💰 AI’s latest scam: Fake receipts fooling real companies

Welcome to your Wednesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Let’s take a breather from the midweek hustle and dive into CAPTCHAs. You know, those “click all the squares with a crosswalk” tests that make you feel both 100% human and completely defeated all at once? What if I told you those anti-robot puzzles were secretly recruiting you as an unpaid digital worker? Yep, surprise! 

👷🏼 So, what do you think early CAPTCHAs were helping Google do behind the scenes? A) Train self-driving cars, B) Digitize old books, C) Map satellite images, or D) Translate foreign languages? Take a wild guess, the answer awaits you at the end. 

Readers often ask me how to keep their files safe. My answer? Carbonite. I rely on them to back up years of family photos, tax documents and everything digital you can’t replace. It backs up automatically, and if you ever need it, you can restore everything with just one click. More about this below. — Kim

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You know I love a good tech takedown, and this one is peak internet. 

Meet Trevor McNally, a former U.S. Marine staff sergeant turned full-time YouTuber with a very specific hobby: lock picking. On his channel, he tests locks the way most of us test leftovers, with low expectations and a lot of curiosity. 

He’s not a locksmith, but he really knows his way around a lock, a pick and a camera. That led to him getting sued.

It started when one of his viewers left a comment daring him to try the “virtually unpickable” trailer hitch lock from Proven Industries. This is a $130 heavy-duty beast designed to secure your trailer, boat or RV. 

The company bragged about its toughness. So McNally took up the challenge.

He bought the lock himself, no sponsorships or tricks, and filmed the whole thing. What he did next was pure genius. He grabbed a Liquid Death can (yes, the trendy water brand in a tallboy can) and sliced it open. 

With a pair of scissors and some patience, he shaped the thin aluminum into a shim. Then, with barely any pressure and zero damage, the lock quickly popped open. Click. Done.

It didn’t take brute force, a power drill or some secret tool. Just curiosity, scissors and a can of water. And yes, the whole thing is up on YouTube. Go watch it now. It’s oddly satisfying.

Here’s where it gets messy. Instead of fixing the flaw or saying, “Hey, thanks for the heads-up,” Proven Industries sued McNally. They accused him of defamation, trade libel and copyright infringement, saying his video hurt their sales and reputation. Whaw whaw, did the big bad YouTuber hurt your feelings?

McNally then doubled down and posted even more videos showing the same shim trick on other locks. Eventually, the case was thrown out of court. 

As for lock whisperer McNally, he walked away with even more followers, over 12 million views and the win.

The lesson? If you call something “unbreakable,” it better be. Otherwise, someone with a camera, a can and an adventurous streak might unlock more than you bargained for. On this weekend’s show, I have another popular YouTuber, a lawyer who got his own viral video about this case. You can watch that here. It’s really fascinating!

She kept getting iPhone alerts. Turns out her ex hid four AirTags in her car. Also, a listener calls in with a question about using AI to write legal documents for his real estate biz. Then I dig into Apple’s $3,500 flop, why Tesla truck drivers say they’re getting harassed on the road, and the brutal new work culture taking over startups.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or listen now on your favorite platform:

🔎 8K? More like OK: Thinking of splurging on an 8K TV? You might want to save your money. New research says your eyes can’t tell the difference between 2K, 4K or 8K TVs at normal distances. Basically, if you’ve got a big screen and sit on a couch, you’re maxed out. Everything else is just for bragging rights.

🚨 Roblox backlash grows: The mom of 13-year-old Audree Heine says Roblox’s weak moderation and investor-driven greed let violent communities radicalize her daughter before her suicide. Her lawsuit claims Roblox knew kids were being exploited but “prioritized Wall Street numbers” instead. It’s the 12th case accusing the platform of failing basic child safety. Heartbreaking.

Apple’s leak problem: Apple can’t catch a break. Its “awe-dropping” event leaks were bad enough, but now the FCC is leaking, too (paywall link). Filings revealed new model numbers for MacBook Pros, iPad Pros and even an updated Vision Pro, likely all rocking fresh M5 chips. The kicker? These leaks didn’t come from insiders. They came from the government.

Autopilot brain: An Illinois Tesla driver blamed Autopilot after rear-ending a parked police cruiser, because of course they did. The guy admitted he was asleep while the car “drove itself.” Nobody was seriously hurt, but the police (and reality) reminded everyone that Autopilot isn’t “nap mode.” If your wake-up alarm is a cop siren, you might be doing the whole car thing wrong. 

🕵️‍♀️ Take your privacy off the market: Data brokers quietly collect and sell your personal info: your email, phone number, even where you live. Incogni automatically removes your data from these sites before it’s sold or leaked. Real protection, running quietly in the background, so you can live life, not defend it.*

💳 AI joins accounting’s dark side: Looks like AI’s taking up “creative accounting” as a side hustle. Expense software firms are catching a wave of AI-generated fake receipts, saying fakes make up 14% of all fraud attempts, complete with logos, bogus signatures and even wrinkles in the paper. CFOs are sweating, and expense apps are, get this, using AI to fight AI. What a world.

💥 Bright idea: This is amazing. Scientists in Texas found a way to zap cancer cells using plain ol’ LED bulbs and tin oxide nanoflakes. It’s basically a sunburn with superpowers. After 30 minutes, up to 92% of skin cancer cells were toast, while healthy cells chilled. It’s still early days, but imagine treating cancer with a bedside lamp instead of chemo and radiation.

Your smartwatch gives you numbers, not answers. Ask ChatGPT to explain what they mean and what your body really needs today

Listen on Komando.com →

Here are your shortcuts to looking alive again (you’re welcome).

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Porcelain throne upgrade: Once you hook up a bidet attachment ($53, 45% off), you’ll wonder how you ever cleaned up without a warm, self-cleaning wash.

🛍️ Because you deserve it: Treat yourself (without emptying your wallet) and browse today’s top steals, all four stars and up.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want more engagement on your social media posts? Reply to comments within 30 minutes. Turn on post notifications under Settings > Privacy > Notifications, so you never miss one.

✈️ Set Google Flights price alerts: Head to Google Flights, search for your trip and toggle the “Track prices” switch. You’ll get email alerts when prices drop. Bonus: It’ll even tell you if current prices are high, average or low compared to typical trends.

🔎 Find anything on your computer: On macOS 26, press Command + space bar to open Spotlight search, and type what you need. You can narrow results by hovering over the search field and selecting Apps, Files, Actions or Clipboard. On Windows, press Windows key + S to do the same, and filter by Documents, Settings or Folders.

▶️ Got YouTube Premium? You can download videos to watch offline anytime. Open a video, tap Download and choose your quality. On PC, find them under Downloads in the left panel. On mobile, tap You (bottom right) > Downloads. Bonus tip: You can play them in the background while your phone’s locked.

📦 Stop porch pirates before the holidays hit: Online shopping season’s here, and thieves know it. SimpliSafe keeps packages, and your home, protected with flashing lights, instant alerts and live monitoring. No contracts, no hidden fees, just peace of mind all season long.*

⌚ Use Water Lock for kids: On your Apple Watch, open Control Center and tap the little water droplet icon to turn on Water Lock. It makes the screen unresponsive until you long-press the Digital Crown to disable it. It’s meant for swimming, but perfect for keeping tiny hands from changing your settings.

Remember folding a paper airplane and pretending it was a fighter jet? Well, now the plane pretends it’s you.

Meet the X-BAT, a new AI-powered drone that takes off vertically from ships or islands, flies 2,000 miles solo and packs real-deal missiles. It’s powered by the same brainy system that once flew an F-16 in a simulated dogfight against a human pilot — and didn’t get smoked.

No pilot. No joystick. Just pure machine-driven “I got this.”

The idea? Deliver airpower anywhere, no cockpit required. First flight’s coming next year. And yes, it’s a little terrifying.

AI came for writers and designers. Now it’s circling Tom Cruise. Better hang on, Maverick.

The answer: B) Digitize old books. Yep, turns out those squiggly word CAPTCHAs were part of a secret mission called reCAPTCHA, where Google used your eyeballs to help turn dusty scanned pages into searchable digital archives. So be proud, I guess. 

📚 Fun fact: reCAPTCHA helped digitize the entire archive of The New York Times. That’s over 150 years of news, headlines and hot takes before Twitter.

Maybe it’s me, but if robots can’t identify stop signs or traffic lights in CAPTCHA images, maybe self-driving cars are a bad idea. 

One crash, one spilled coffee, one failed hard drive, and your family photos, tax documents, years of work are gone forever. That heart-stopping panic is real if you don’t have a backup. That’s why I rely on Carbonite, my #1 choice for cloud backup. Not protecting your files? You’re tempting fate, and that’s a risk I’m not willing to take. Save 50% off at carbonite.com/kim.

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S., and I’ll never make you identify all the crosswalks. Tomorrow, more tips you need to be tech ahead.

Go make something ordinary feel magical. I’ll be here tomorrow with more tech smarts. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): @McNallyOfficial via YouTube, YEKKOPT, Shield AI

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This newsletter and its content are intended for informational purposes only. They are provided without warranty of any kind. You shouldn’t construe anything provided here as legal, health, medical, technical, tax, investment, financial or any other kind of advice.

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