You can't
make this stuff up.
Head-scratching headlines, spectacularly bad decisions, and the stories that make you ask: seriously?
Latest dispatches
Scammers are running sponsored ads on Reddit impersonating BBC, Financial Times, and The Guardian to promote fake AI coins, because platform moderation is aspirational
Cybersecurity researchers uncovered a campaign where scammers buy Reddit ads, impersonate major news outlets, and link to cloned websites promoting fictitious AI coins l…
READ STORY ↗Police warn of AI-powered scams targeting people searching for lost pets, because criminals now have a tool that makes fake pet photos in seconds
Pennsylvania State Police and consumer protection agencies across the U.S. are warning about a rise in AI-powered missing pet scams, where criminals monitor social media…
READ STORY ↗The FCC launched a "Never, Ever" campaign to tell Americans that the government will never call to demand payment, because $3.5 billion in losses last year proved that yes, actually, we need to spell this out
The Federal Communications Commission partnered with the Elder Justice Coordinating Council to launch the "Never, Ever" campaign, a public awareness effort reminding Ame…
READ STORY ↗Britain will ban children under 16 from TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat, because apparently the government can regulate the internet better than parents can—and definitely better than Big Tech's algorithms
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that the UK will ban social media use for anyone under 16, making it illegal for platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, …
READ STORY ↗New Jersey Republican Tom Kean has been absent from Congress for 100 days straight, missing 135 votes, because apparently ghosting your job still counts as showing up
Representative Thomas Kean Jr. hasn't been seen in Congress since March 5, 2026. He missed the vote to end the Iran war. He missed the vote to fund ICE. He's missed ever…
READ STORY ↗Google sued a Chinese cybercrime ring for using Gemini AI to send 2.5 million phishing text messages, because apparently the first thing scammers ask AI is "help me commit wire fraud"
A Chinese cybercrime operation called Outsider Enterprise asked Google's Gemini AI to help generate phishing websites and scam messages. Gemini complied. The criminals s…
READ STORY ↗Americans lost $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, because apparently nobody learned that real banks don't demand immediate money transfers
The FTC just released devastating data: Americans reported losing nearly triple what they lost in 2020 to people pretending to be government agencies and businesses. And…
READ STORY ↗Congress let a critical U.S. surveillance law expire because they were mad about who Trump appointed, because national security apparently has a "I'm taking my ball home" clause
A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) lapsed in mid-June 2026 after the House refused to extend it. The problem? Trump appointed Bill Pulte…
READ STORY ↗The FBI warned that crypto scammers are using couriers to collect cash, because direct bank transfers were apparently too convenient for fraud
In what might be the most on-brand scam evolution of 2026, criminals have figured out how to bypass fraud detection by sending actual humans to your door to pick up enve…
READ STORY ↗The Washington Post got sued for using secret customer data to charge different subscribers different prices, because apparently newspapers learned about price discrimination from airline loyalty programs and decided to make it creepy
A class-action lawsuit filed in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday alleges that the Post has been using reader data—browsing habits, reading frequency, demographic informat…
READ STORY ↗The FTC warned about fake CAPTCHA requests that look legit but actually install malware on your computer, because apparently security theater needed method acting
The Federal Trade Commission is reporting phishing scams that mimic CAPTCHA verification screens and trick people into running hidden commands that download malware to s…
READ STORY ↗The FTC is warning childcare providers about scammers pretending to be desperate parents who "accidentally" send checks for more than the agreed price, because fraud has a customer service department
Scammers are contacting childcare providers by email, text, social media, and gaming platforms, offering to send advance payment checks that are always for more than quo…
READ STORY ↗Trump's name came down from the Kennedy Center at 3 a.m. on a Saturday, because apparently even monuments need an ejection protocol when courts issue them.
Workers removed President Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts early Saturday morning, complying with a federal judge's ruling that rebra…
READ STORY ↗South Korea's ex-president got 30 years in prison for sending drones over North Korea, because apparently creating international incidents for domestic political theater has consequences.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday for ordering drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024. Prosecutors argued he orchestra…
READ STORY ↗The Trump administration is giving millions to a company partially led by a QAnon activist and telecom executive to build a coal-fired power plant, because energy policy is now a TruthSocial comment thread
The Energy Department is funding what could be the nation's first coal-fired power plant since 2013, and the man driving the deal is known more for his devotion to consp…
READ STORY ↗Google sues a Chinese cybercrime ring for using Gemini AI to build 2.5 million spam messages and fake websites designed to steal from Americans
The Outsider Enterprise allegedly used Google's own chatbot to write malicious code, build scam sites, and send mass phishing texts. Google's response: a lawsuit and a r…
READ STORY ↗The FTC is getting new reports daily of fake CAPTCHA screens asking people to type malware commands, because protecting yourself from bots apparently now requires becoming one
Scammers created phishing pages that look like legitimate security checkpoints but ask you to run Windows commands that install malware. Real CAPTCHAs never ask for keyb…
READ STORY ↗Cybersecurity researchers found 40 fake FIFA World Cup 2026 ticket websites designed to steal payment information before the tournament even started, because apparently 2026 is the year of strategic fraud planning.
The fake sites mimic official FIFA ticketing portals with card skimming, OTP interception, and real-time credential theft. Scammers linked to Chinese-origin threat actor…
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