- Technology expert Kim Commando gives advice to men worried about falling victim to cryptocurrency scams
- Commando also helps navigate a teenage girl being tracked by her father using AirTags
- Ask Kim Commando about technical issues or concerns
Dear Kim
A new friend on Facebook mentioned that she has an aunt who is very knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies.
After thinking about the names for a bit, I realized they were real people.
While I was watching on WhatsApp, my aunt showed me three trades in 10 minutes that earned her 15 percent on a $500 investment.
At this point I haven't lost any money.
Before I give my aunt $10,000, I wanted to know what you think.
— Jim in Sacramento, California
Dear Jim
Sorry to bring you bad news, Jim.this is a classic Pig butchering scam.
I know it feels like everything is fine, but that's what matters.
Why am I so sure? What's happening here is exactly the same script used by these criminals. I'll give you an overview.
Cold outreach: It starts with a random text, friend request, DM or comment.
In some cases, the person may claim it's the wrong number or that they just liked your profile picture. they are friendly and chatty.
I don't know about you, but if I press the wrong number, I'm not going to keep talking.
Feeding time: New friends slowly build trust.
They want to know about your life and will probably send you pictures to tell you how they're doing.
The money will come after a while. It is usually done under the guise of an investment opportunity.
They did so well with cryptocurrencies that they want to share it with you as well.
Pig fattening: Money is exchanged here, but only in small amounts.
You will be asked to test it with a small investment. Surprisingly, your money is already growing.
That person can send you videos, photos, and even an account to log in to so you can see how well your investments are doing.
Slowly but surely, you'll convince them to add more information to your account.
Massacre: Now you are convinced and start investing more. At this stage, victims can potentially lose tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Millions of wealthy targets could be sitting with scammers.
At this stage you may realize that something is wrong and ask for the money to be removed. It's already too late. If you push hard enough, the scammer will disappear along with all your money.
It's time to unfriend and block new friends.
Dear Kim
I'm a 32 year old woman with an overprotective single father. This week I found out that he had secretly placed an air tag on my car.
I value my freedom and privacy very much. I often go out of my way to erase my presence on social media.
I make sure that only a select few friends can contact me, and even fewer know what I'm up to. I was furious when I was alerted that an unknown girlfriend's AirTag (I immediately knew where it was coming from) was following me.
I called my dad and confronted him. He was surprised that I found out and didn't tell me where it was.
Eventually, I found an AirTag stuck to a magnet and hidden under the car. Honestly, I don't want him to disappear and never see me again.
What can I say to let him know this is not a problem?
Dear reader, unfortunately you are too old for this.
You are in a difficult position. You love your father, but you don't like his controlling nature. A father can't afford to slap a hidden tracker on his adult daughter's car.
You definitely need to talk to him.
Explain that hiding the tracker means he doesn't trust you and doesn't respect your independence.
He'll stress that he's only putting the tracker on your car because he loves you and cares about you.
After all, he is the only one who raised you.
That's great, but there's a better way to show it.
You may want to call or text him more often to calm him down.
Tell him you plan to share your itinerary when you travel. Take a self-defense class.
If you take a rideshare, be sure to let him know that you want real-time tracking turned on.
You can only feed the beast if you enable location sharing on your phone or use an app like Life360. Boundaries need to be set.
Finally, a little more information about Apple AirTags. The AirTag must be within approximately 33 feet or 10 meters of your iPhone or other device for a Bluetooth signal to be detected.
It's obvious that you're using an iPhone because it alerts you when an unknown AirTag approaches.
For Android users, the process is a little different. To detect his AirTags using an Android device, you can download the “Tracker Detect” app from Apple. This app is available on Google Play Store.
AirTag's battery life is approximately 1 year.
