A warm welcome to you on this last day of 2024, friend! Here’s something you might not have noticed. You know what the acronym WTF means. Well, January starts and ends with a WTF — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Is it a good omen or a sign of bad things to come? The internet is fiercely divided, but I say 2025 is going to be WTF, as in “Wow, that’s fantastic!"

Speaking of fantastic, it’s the very last day to enter to win a $500 Amazon gift card. Hit this link and share it around — no purchase necessary.

👋 Do me a favor and hit reply. Say “Hi” or anything else you want. It tells the Big Tech algorithms you want my content, keeping them from shoving me in your promotions or junk folders. Make your inbox your choice. Now, on to the tech smarts! — Kim

I’m all about using AI to get stuff done. No kidding, I use ChatGPT every day to shortcut planning and organize my work and my life.

You know who else loves AI? Cybercriminals. A new scam powered by deepfakes is all over social media. Too many people have fallen for it and lost millions of dollars in the process. I’ve got the dirty details so you don’t become a victim, too.

It’s not Elon

The tactic is called Nomani (yeah, that’s “no money”) and combines AI video, malicious ads on social media and email phishing. It started spiking in May and grew 335% by the second half of 2024. From May to November, ESET Cybersecurity says they blocked about 100 new scam URLs a day, adding up to 8,500 sites.

It starts with a video of Elon Musk or some other celebrity, politician or business leader endorsing a crypto investment on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or X. Some videos look like news broadcasts. Others are “exclusive” interviews or look more like an infomercial. There’s always a famous face you’ll recognize.

Usually, the accounts posting this stuff have tons of followers. The graphics are snazzy, the info is compelling, and, wow, they promise a lot of tremendous gains with no risk. (You smell the scam, right?)

Say you fall for the bait and click over to their websites. At best, you’re handing your info over to someone highly skilled at tricking people out of their money. At worst? The site itself is infected with money- or info-stealing malware.

It gets nastier

Most of these tricks end with an “investment manager” calling to walk you through the process of transferring all your hard-earned money right to them. They pretend they’re helping you put it into a crypto investment account. Nope.

If you’ve already fallen for Nomani, you’re at even more risk. Scammers are going after victims a second time, pretending to be law enforcement trying to help recover your lost funds. Just awful.

Know the red flags

Even if you think, “This could never happen to me,” read this list and store these tidbits away. They could save your butt someday.

• Hey, that’s blurry: Deepfake videos are often in low resolution to hide glitches. If your internet connection is just fine and other videos are clear, move on.
• What if the video quality is OK? Look for strange speech patterns, unnatural breathing, poorly synced audio and video, jerky body movements, and robotic-sounding dialogue.
• Don’t click: They want to get you off social media and over to their website to plant malware. Solid antivirus software can spy malware tricks you can’t. Protect your computer and phone with my pick* for just $19 for the first year.
• High pressure: If an ad says you can double your money by sitting on your butt, your scam radar should be going off. No legitimate investment opportunity is urgent. When they pull out the pressure tactics, move on.

No matter the form, get-rich-quick schemes end one way: With less money and more regret than you started with. You have to be smart! Remember what happened to the chicken: The chicken loses its job, the chicken goes broke, the chicken strips. 🐓

🧘 The first step to an organized mind is an organized home.

• Stop worrying about closet space and send your summer clothes into exile with vacuum storage bags ($19).
• As much as I love having to dig around cabinets on my hands and knees, these storage boxes (32% off) are nifty.
• It’s kind of unbelievable how messy cables can make a room look. Send them to prison a cable management box (14% off).
• Hanger stackers ($28) are something I’d see in stores and wish I had at home. Now, I do …
• OK, this shoe organizer ($30) will double your closet space.

😤 Life savings, gone: Here’s another money scam making the rounds. Kay, 80, from Virginia transferred her money to a “secure account” after someone claiming to work for Wells Fargo called, saying her money was in danger. They drained her savings account of tens of thousands until nothing was left. If you get a call your money is at risk in some way, hang up. Call your bank directly using the number on the back of your card.

Keep this in mind: The 2025 predictions from the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center aren’t pretty. The cybercrime job market is booming, with postings for “software testers” all over the Dark Web. Get this: 12% of identity theft victims who contacted the nonprofit for help in 2024 shared thoughts about ending their lives because the impacts of the theft were so devastating. If this is ever you, do me a favor and call 988 or go here.

So bloody amazing: Robots have been helping surgeons for years. Now they're leveling up just by watching videos. Bots from Johns Hopkins and Stanford can tie knots, suture wounds, pick up dropped needles and even work on animal cadavers. They could help fill the surgeon shortage that’s expected to hit up to 20,000 by 2036.

😳 I pass gas: Auto software provider Cariad leaked the location data for 800,000 electric vehicles. We’re talking owners’ names and the movements of politicians, cops and business big-shots driving Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda EVs — all wide open for months. They say nothing was accessed before they patched it, but I'm not buying it.

Talk about heartwarming: Brianna Cry surprised her grandparents with a trip to Paris for Christmas. The TikTok video of the surprise has over 600,000 views. The couple adopted Brianna, so she wanted to give back. They're headed for the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles and a ballet at Palais Garnier opera house.

🐷 Ham radio is a contact sport: There’s a huge potential break in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 mystery. The plane vanished without a trace in 2014. Maritime robotics company Ocean Infinity is using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR), aka ham radio tech, to track flight paths in the southern Indian Ocean. The search area for the wreckage is the size of Connecticut. I spoke with the person leading this theory on my podcast.

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Thanks to hear.com’s network of audiologists and convenient online consultations, expert care is always close by. Join over 425,000 satisfied customers who’ve said goodbye to muffled conversations and hello to better hearing.

🎉 Emoji magic: There’s a shortcut to the emoji menu on your computer. Mac users, press Ctrl + Cmd + spacebar to find that cute little slice of 🍕. Windows users, hold down on your Windows key + . (period).

AI tip of the day: Spouse forgot to load the dishes again? Instead of firing off a rage-filled text, let AI step in. Ask your fave chatbot to reframe your frustration into something a bit more … constructive. I like this prompt: “Make this message sound more friendly.” No more dish-turbing the peace.

🚦 Stock your car: Emergencies happen and you’ll be glad you were prepared. Consider an emergency kit and a jump box. Excellent gifts for new drivers, too!

You look good: Collagen is scientifically proven to help increase bone density, support cartilage regrowth, smooth wrinkles, strengthen nails and make your hair thicker. I’ve taken it for years, and you should try it, too. Get up to 45% off and free shipping at NativePath with my link.*

Security system flaw: Most systems alert you after a break-in occurs. SimpliSafe uses live guard monitoring to detect intruders before they enter your home. So smart. Use my link to save 50% on a new system right now.*

👂 Who’s listening? Buried within all the legal mumbo jumbo you said “yes” to when downloading an app, you may have given the app permission to listen using your phone’s microphone and collect data.

• Have an iPhone? Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. Disable apps you don’t want picking up on your conversations.
• On Android, go to Settings > Apps Permission Manager. Disable the microphone for any apps you don’t want eavesdropping.

Times Square is so overrated on NYE. They always drop the ball.

Let’s end this in true Kim fashion with a few NYE jokes to share with your people. The first is for the whole fam; the second is adults-only, OK?

1️⃣ My New Year’s revolution? To never use autocorrect again.

2️⃣ A guy walks into a bar on New Year's Eve and orders a glass of champagne. "Happy New Year!" he shouts. The bartender rolls his eyes and tells him, "Calm down. It's still hours away." "Sorry," the guy says. "My doctor says this condition is called premature congratulations."

🥳 On that note, I’m outta here. Have a fun, safe New Year’s Eve! Cheers to you for being here with me on this whirlwind tech journey. See you in 2025 with another year of the best newsletter in the USA! — Kim