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📬 Forwarded to you? Sign up here. Tomorrow: You’re paying for 100 Mbps. You’re getting 23. I’ll hand you the internet speed test that proves it and the exact words to cut your bill. Your ISP hopes you never read this.
It’s a terrific Tuesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Instacart orders start innocently. Bananas. Pasta. Almond milk. Then by checkout, there are more fees than items and your wallet’s doing breathing exercises.
🍅 The delivery fee. The service fee. The tip. Fine. But here’s the sneaky one nobody mentions: The prices in the app may not be the prices on the shelf.
So how much are you paying for your tomatoes? A) Same as in store. Anything else would be illegal. B) Around 5% more. C) 15% more on average, sometimes 30%-40%. D) Vibes-based pricing. The algorithm feels it out. Make a guess, and the answer’s at the finish line.
🕵️ Missed yesterday’s Deep Dive on finding hidden cameras in Airbnbs, cruise ships and hotels? My top pick gadget sold out in hours, so don’t miss out on this one. Here’s my $26 backup. It finds wireless spy cams, GPS trackers under your car and pinhole lenses hidden in smoke detectors and alarm clocks. Fits in your bag. I sweep every rental. You should, too. Don’t sleep on this one. (Especially not in a room you haven’t swept.) — Kim
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Smish and tell
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
⚡ TL;DR
Americans lost $639 million to text scams last year, 7x what they lost in 2020.
Paste any suspicious text into AI. Get a verdict in five seconds.
The prompt fits on one line. Save it once. Use it forever.
📖 Read time: 3 minutes
It’s so annoying. Your phone buzzes. There’s a dollar amount, a deadline and a link you don’t recognize. Your stomach drops for a second. Real or fake? You stare at it for three seconds, second-guessing yourself.
Americans lost $639 million to text scams in 2025. More than 7x what they lost in 2020. And those are just the people who reported it. Text scams went from nuisance to crisis the second AI started writing the bait.
IBM tested this. AI built a phishing campaign in five minutes that took human hackers 16 hours to match. Same click rate.
You don’t have to guess anymore. AI will tell you in five seconds.
🚨 The one-line prompt
Open ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok. Paste in the text, then this prompt:
Is this text a scam? Tell me yes or no, list the 3 red flags you see, and tell me exactly what to do.
Wait five seconds. Done.
That’s it. No app to download. No subscription. No asking a friend. Saved once, the prompt works forever.
Safety tip: Paste only the text, never your account numbers or SSN. AI doesn’t need your private info to spot bait.
🚨 4 scam texts spreading now
“You missed jury duty. Pay $2,000 or face arrest.” Real courts never text or call about missed jury duty. They use the U.S. mail. Period.
“Traffic violation. Scan this QR code to pay.” Even if it has an official-looking state seal, real DMVs don’t text. The tells: a made-up legal code, a sketchy .cc URL and a QR code. Three strikes, all scam.
“$4.20 toll balance overdue.” Toll authorities don’t text payment links. Ever. Real bills come in the mail.
“Hey, are we still on for dinner?” From a stranger. That’s bait for a long con. They’ll chat for weeks, then steer you to a shady crypto trading platform. Block and delete.
Want three new super useful prompts every Thursday? Get them free, in Splash of AI. It’s my free Thursday newsletter. Sign up here.
📩 Send this to someone who forwards every weird text to the family group chat. Tap those links below to do it right now.
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🎤 PODCAST: THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
$121K job lost over a meme
A city council member posted a Game of Thrones GIF as a joke. One month later, she was in handcuffs. Lost her six-figure job. Now she’s suing for $3 million because last I checked, snark isn’t a felony.
Also in today’s episode: Newly released documents detail Bill Gates’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein. I take you inside Zuckerberg’s $170 million Florida fortress. And your gas app? It’s quietly feeding your driving habits straight to your insurance company. (You’re going to want to know which ones.)
Plus, I talked to Sarah from Colorado. Someone is flying a drone outside her bathroom window, and she has a pretty good idea who. I gave her the tools to find out. And you’ll want them, too.
👇🏻 Let’s get into it.
🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
KIM’S DAILY DEALS
As an Amazon Associate, some links pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. Keeps this newsletter free. Thank you.
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Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
💔 Swipe fatigue wins: Glad I’m not in the dating pool. Tinder, Bumble and Match are getting smacked as customers and revenue all head the wrong direction. People are burned out on fake profiles, endless swiping and paying $20, $30, even $499 a month that still somehow deliver the same Chad holding a fish. Gen Z is bailing for meetups, clubs and even going to church on Sunday. Feels right to me.
Prime trailer time: I miss when picking a movie only required arguing with one person on the couch. Amazon launched Clips on Prime Video, a vertical feed of short scenes from shows and movies. The algorithm studies you, then suddenly knows you like crime dramas, cooking shows and men whispering near helicopters. Netflix announced almost the same thing last month. Finally, a way to not watch a movie before not watching a movie.
🧾 At last, Venmo privacy: Picture a tiny town square where everyone announces who paid Dave for nachos. That was basically Venmo for years. The company changed privacy defaults, so new people share transactions only with friends, not the full internet peanut gallery. Nice, many long years late, but nice. Check your account: Settings > Privacy > Default Privacy Setting > Friends or Private.
Today, at 10 a.m., it’s The Android Show: Google’s streaming one of its biggest years yet. Expect Android 17, Gemini AI tucked deeper into the system, and Aluminium OS. This is less about a shinier phone update than Google blurring the line between phone, laptop, assistant and whatever used to be your choices. Watch here. Oh, if you use Android, see if you qualify for any moola I mention in the Device Advice below.
Heart repair juice: Looks like your arteries are getting a maintenance department before your garage does. Researchers built an injectable biomaterial that rides through the bloodstream and looks for damaged tissue. In animal studies, it treated heart attack damage by calming inflammation and pushing the body to heal itself. No surgery, no stitches, no dramatic operating-room montage. I’m not saying I trust the tiny body repair goo yet, but I’m listening.
🧹 Grime and punishment: Ever paid a cleaning fee and been handed a chore chart like you’re 14 again? A guest snapped a photo of their Airbnb host’s checkout checklist and dropped it on Reddit. It exploded, 20,000 upvotes in a day. Why? The list is FOUR PAGES. Strip the beds. Run the dishwasher. Take out the trash. Vacuum. Do laundry. AND pay the cleaning fee. What can I say? Guests’ hands are Tide.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Why conversations feel so exhausting
That mental exhaustion after a family dinner out? You’re not imagining it. When you strain to follow a conversation in a noisy room, your brain does double the work for half the result.
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DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Your TV is an emergency charger. Plug your phone into a USB port, but don’t expect a “fast charge.” Most TVs only output 0.5 amps, which is 4x slower than a wall outlet. It’s perfect for a 1% emergency, but you’ll need to keep the TV turned on to keep the power flowing.
🍏 The iPhone keyboard is broken: It’s not you. People are complaining iOS is “fixing” words that weren’t wrong, adding weird punctuation and turning you-know-what into “duck.” Two fixes: Open Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement and add the recurring typo plus the right word. Or turn off Auto-Correction under Keyboard.
💰 Have an Android? You might be owed money. Google’s paying $135 million over claims Android devices sent info to Google without permission, eating into cellular data. You may qualify if you used an Android with a data plan since Nov. 12, 2017. FYI, no claim form is required, but if you got a Notice ID or code, choose your payment method here. Unsure? Call 1-844-655-4255.
Alexa needs better headlines: If news updates feel stale, open the Alexa app and tap More > Settings > News > My News Channel or Flash Briefing. Pick a different provider, like WSJ, Fox or CBS. Before you switch, say, “Alexa, play news from…” and test one first. Bonus: The Echo Dot is on sale if you want Alexa in another room without paying full price.
🎶 Stop overpaying for audio. I have tested thousands of gadgets in my career. Raycon Everyday Earbuds are still my top pick. They offer incredible sound and a custom fit that actually stays in your ears. You get premium quality without the massive markup of other brands. Start your summer with better music and podcasts. Use my link to save sitewide and get 15% off.*
🪟 Free Windows manual exists: Microsoft has an actual beginner's guide for Windows 11 sitting on their site (free, official, no email gate). It walks you through the Start menu, File Explorer, Edge and all the stuff your dad keeps calling you about. Bookmark it here. Windows didn't ship with a manual. Now it kind of does, thanks to me.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
🪙 Penny for your Martian thoughts
NASA’s Curiosity rover has been carrying around a penny on Mars for 13 years, which makes it no better than my car’s glove compartment.
The 1909 Lincoln penny is attached to the rover as a size reference for close-up rock photos. Yep, “object for scale” Facebook marketplace shenanigans. Just 140 million miles from the nearest gas station.
Makes me think that if aliens ever find NASA’s lucky penny, they’re going to assume Abraham Lincoln colonized Mars first. Hang in there, Abe.
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: Your internet bill says blazing fast, but your speed test says “nice try.” I’ll show you how providers sell big speed promises, bury junk fees and charge you for equipment you don’t need. Check your inbox before your next bill hits.
Coming up in tomorrow’s trivia, a $1.2 million infrastructure project got mysteriously finished by the least likely crew imaginable.
🛒 The answer: 15% on average, with some items hitting 30%-50%. So yes, your grocery app may be casually charging luxury pricing for regular cereal. And that’s before delivery fees ($3.99-$7.99), service fees (5%-10%) and tips. Each retailer sets its own markup. Aldi keeps it tight. Whole Foods and Bristol Farms are the worst offenders.
Lock it down: Tap a store’s pricing policy before you fill your cart. Stores with no markup show an “In-store Prices” badge. Soon Instacart will start charging an emotional baggage fee.
🔊 That mental exhaustion after a dinner out is real. When you strain to follow conversation, your brain does double the work. The Horizon IX from hear.com uses dual AI-processing chips to isolate speech from background noise. They are nearly invisible and rechargeable. Join 670,000 others and get your life back with a 45-day no-risk trial.
🏦 The best investment you’ll ever make is the one nobody can withdraw from you. Skills. Kindness. Reps. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
🏆 THE KIM CHALLENGE: Forward this to ONE person who needs to hear it today. Pick the person who popped into your head while reading. You know who it is.
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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, HOTO, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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