💔 Stalking and tracking

Hey there, it’s Wednesday, {{first_name | friend}}. You probably see the “@” symbol dozens of times a day, on emails, usernames and maybe even tattooed on that one coworker who loves tech a little too much. Some of us even dream about our inboxes (nightmare fuel, honestly). But long before “Reply All Randy” sent his 27th follow-up, this swirly little guy had a whole different job medieval-style.

🧾 Back in the pointy-shoes-and-plague era, merchants used “@” for something way more practical. Take a stab at what it originally meant: A) A symbol for “animal” or “head of cattle,” B) Shorthand for “at the price of,” C) A religious glyph to ward off evil spirits, or D) A marker for approved merchant guilds? I spill the truth at the end!

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One click = more tech smarts. Mark this newsletter as “Not Spam” to keep the good stuff rollin’ each day. — Kim

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Alert: This article is a spoiler for Unknown Number: The High School Catfish on Netflix. 

Imagine you’re a high school girl. Your phone won’t stop buzzing. It’s not friendly DMs, texts or social media notifications.

Instead, hundreds of cruel, anonymous messages flood in, calling you names, threatening you, turning your friends against you and even urging you to take your own life.

This is the true story of Netflix’s Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.

It started in 2020 when 13-year-old Lauryn Licari from Beal City, Michigan, and her boyfriend Owen began getting bombarded with vicious, untraceable texts and DMs, sometimes over 50 a day. 

Her mom, Kendra, was right there with Lauryn, consoling her, talking her through what was going on and helping her file reports with the school and police. 

But this was all a sinister act. Kendra was the one harassing her own daughter. 

Kendra didn’t need sophisticated computer and hacking skills or tools sold on the dark web. She used apps available to anyone.

She weaponized these tools to not only attack her daughter but to pin the blame on Lauryn’s friends, isolating her completely. 

The FBI used advanced IP tracking and digital forensics to cut through the veil of spoofing apps, social media profiles and VPNs. 

They followed tiny pieces of metadata and login information right back to the source: Kendra’s phone and her home Wi-Fi network. Prosecutors compared this case to Munchausen syndrome by proxy, where a parent secretly harms a child to maintain control and play the hero. 

Kendra was arrested, pleaded guilty and served time in prison. She was released in 2024 and is banned from contacting her daughter. Lauryn, now 18, lives with her father.

While the apps Kendra used have legitimate purposes, they can easily be weaponized by anyone. AI wasn’t around when Kendra was targeting her daughter. Now harassers can amp it up by asking AI anything from how to get started and which devices to use to the best ways not to get caught.

Parents, if you think your kids are old enough, watch the documentary together. Technology is a powerful aid, but it’s only as moral as the person using it. 

🛟 There’s probably someone in your circle who would benefit from knowing this. Use the share icons below to spread the word.

If you think this is happening to you, reach out to me. We’ll figure it out together.

George, your AI host, explains Bluetooth tracking and how to shut it down. Plus the latest webcam malware, AI musicians landing record deals, and device hacks to save your sanity.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Subscribe on your favorite platform:

📱 Apple’s skinny era: First, no foldables. Apple dropped the iPhone 17 lineup, headlined by the ultra-thin iPhone Air (5.6mm, titanium, 48MP camera). AirPods Pro 3 now translate languages in real time and track your heart rate mid-squat. New Watches got blood pressure and sleep apnea detection. Preorders open, shipping Sept. 19. Watch the entire event here. Apple stock dropped after the event.

Et tu, ChatGPT? Geoffrey Hinton, the “godfather of AI,” says his ex used ChatGPT to break up with him, by having it explain “what a rat” he was. The Nobel winner wasn’t too fazed, though. Already dating someone else, he still warns that AI could end humanity but also admits he asks it how to fix his appliances.

👀 Romance scam face-off: A Florida woman thought she was chatting up a retired Army general. Nope, just scammers milking her for $60K. Deputies say one guy pocketed $30K and bought a Hyundai Kona. She got to confront him face-to-face. He swears he was “scamming the scammer.” The vehicle of choice for world-class con artists: midrange compact SUV.

A smart tip to help protect your retirement savings: With the economy so unpredictable, I don’t put all my eggs in one basket. I protect a portion of my savings with real gold and silver from Goldco. And right now, Goldco is giving up to 10% back in FREE silver when you open a qualified account.*

🕳️ The web’s falling apart: Google just told a judge the web’s in “rapid decline.” Advertisers are bailing, leaving websites high and dry. Basically, the internet’s breaking up with quirky blogs and small sites for someone hotter, richer and way more into retail. It’s kind of like watching your favorite diner get replaced by a Sweetgreen.

⚡ Crypto malware scare: In the biggest supply chain hack in history, hackers hijacked 18 huge npm packages (chalk, debug and others), slipping in code that swapped crypto wallet addresses mid-transaction. Those poisoned packages? Downloaded over a billion times. Developers yanked the infected versions and purged caches in record time. It shows how fragile the web’s plumbing really is.

📺 RIP Freevee: Amazon’s free streaming service is officially gone. Open the app now, and you’re redirected to download Prime Video instead. Cue tiny violin.

A Florida man thought he was selling an iPhone. Instead, the “buyer” pulled a gun, fired a shot and stole it. Here’s how to protect yourself when meeting up to sell your stuff.

Listen on Komando.com →

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Paper jammed in your printer? Open the back panel and gently pull the paper in the same direction it feeds. Pulling backward can damage the rollers.

Turn off Game Mode in Windows 11: It’s meant to optimize gaming, but if you’re not playing, it can hurt performance by limiting background processes. Go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode and toggle it off. If you have a low to mid-range PC, you’ll see a little boost in multitasking and video editing.

👨🏻‍💼 Prep for interviews with ChatGPT: Use Voice Mode and ask it to play the role of a recruiter. Tell the bot the position and responsibilities from the job ad, then have it ask potential questions one at a time. Ask for follow-ups to add more pressure. Good way to calm those preinterview nerves.

Apple targets you with ads: Apple feeds you ads in the App Store, News and Stocks. They’ll tell you it’s “privacy-friendly.” Turn it off on your iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising > Personalized Ads. Done.

📶 Check your internet speed: Strong Wi-Fi doesn’t always mean fast internet. Run a test and check your download speed. For 4K Netflix, you’ll need 15 to 25 Mbps down. If the whole family’s streaming, gaming and scrolling, 100 Mbps or more will keep the peace. Upload should be at least 10 Mbps, too.

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$50,000
That’s the max cash author James Patterson is handing authors to finally hit “The End.” Some people buy yachts. Patterson funds novels. Each of the 12 authors out of hundreds of applications snagged up to $50K to finish their book, basically the literary version of a no-excuses gym membership.

$1.4 million
That’s monthly profit for an 18-year-old who still lives like a frat star. Zach Yadegari launched Cal AI from his parents’ house, hired 30 staffers and now makes more in a month than most professors earn in a decade. At 18, I was debating ramen flavors. Now he’s debating multigenerational wealth tax strategies. 

$2 million
How much the Las Vegas Sphere makes every single day. Not from concerts but from showing the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Between 4,000 and 5,000 fans show up multiple times a day, each paying about $200 a ticket. Execs estimate the film could top $1 billion over its run. I guess the real Emerald City is in Vegas. Btw, I saw it. I loved it!

Fall is loading, and there’s a live map for that. 

SmokyMountains’ interactive foliage tracker lets you scrub week by week to see when colors hit minimal → patchy → peak → past in every U.S. county. 

Perfect for plotting leaf-peeping road trips, snagging those Airbnb windows and avoiding the “we missed it” blues. 

Pro tip: Most places pop in October, with Northern/high-elevation spots earlier and the Southeast/W. Coast running later if temps stay warm. 

🍁 Speaking of … I just found out Canada isn’t real. Turns out it was all maple leaf. (lol)

The answer: B) Shorthand for “at the price of.” Back in the 1500s, merchants scribbled “@” as a quick way to show unit cost, like “12 oranges @ 1 ducat each.” Fast-forward a few centuries, and Ray Tomlinson slapped it into an email address because it was rare, wouldn’t break computers and, hey, still meant “at.”

🔒 P.S. Your personal data is being bought and sold without your consent. Data brokers collect everything from your home address to your browsing habits and sell it to the highest bidder. Incogni fights back on your behalf, requesting removals from over 400 of these companies automatically. It’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the United States. Stay savvy, stay smiling, and I’ll see you tomorrow with more smarts you need in today’s world. — Kim

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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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