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Happy Saturday, {{first_name | friend}}. Remember when “no bars” meant you were officially off the grid? Those days are over. Your iPhone can now fire an SOS text straight into space. Very Star Trek. Minus the cool uniform and the guy in the red shirt who never makes it back.
That satellite is 870 miles up and moving 16,000 mph. It’s not like texting your sister. She at least stays in one zip code.
📡 What do you have to do to send an emergency satellite text? A) Hit send and hope for the best, B) Lay the phone flat on the ground, screen up, C) Slowly spin your whole body, following an arrow on the screen or D) Hold the phone to the sky and yell, “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” (Wrong network, but points for confidence.) The answer’s waiting at the end, orbiting patiently.
⚙️ Your antivirus is the thing slowing you down: That spinning wheel? The fan that sounds like a jet engine? Half the time it’s not your PC. It’s your “protection” hogging storage. Old-school antivirus dumps a massive threat database onto your hard drive, then drags your whole system around like a parade float. Webroot lives in the cloud instead. PassMark clocked it installing 6.7x faster, scanning 6x faster and using 33x less disk space than competitors. Same protection, none of the drag. Get the antivirus I use for 62% off.* — Kim
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Settle for more
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
⚡ TL;DR
7 household names owe customers real money, from $51 Amazon Prime refunds to $5,000 for Fidelity breach victims.
Most claims take five minutes and need zero receipts.
Trader Joe’s deadline is Tuesday.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
After years of sneaky sign-ups, double-charged fees and leaky databases, seven big names agreed to pay customers back. The money is real, most claims take five minutes and one deadline lands Tuesday. Work down this list with your coffee.
💰 7 checks with your name on them
Trader Joe’s, about $102. Some 2019 receipts printed too many digits of customers’ card numbers, a no-no under federal law. Paid with a credit or debit card between March 5 and July 19, 2019? File at tj-factasettlement.com by June 9.
Amazon, up to $51. Amazon is paying $1.5 billion in refunds after the FTC said it duped customers into Prime and made canceling a maze. Millions got automatic payments already. If you didn’t, claim notices are going out now, so check your inbox, and file at SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com.
Krispy Kreme, $75 to $3,500. Deadline June 22. A 2024 ransomware attack exposed the SSNs and financial info of over 161,000 people. If you got a breach notice, claim about $75 with no documentation or up to $3,500 for documented losses at KrispyKremeDataSettlement.com.
Bank of America. Deadline June 29. The bank charged two out-of-network fees for a single balance check at 7-Eleven ATMs between May 2018 and November 2021. Pressing one button, billed twice. Current customers get paid automatically. Former customers file at OONFeeSettlement.com or call 833-447-8321.
Tom’s of Maine, about $6 with zero proof. Deadline July 6. An FDA inspection flagged manufacturing problems at its toothpaste plant. Bought any Tom’s toothpaste since November 2020? No receipt needed, but receipts get you a full refund on up to three tubes. File at ToothpasteSettlement.com.
Fidelity, $100 to $5,000. Deadline July 27. A 2024 breach exposed the account and routing numbers of about 155,000 people. If you got a notice, claim an estimated $100 with no documentation or up to $5,000 for documented losses, at FidelityDataSettlement.com.
Fandango, $3.25. Deadline Aug. 17. The ticket site allegedly hid mandatory convenience fees on California movie tickets. Eligible buyers choose $3.25 cash or a voucher at FandangoMediaSettlement.com.
🔒 One rule before you claim
The FTC warned last week that scammers are posing as agents who promise to recover your money, for a fee. Never pay to claim money you’re owed.
FYI, ftc.gov/refunds lists every active refund program, and new ones drop monthly. Best free money habit there is.
📩 Send this to someone who never says no to free money.
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📺 YOUTUBE: THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
SpaceX $1.75 trillion IPO, Flock drones track your car and Uber’s wild lost-and-found list
Those are some of the jaw-dropping stories in this week’s show. Plus:
Teen’s Bluetooth made a flight turn around midair.
ChatGPT knew a caller’s date of birth.
AI shrinks your brain.
Fake book helps parents hide phone addiction.
AI predicts 2026 NBA Finals champions.
AI Tool: Breeze through paperwork.
Laid off at 55. How Kristina built a thriving AI consultancy.
And more. A lot more.
Plus, Steven took a photo. It was stunning. The photo competition banned it. What a bunch of crock. Gotta see it to get that.
This show has everything. Drama. Sports. Security. Jokes.
Listen now before everyone else is talking about it. 👇
Or for audio only, click your favorite podcast player below:
WEB WATERCOOLER
🧯 Camera hot shot: If you bought a Wyze camera to feel safer, they’re recalling its Solar Cam Pan after instructions apparently led people to puncture the lithium-ion battery. Thirteen overheating reports, six involving fires or explosions, six minor burn injuries. The $80 cameras were sold at Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, Micro Center and others from October 2025 to April 2026. Learn more here.
Thump and circumstance: New York City to London in under four hours? Sign me up. NASA’s X-59 is set to break the sound barrier this month, but you’ll barely hear it. The needle-nosed jet turns the window-rattling sonic boom into a soft thump, like a car door closing down the street. The ban on supersonic civilian flights over land could finally end. Thames for the memories.
🔥 Future recall scam: I almost admire the nerve of making a fake Amazon recall from February 2026. According to the BBB, these texts are surging, claiming something you ordered was recalled and dangling a refund link. That link leads to a bogus Amazon login page built to steal your password. What a dirty little trick. Real recalls live at CPSC.gov or inside Amazon, not the panic text.
Selfies become stylists: Your phone is turning old outfit selfies into a closet inventory. As part of Google’s June Android Drop, Google Photos will scan your pictures, recognize your clothes and build a digital wardrobe that can suggest what to wear. And get this. It connects to Circle to Search for shopping, because apparently pants now need a referral program. I don’t hate it, but I need Google to understand that some of those shirts were emotional support, not fashion decisions.
Tiny closet, meet giant privacy-concerning photo vault. Which brings me to the less cute side of Google Photos.
💥 “My wife doesn't know yet.” Dave from Indianapolis lost five years of family photos. He thought Google Photos was his backup. It wasn’t (FYI: sync isn’t backup). When he deleted the folder on his laptop, it disappeared from Google Photos, too. That’s why I use Carbonite. It backs up everything automatically, off-site where nothing can touch it. Get 50% off real protection with my link. Safeguard against file loss now.*
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.
⚡ Wired for success
Smarter tech doesn’t have to cost more.
📶 Signal saver: Wi-Fi extender (40% off, $28)
4.2 ⭐ 1,000+ reviews
Your Wi-Fi shouldn’t quit halfway down the hall. This dual-band booster covers almost 16,000 square feet and keeps up to 105 devices connected. Security cameras, laptops, smart gadgets, all of it.
Image: nonser
🎧 All-day audio: These wireless headphones (23% off, $19) last up to 65 hours on a single charge. Lightweight and foldable for travel.
Laptop lounger: This portable lap desk (35% off, $53) fits laptops up to 17 inches and won’t wobble on your couch. Comes with built-in storage.
🤖 Power pal: The Uno charger (35% off, $35) is a power brick that looks like a robot. Handles up to three devices at once. Cute and powerful.
Charge at full speed: Lisen’s braided USB-C cables (10% off, $9, two-pack) go up to 240W. Your tech will get topped off in a fraction of the time.
💻 “Kim, what’s the best computer?” I get that question all the time. Here are my top 20, from budget Chromebooks to premium workstations.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
DEVICE ADVICE
📻 Listen up! My national radio show is airing all weekend across the USA. With over 510 stations strong, find your closest one by using our super-duper station locator map, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or watch the show on YouTube. I’m wherever you are.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Facebook has a secret inbox for messages from people outside your friends list. Open the mobile app, tap the Messenger icon at the top right, then Settings > Message requests. Could be spam. Could be someone who thinks you ghosted them. Proceed with emotional caution.
🔓 Your email snoops on all your email: Gmail and Yahoo scan your inbox, then your data ends up with third parties selling it to who knows who. I use StartMail for my email. It’s based in the Netherlands under some of the strictest privacy laws on Earth. No scanning, no ads, no data sharing. Period. And here’s the smart part: unlimited aliases. Every site I sign up for gets its own email address, so if one gets breached, the damage stops right there. Try it free for 7 days, and get 60% off your first year. Your inbox isn’t a billboard.*
Time zones without brain math: Windows can show extra clocks for people in other cities. Go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time > Show time and date in the system tray. Add up to two extra clocks, then hover over or click the taskbar time to see them. No more “Wait, is it tomorrow there?”
🧾 Receipts, minus the shoebox: Your phone can help find receipt photos hiding in your camera roll. On iPhone, open Photos > Collections > Utilities > Receipts. Looking for a specific one? Search and try the store name. On Android, open Gallery, tap Search and choose Receipts. FYI, the option shows only if you actually have receipts. Shocking, I know.
Kindle page flips, no screen needed: Some Kindles can turn pages when you double-tap the back, side or corner. Great for one-handed reading, or when your snack hand is clearly booked. Open All Settings > Device Options and turn on Double-Tap. Random page flips? This might be the culprit. Same path, switch it off.
😠 Amazon can call you: Need help from a real person? Amazon makes you work for it. Go to the Customer Service page > Something else > Contact Us. In chat, type “Request a phone call.” If the bot plays dumb, keep choosing Something else until Call me now appears. Fill in your number, and make them chase you for once.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: @minchoi via X
🎬 Crowd control
Remember when fake crowds required Hollywood budgets? Now they require about six words and a prompt box.
Creators are using Google’s Gemini Omni to add thousands of people to real videos, transform empty spaces into packed events and swap entire environments while keeping camera movement and physics surprisingly believable.
It’s like giving Photoshop a film degree and zero ethical supervision. The tech is genuinely impressive. You probably shouldn’t believe any political rally crowd video from this point on.
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: Criminals aren’t just stealing identities anymore, they’re building fake people from real Social Security numbers. It’s called synthetic identity theft, and kids are some of the top targets. I’ll show you how it works and what to do before a ghost with your SSN ruins your credit.
Coming up in tomorrow’s trivia: how some Amish craftsmen run serious saws and drills without plugging into the modern world.
The answer: C) Slowly turn your whole body, following an arrow on the screen. Yep, you become a human satellite dish. The screen shows you an arrow, and you turn your body to keep your phone locked onto a satellite that’s moving fast across the sky. Lose the angle and you lose the connection, so you stand there and follow it like you’re charming a snake.
Here’s why it’s so finicky. To make it work at all, Apple built a custom compression system that shrinks your text to a third of its size, then has you answer a few quick tap questions (“What’s the emergency?”), so the message stays tiny.
Under a clear sky, one message takes about 15 seconds to go up. Under a few tree branches? A minute or more. Oh, and it’s free for the first two years (Apple keeps extending it). That’s the closest thing to a superpower hiding in your phone.
Speaking of, an antenna and a satellite dish got married. The ceremony was nothing special, but the reception was out of this world.
🛡️ Your antivirus is a sitting duck: Today’s malware uses sophisticated AI to bypass old-school security. If your protection is more than a year old, you’re basically leaving the front door unlocked. Webroot is built for the now, it’s lightning-fast, blocks threats in real time and won’t hog your system resources. Deal: Get 62% off Webroot Essentials today.*
🤖 The best AI doesn’t replace human judgment. It replaces human typing. Remember that. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, nonser, @minchoi via X
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