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We made it to Friday, {{first_name | friend}}. Today’s story is Ocean’s Eleven if it had worse decision-making. For nearly three years, some of the world’s most careful criminals used what they thought was an “uncrackable” encrypted phone they bought by referral for about $2,000. Nothing screams security like buying your crime phone from a friend of a friend. 

They planned drug deals, weapons shipments and mob business on it, confident no government could listen in. And technically? They weren’t wrong.

😎 How did the FBI end up reading 27 million criminal messages? 
A) Cracked the encryption
B) Flipped an insider who leaked the keys
C) Built and sold the phone messaging platform themselves
D) Asked politely and were shocked when it worked 

The answer is waiting at the end, wearing sunglasses.

Paid advertisement. In the following sponsored message, Mode Mobile explains how it aims to capitalize on Apple’s satellite connectivity expansion. — Kim

🤯 WOW! That mystery package isn’t a shipping mistake. A scammer bought your name and address, and the “gift” turns you into a fake 5-star reviewer. The FBI says the new ones carry malware QR codes.

The Short Version: Keep the item (federal law says it’s a free gift), never scan the code, then change your passwords. Steps below.

📖 Read time: 3 minutes

A box shows up on your porch. Your name, your address, no receipt, no sender. Inside: a seed packet, a cheap ring, one sad pasta strainer.

You didn’t order it. So who did? A scammer, and here’s the kicker: The package isn’t a scam. YOU are the product.

It’s called a brushing scam. Sketchy online sellers need glowing “verified purchase” reviews to climb the rankings. They buy your name and address (data breaches are the gift that keeps on giving), ship you something that costs them pennies, and boom, the system sees a real delivery to a real customer. Then they write a 5-star review of their junk product. Signed, basically, by you.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says it plainly: It’s illegal, and if you’re getting these boxes, your personal information is compromised. Not “might be.” Is.

Lately these packages come with a little card: “Scan this QR code to see who sent your gift!” The FBI put out a formal alert about this one. That code can send you to a phishing site that harvests your card number, or it could push malware onto your phone. Curiosity is what they’re counting on.

The package is bait. The QR code is the hook. Don’t be the fish.

✅ Got one? Do this.

FYI, the fake reviews themselves are a federal offense. The FTC can fine sellers over $51,000 per phony review.

So if a mystery box shows up this weekend, you know the drill. Keep the strainer. Skip the QR code. Change your passwords.

I reported a stolen Amazon package once. Police are still looking for a prime suspect.

🎯 Send this to someone who got a weird package this year and just shrugged.

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Uber is going wild with global excursions. It’s launching a real-life Tokyo Drift. A pro driver takes you sideways at 62 mph for under $190. Forget airport runs. Your next Uber might be a helicopter.

Hit the link below, so you’re in the know. 👇

▶️ Uber will let you drift through Tokyo →

🪐 Astronomers found an Earth-like planet with air: Meet LHS 1140 b, a rocky world a few dozen light-years away that sits in the “not too hot, not too cold” zone, and scientists confirmed it has an atmosphere (paywall link). That makes it the first potentially habitable planet known to check all three boxes for life. No aliens yet, but the air is mostly helium. So if anyone’s out there, they all sound hilarious.

Mini but mighty: I love the iPad Mini because it’s the perfect size for reading, traveling and convincing yourself you didn’t buy another iPhone. An OLED version (paywall link) could arrive as soon as October, its biggest refresh since 2021. Lovely. Also expensive. The current Mini already costs about $600 after a $100 hike, and OLED could push it past $700. Apple’s marching OLED across the lineup, with cheaper iPads and MacBook Airs likely getting it by 2027 or 2028.

⏰ Turn back the clock: After 30, your body produces less and less collagen every single year. By 60, you’re making half of what you used to. That shows up in thinning hair, brittle nails and skin that lost its bounce. I add NativePath Collagen to my morning tea every day. Grass-fed, no taste, dissolves completely. Get up to 45% off, plus free shipping and free gifts right now.** 

Fake safety alert: Scammers have discovered the one email subject Americans might actually open: product recall. Fake recall texts and emails are rising, usually pretending an item you bought is unsafe and offering a fast refund. The hook is the link, where they want your card number, bank info or login. If you never asked for money back and it arrives gift-wrapped in urgency, it’s bait. Check CPSC.gov or the maker’s site. 

📹 Felony for content: Imagine telling the nation’s teens there are abandoned office pyramids in the suburbs somewhere and hoping they don’t do something dumb. In Somers, New York, the huge 723-acre former IBM campus has become an urban explorer trophy after Instagram and TikTok clips spread (paywall link). Since February, state police have arrested 48 trespassers, 30 of them teenagers. The place, where 2,300 people worked, sold in 2016 for $31.75M, and neighbors want it saved before content turns it into rubble. The videos are a mix of cool and creepy.

Elliot and his fiancée go on a wild police pursuit in Waymo. Against their will. Rating? Zero stars.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Most folks have forgotten this old phone trick. Open the Phone app, tap Keypad, then hit the green call button once. The last number you dialed appears at the top. Check it’s the right one, then tap green again to call. It works on most Android phones, too.

Kick YouTube Shorts out: “Just one video” has a funny way of stealing an hour. In the YouTube mobile app, go to Settings > Time management > Daily limits. Turn on Shorts feed limit and set it to 0 minutes. Refresh the Home feed, and Shorts should disappear. Classic YouTube, minus the endless swiping.

⌚ Don’t miss the turn: CarPlay directions are great, until the music’s blasting or you zone out for two seconds. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, then Apps > Maps > Turn Alerts and toggle on Driving with CarPlay. Now your Apple Watch will tap you on the wrist before turns, with different haptics for left and right.

Keep ad blockers working: Open an Incognito window to shop for a surprise gift, and suddenly every sponsored result is back. Why? Chrome turns extensions off there by default. Click the three dots (top right) > Extensions > Manage Extensions, choose your ad blocker, hit Details and toggle on Allow in incognito.

🪦 Is your tech expired? That old phone or tablet may still work, but its security updates could be long gone. Before logging into banking or personal apps, search your device at endoflife.date to check its support status. If the end is near, try Amazon Trade-In. Better than letting it collect dust or dealing with Marketplace strangers.

Be on the show! Got a wild tech story you’re telling all your friends about? We want to know, too! Send it my way here. I’ll read it. You might get a call from one of my producers. We can chat on air. 

Smart glasses finally discovered a revolutionary feature: not making everyone around you wonder whether they’re being recorded.

Even Realities’ $599 G2 skips cameras and speakers, using a neon-green display for translations, meeting notes, directions and teleprompter prompts. The 35-gram frames pack a 1,200-nit, 60Hz screen, claim two days of battery life and even work outside. Though most tricks still depend on your phone behaving.

The hardware is polished. The software is deciding whether your to-do list said “call Mom” or “buy uranium.” You can see some interesting videos here.

Wear them to your next job interview. Getting a good job is all about optics.

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🎓 What you learned today: A mystery package means your personal info is already making the rounds (keep the gift, skip the QR code), Apple’s next iPad Mini may get an OLED glow-up with a not-so-mini price, fake “product recall” alerts are the newest bait, and smart glasses ditched the camera and finally got useful. Not bad for one email. Tomorrow: the password manager setting your family will thank you for. Hopefully never.

🚔 The answer: C) The FBI built and sold the phone messaging platform themselves. Yep. Operation Trojan Shield. Working with the Australian Federal Police, the FBI baked a master key into every message sent on its own app, called ANOM, then let word of mouth do the marketing. 

More than 12,000 devices reached over 300 criminal syndicates in more than 100 countries. The result: 800 arrests, 8 tons of cocaine seized, $48 million in cash and crypto and more than 150 planned killings prevented. The criminals paid roughly $2,000 each for the privilege of getting caught.

And the good news for these guys? Where they’re going, everybody gets a cell. (Get it? Tough crowd!)

The message above included a paid advertisement from Mode Mobile. Mode, not me or The Current, is responsible for its claims. Invest wisely.

Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, BISSELL, Even Realities

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