5 New Scams Even Experts Can Miss - Spotlight #519

Straight Talk in a Tech World: Always Free, Always Private

Good Monday Morning!

It’s December 16th. Here is a list of the final shipping dates from major delivery providers for items to arrive by Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

Today’s Spotlight is 875 words, about 3 minutes to read.

3 Headlines to Know

GM Pulls Plug on $10B Cruise Division

General Motors has shuttered its decade-long Cruise robotaxi venture, marking a significant win for competitors Waymo and Tesla in the autonomous fleet market.

TikTok's US Future Hangs on Supreme Court Battle

ByteDance's TikTok faces a January 19 deadline to secure American ownership or cease US operations, with its final appeal now resting with the Supreme Court following recent legal setbacks.

Mozilla Drops 'Do Not Track' Feature

Mozilla has removed Firefox's Do Not Track privacy setting after determining that widespread advertiser non-compliance rendered the feature ineffective, even as competitors Chrome and Edge maintain the option.

---

By The Numbers: Top 3 Uses Drive Quarter of Claude Interactions

Anthropic's analysis of one million Claude conversations revealed that app development, content creation, and academic research writing collectively account for 26% of all usage, with distinct patterns emerging across different languages and regions.

George’s Data Take: The number of app developers follows a familiar pattern that began with code libraries and open-source communities and the strong showing in content creation and academic writing reflects natural market adoption.

The real story lies in the smaller percentages. Digital marketing and data visualization, collectively accounting for over 7% of usage, may signal approaching disruptions in these professional sectors. There are also ethical concerns including interactions around extremism and mental health.

Running Your Business: Instagram Retires Hashtag Following Feature

Instagram has announced the discontinuation of its hashtag following capability, removing users' ability to track content via keywords and eliminating all existing hashtag follows from the platform.

---

SPOTLIGHT: 5 New Scams Even Experts Can Miss

Digital fraud is evolving at breakneck speed in 2024, with AI supercharging traditional scams and creating new threats. Here's what you need to know.

Image by Ideogram, prompted by George Bounacos

The Big Picture

Digital scammers are becoming more organized and sophisticated, operating brazenly across social media, messaging apps, and email while using AI to enhance their schemes. The result: record losses and younger victims.

By The Numbers

• $10B+ lost to consumer fraud in 2023 (FTC)

• 2M+ scam accounts removed by Meta

• $4B lost to crypto investment scams

• 225B spam texts sent in 2022

• 18-24 year olds now most targeted age group

Most concerning: These scams now blend so seamlessly into daily digital life that even cybersecurity experts struggle to spot them.

Today's Most Dangerous Scams

• Pig Butchering: Scammers build trust over months before steering victims to fake crypto investments

• Yahoo Boys: West African networks running romance and business scams through social media

• Deepfake Fraud: AI-generated video calls and voice clones leading to massive corporate theft and personal deception

• Political Donation Flooding: Overwhelming seniors with urgent texts and emails, using pre-checked boxes to trap them in recurring payments

• Government Impostors: Criminals posing as federal agencies to extract payments

What's Next

AI-powered deception tools are becoming more accessible and convincing. Platforms are responding with real-time detection systems, but the arms race continues.

The Bottom Line

Digital trust is fundamentally shifting. Even tech-savvy users are vulnerable to new techniques, requiring constant vigilance.

Go deeper: Test your scam awareness with this gift link to the Wall Street Journal's fraud detection quiz.

---

Practical AI: OpenAI Launches '12 Days' Product Blitz

OpenAI has unveiled a series of big ChatGPT upgrades through its December product campaign, introducing project organization features, AI-powered screen and camera sharing, and text-to-video generation functionality.

Debunking Junk: Drone 'Sighting' Over Northeast Turns Out to be Stars

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has joined other politicians in demanding federal action over alleged nighttime drone activity, but astronomy experts have identified the lights in his viral 39-second video as the Orion constellation.

Protip: Chrome's Top Extensions Get Annual Spotlight

Google has announced its 12 standout Chrome extensions for 2024, with productivity tools Evernote, Stylish, and Todoist making notable appearances in the curated selection.

---

Big News: Spotlight’s New Home

We’re moving to a new email provider, but sticking with you through the holidays. Coming soon: a look back at what you read most in 2024.

Share this with your friends so they can join the ride!

---

Screening Room: Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool for SickKids

Science Fiction World: Robot Birds Take Flight with Groundbreaking Leg Design

Engineers have developed a new class of drones that combine bird-like legs with functional wings, enabling these machines to both walk effectively and launch themselves into flight.

Tech For Good: Solar-Powered Wearable Tracks Health Through Sweat Analysis

Caltech researchers have created a battery-free wearable device that analyzes sweat for multiple health markers, including proteins, vitamins, and vital signs, powered entirely by integrated solar technology that works in office or home lighting conditions.

Coffee Break: UK Spy Agency Wraps Recruitment in Holiday Puzzle

Britain's GCHQ intelligence service has launched its annual Christmas Challenge, combining festive brainteasers with STEM education outreach - and a practical talent scouting mission for potential new recruits.

Sign of the Times