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Watch out parents: Scammers are coming after your kids and teens

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Watch out parents: Scammers are coming after your kids and teens

What comes to mind when you think of someone getting scammed? A grandma on the phone with some jerk? If so, this will probably surprise you.

The total money lost by teens in online scams grew by nearly 2,500% between 2017 and 2022. Victims under the age of 20 lost a staggering $210 million in 2022 alone.

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Educating our kiddos on red flags is the first step in keeping them from becoming victims. That’s why I’m telling you about the scams and hacks targeting kids and teens right now.

‘Send me a pic’ 

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Sextortion scams increased an alarming 20% between October 2022 and March 2023. Scammers used to target adults, but teen boys have become their latest focus.

After three Nigerian men were arrested in connection with the sextortion of 100 young men and the 2022 suicide of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, DeMay’s family is speaking out. (handout)

I spoke with a lawmaker on my national radio show, South Carolina state house Rep. Brandon Guffey, who is working to bring harsher punishments for this kind of sexual extortion. His son was targeted and took his own life in July 2022. Such a tragic story. The family is now suing Instagram.

Common tactics: 

  • Scammers create fake social media and gaming accounts, posing as an attractive young girl.
  • They start talking to a teen boy, send over some pics, and then ask for nude photos or videos in return.
  • If the victim sends one, the scammers demand a payout and threaten to post the incriminating photo or video for all their friends and family to see if they don’t pay.

The threat of exposure causes major panic, and many kids try to make the payments. Don’t wait to talk about this one with your children. Let them know you’re there to help if something like this happens.

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Game over

Roblox and Fortnite are household names among both kids and cybercriminals. Both platforms have their own in-game currency, which requires a credit card and personal information tied to the account.

Common tactics: 

  • Apps and sites may promise to pay out in-game currency in exchange for clicking on bogus ads. Spoiler: The ads contain malware that helps crooks hack into the account.
  • Fake websites often claim to sell in-game currency. Many look real enough to fool kids and adults.

Brand bandits

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 08:  (L-R) Talent Manager, Jenner Communications, Kris Jenner, Model Kendall Jenner,  Founder, Kylie Cosmetics Kylie Jenner, Founder, The Business of Fashion Imran Amed and Founder and CEO, KKW Kim Kardashian attends an intimate dinner hosted by The Business of Fashion to celebrate its latest special print edition ‘The Age of Influence’ at Peachy’s/Chinese Tuxedo on May 8, 2018 in New York City.  (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Business of Fashion)

Today’s teens consider social media influencers a potential career path. Who wouldn’t want to make money just for posting online?

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Common tactics:

  • In an influencer scam, crooks pose as real brands and reach out to teens with promises of cash or gifts.
  • They’ll send a message claiming they love the victim’s account and they’re an excellent match for their brand — as long as they buy a few things upfront to get started. Yeah, it’s all a con.

Safety first

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It’s a scary digital world out there, and I want your whole family to navigate it safely. These tips will help keep your kids safe from scammers:

  • Have regular conversations about online dangers. Let your kids know they can always come to you with a shady situation.
  • Use a password manager on family smartphones and computers, and enable two-factor authentication on the apps your kids use regularly.
  • Make sure your kids’ social media profiles are private. The more info scammers have, the better for them.
  • Have your teen’s phone set up to block unknown callers and/or send them straight to voicemail.
  • For games with in-game currency, use a reloadable gift card instead of your credit card. Bonus: They can’t spend endlessly.

Keep your tech-know going 

A woman talks on a phone aboard a plane. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson )

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.

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PODCAST PICK: The meaning of “i” in iPhone

Do you know what it stands for? Plus, Drew Barrymore fell for a catfishing scam. Also, an AI-created ad targeting Hamas somehow lands on Hulu — we’ll dive into that. Ever wonder what it’s like to work for Bill Gates? I’ve got some insider info.

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.”

Sound like a tech pro, even if you’re not! Award-winning popular host Kim Komando is your secret weapon. Listen on 425+ radio stations or get the podcast. And join over 400,000 people who get her free 5-minute daily email newsletter.

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Technology

Anker’s last-gen sleep buds are nearly 40 percent off ahead of daylight saving time

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Anker’s last-gen sleep buds are nearly 40 percent off ahead of daylight saving time

Bad news: most Americans are about to lose an hour of sleep next week. Good news: if you have trouble falling (or staying asleep), Newegg is currently selling Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds for $113.99 ($66 off) when you use coupon code MMSF88 at checkout, which drops them to just $6 shy of their lowest price to date.

A couple of us here at The Verge are fans of Anker’s last-gen sleep buds, which do a good job of muffling disruptive noises (including snoring). They’re lightweight and comfortable enough to wear overnight, even while sleeping on your side, with multiple ear tips and wings for a personalized fit. In fact, in his review, my colleague Thomas Ricker said that they improved his average sleep time by nearly 30 minutes within a two-week period.

What’s even more convenient is that they offer a variety of sleep-focused features to help you rest better. For example, you can use them to play a range of relaxing sounds, from meditation exercises and nature clips to white noise. You can use them as a regular pair of Bluetooth earbuds, too, just in case you prefer to listen to audiobooks or your own curated sleep playlist. They even come with adjustable EQ as well, though we wouldn’t recommend using them as your primary earbuds for music, given that they can’t match the audio quality you’d get from a pair of midrange earbuds from Apple, Sony, or Bose.

In addition, the Sleep A20 offer up to 14 hours of battery life and sleep tracking, providing insights into how long and how well you’ve slept via a companion app that also details your sleep positions and movements. The newer Soundcore Sleep A30 feature active noise cancellation, which is more effective at masking sounds than the A20’s passive isolation, but Anker’s last-gen earbuds remain a decent, budget-friendly option that can help you comfortably tune out most nighttime distractions for nearly half the price.

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Figure data breach exposes nearly 1M accounts

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Figure data breach exposes nearly 1M accounts

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

If you have applied for a loan online, you probably shared more than you realized. Your name. Your email. Your date of birth. Maybe even your home address and phone number. Now imagine all of that sitting on a dark web forum.

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That is the reality for nearly 1 million people after hackers breached Figure Technology Solutions, a blockchain-focused fintech lender.

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What happened in the Figure data breach

Figure Technology Solutions, founded in 2018, uses the Provenance blockchain for lending, borrowing and securities trading. The company says it has unlocked more than $22 billion in home equity through partnerships with banks, credit unions, fintechs and home improvement companies. However, behind the scenes, attackers were working on a very different angle.

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Nearly 1 million accounts were exposed after hackers breached fintech lender Figure Technology Solutions in a social engineering attack. (Felix Zahn/Photothek via Getty Images)

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According to breach notification data shared by Have I Been Pwned, information from 967,200 accounts was exposed. The leaked data included more than 900,000 unique email addresses along with names, phone numbers, physical addresses and dates of birth. That is a gold mine for identity thieves. Figure says the incident stemmed from a social engineering attack. What that means in simple terms is that someone inside the company was tricked into handing over access.

“We recently identified that an employee was socially engineered, and that allowed an actor to download a limited number of files through their account,” a Figure Technology Solutions spokesperson told CyberGuy in a statement. “We acted quickly to block the activity and retained a forensic firm to investigate what files were affected. We understand the importance of these matters and are communicating with partners and those impacted as appropriate. We are also implementing additional safeguards and training to further strengthen our defenses. We are offering complimentary credit monitoring to all individuals who receive a notice. We continuously monitor accounts and have strong safeguards in place to protect customers’ funds and accounts.”

Social engineering is the real weapon

When people hear the word blockchain, they think secure and untouchable. But attackers did not break cryptography. They targeted a human being. Groups like ShinyHunters specialize in this playbook. They reportedly claimed responsibility for the breach and, according to BleepingComputer, posted 2.5GB of data allegedly tied to thousands of loan applicants.

In recent weeks, the same group has claimed breaches involving companies like Canada Goose, Panera Bread and SoundCloud. Not every case is connected. Still, security researchers have observed a troubling pattern. Attackers impersonate IT support. They call employees. They create urgency. Then they direct victims to fake login portals that look nearly identical to real ones.

Once employees enter credentials and even multi-factor authentication codes, attackers gain access to single sign-on systems tied to major platforms like Microsoft and Google. From there, one compromised account can unlock a web of connected tools and internal systems.

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Security researchers say the Figure data leak underscores how social engineering bypasses even blockchain-based platforms. (Maxim Konankov/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Why this matters to you

If your information was part of the Figure data breach, criminals now have enough detail to craft convincing phishing emails or phone scams. They can reference your real name. They can cite your address. They can pretend to be a lender or bank calling about your application.

Even if you never applied for a loan with Figure, this incident highlights something bigger. No platform is immune to human error. And social engineering works because it targets trust, not technology.

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The bigger lesson about blockchain and trust

Figure markets itself as blockchain native. Blockchain can provide transparency and strong cryptographic security. However, none of that protects against a well-crafted phone call.

Security failures often happen at the human layer. That is where attackers focus their energy. As more financial services move online, the attack surface grows. Loan applications, identity verification tools and cloud-based systems create convenience. They also create new targets.

How to protect yourself after the Figure data breach

You cannot control how companies secure their systems. You can control how you respond. Start by checking whether your email address appears in the exposed dataset, then take the steps below to lock down your accounts.

SUBSTACK DATA BREACH EXPOSES EMAILS AND PHONE NUMBERS
 

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Figure says an employee was tricked into granting access, allowing attackers to download sensitive customer data. (Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Check if your email was exposed

To see if your email address was affected, visit https://haveibeenpwned.com/. Enter your email address to find out whether your information appears in the leak. When finished, return here and begin Step 1 below.

Take these steps immediately

  1. Change any exposed passwords right away. Do not leave a known leaked password in place. Update it everywhere you used it. Use a password manager to create strong, unique passwords for every account. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com
  2. Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever possible.
  3. Never share login codes with anyone, even if they claim to be IT support.
  4. Install strong antivirus software to help block phishing links, malicious downloads and ransomware that often follow major breaches. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
  5. Consider a data removal service to reduce your personal information on data broker sites, which scammers often combine with breached data. 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.
  6. Place a free fraud alert or credit freeze with the major credit bureaus.
  7. Monitor your bank and credit card statements weekly for suspicious activity.

Also, be cautious of unexpected calls about your accounts. If someone pressures you to act immediately, hang up and call the company directly using a number from its official website.

Kurt’s key takeaways

The Figure data breach is a reminder that technology alone cannot protect sensitive information. A single employee tricked into revealing credentials can expose hundreds of thousands of people. That is not a blockchain failure. It is a trust failure. If your data was involved, take action now. Even if it was not, treat this as a wake-up call. Your personal information has value. Criminals know it. Companies should know it too.

If one phone call can unlock nearly a million records, are companies investing enough in training people, or are they still betting everything on technology alone? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Apple’s website leaks MacBook ‘Neo,’ which could be its new cheaper laptop

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Apple’s website leaks MacBook ‘Neo,’ which could be its new cheaper laptop

During Apple’s week-long product launch event on Tuesday, a listing for the “MacBook Neo (Model A3404)” appeared on a regulatory compliance page on Apple’s website under its line-up of 2026 MacBooks. First spotted by MacRumors, the listing appears to be an accident and has since been removed, but may have been a leaked reference to a rumored entry-level MacBook. Unfortunately, it didn’t include any additional details beyond the device’s name and model number.

The lower price and an “entirely new design” could help the new MacBook appeal to students and casual users, competing with Chromebooks and low-cost Windows laptops. A more affordable MacBook could be especially appealing after Apple announced the M5 MacBook Air on Tuesday, which has a higher starting price than last year’s Air.

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