WEEKLY WHEATIES #2508

Avoid Scams, iPhone 16e, AI, Headlines, Architecture

Feb 24, 2025

In this newsletter:

📝 Post: Tips to Spot and Avoid IRL and Online Scams
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: iPhone 16e Announced
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: AI Updates
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Tech Headlines
😎 Pick of the Week: Architecture Picks
📦 Featured Product: Tablo Over-the-Air Tuner

📝 Tips to Spot and Avoid IRL and Online Scams

Without getting too religious, I know I’m supposed to love and treat everyone the way I want to be. And even love my enemies while blessing them. But I find it really hard not to have harsh thoughts and opinions on those who knowingly scam others - especially out of money. If I didn’t have my morals and ethics, I could be very rich, all while traveling the country. It’s so easy to do; I’ll explain one way of doing so in hopes of helping you be aware of this and other similar scams.

It all starts with eBay. Buy a shirt, hat, and vehicle decal of the company in question. For this example, I’ll use Cox Communications. Next, purchase an iPad and download some invoice-type app. Then, visit any neighborhood and get ready to go door to door. You can do some research beforehand to help by getting the names and addresses of all homeowners if you want to be extra spiffy. There are a few ways to do this online, but I won’t dive deep here. Once knocking on a door, simply state, “Hello, Mr. Smith, I notice you have [XYZ] internet company. I represent Cox and can help lower your monthly costs. (blah blah blah) In order to qualify for this [new monthly] rate, you must pay ($500) upfront. This will also cover the first (6) months of bills. Someone will contact you in the next few days for installation and upgrades.” With a few good rebuttals thrown in for good measure:

Oh, you can’t pay it all upfront? No worries. We can make a payment plan. How much would you like to pay monthly? Disregard any double or triple charges on your card while we’re at it…

Oh, you don’t currently have [XYZ] internet company? My apologies, my database isn’t always up to date.

Boom! I just charged your card through my iPad (in some cases, more than once), and will disappear to never be seen again. You can reverse the charges all you want, but I’ll have already cashed out and opened a new bank account. The numbers, company in question, type of service (pest control, exterior home cleaning, etc), and other specifics are irrelevant. This type of scam has been growing over the years and is a big problem because there is some level of legitimacy to it. And this is just one of many face-to-face scams. Online scams are exponentially more abundant and advanced.

For a great YouTube channel that uncovers a lot of these is simply called Scammer Payback. He also did a video for Wired called Scambaiting Support that shares some great insight. One of his biggest tips, which works online and in person, is simply to watch out for rushed decisions. If you can’t sleep on it or talk to your spouse, friend, or family member about it, then it’s probably a scam (or, at minimum, some type of MLM). Ask for a business card, a return phone number, a name, and anything else they are willing to give you. Then, go look the business up online, verify its authenticity, and call the main number on the site — not the one they gave you. Tell them you spoke with (Johnny with Cox Telecomms), and he mentioned [insert special package]. If they say it may be legitamate, cool. But I’d still call back another day and verify with a second person.

However, another common online scam (at least on social media) isn’t from a business, it’s from an individual who’s account has been hacked. Common verbiage includes something like, “We are conducting a sale of personal items due to my uncle's relocation to a care facility, which necessitates significant downsizing. To manage this transition smoothly, items will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.” Very specific verbiage, right? Well, if you don’t believe me, simply copy and paste that sentence and search Facebook for yourself!

These types of posts offer items for sale that are priced to go! They have to be, right? Someone doesn’t have time to price them and sit and wait, they need them gone now! Sense of urgency, check. Then, the posts are set to private so as not to allow comments. You must only private message them, which also allows them to sell the same thing multiple times. Next, you have to pay a deposit before pickup - Venmo, PayPal, etc, and only use friends and family. Because it’s someone you know, right? Except the payment profile doesn’t ever match the Facebook profile. Or they say, “It’s my cousin’s account. They’re helping out…”

They have and know all the tricks. This is why if it’s someone you know - simply pick up the phone and call them. You can verify for sure, or at least tell them so they can go change their password. This shows the importance of secure logins and messaging. And to beg you to turn on Two-Factor Authentication anywhere and everywhere you can. Read more on this from Weekly Wheaties #2434.

You also must be careful when receiving phone calls. I suggest turning on the setting to Block or avoid unwanted calls on iPhone or block spam calls on your Android. I’ve heard from many of you that you don’t want to do this for business purposes or for doctors' offices. I get it. But as best you can, you can save their contacts or ask them to leave a message. Or mitigate as best you can. Answer every call if you must, but be very careful saying “Yes” as they can say, “You gave permission for…”

As much as I know you are yelling at me, I still say try not to answer numbers you don’t know who they are - more so for non-local area codes. IF it is a spam call, simply by answering the call, you help do two things. First, you tell the spammers you have a legitimate phone number, which is a hassle personally. But for the larger context and helping to do your goodwill to others, you help tell the phone carriers that the number they have is also a legitimate number. By making hundreds and thousands of calls, they ‘warm up’ the number, which makes it exponentially harder to block and report them.

This is even more true with random text messages. I can’t overstate this enough. DO NOT TEXT BACK. If you’re waiting for a text, that’s one thing. If it’s someone random, by the second or third non-response, they should reply with their name. Again, you’re helping tell the carrier it’s a real number. If you get junk text, report it and mark it as junk. If you get a random text that obviously has the wrong number, report it and mark it as junk.

Still, if someone does their due diligence, they could also easily spoof any number. Check out Vertasium on YouTube as he Exposes The Flaw In Our Phone System. Another hack I’ve seen being done is someone will text you and say, “Hey, this is [Bob Smith], I’m about to call you!” And when they call, it shows their name because our phones think they are being smart by reading our text and telling us!

This is also really common with places like the IRS or other police-related matters. They try to get you to ‘pay’ your bill now! Or you will be arrested. And if you can’t pay in crypto or some other type of online payment, they try to get you to pay in gift cards. Check out this story about The gift card scam that keeps on giving.

Ultimately, help us all out! If we all report as many as we can, in theory and practice, they will slow down. The same thing is true for email, too. Read on What Actually Happens When You Report Something As Junk?

There’s a lot more in the spam category than I can get into, but I do have a few tips on how to help protect yourself from a few of them. Especially where real life and your online life meet. Check back next week to find out!

🗞️ ICYMI: iPhone 16e Announced

If you are looking for the least expensive way to get the newest iPhone, look no further than the 16e. This phone replaces their previous cost-effective option, the SE. Except this model comes with a higher price tag - starting at $599. Compared to the regular iPhone 16, it is missing Magsafe, the dynamic island, the camera control button, and an extra camera lens, removing ultra-wide and macro options. There are some other nuances, but this should help you decide if the iPhone 16 is worth the extra $200. You can watch their full video Introducing the new iPhone 16e on YouTube. You can preorder on Apple.com now, with deliveries starting February 28th.

If you’re in the market for a new phone, I always suggest buying the best, most storage, etc., version you can afford (or are willing to afford). I also suggest buying a newer, more basic option over last year’s flagship option. In this case, I would suggest buying any iPhone 16 over an iPhone 15 - for the same price point.

🗞️ ICYMI: AI Updates

If you had high hopes for the Humane wearable AI pin, sorry to say - the device released less than a year ago for $699 will be useless at the end of the month. As HP plans to acquire Humane, all services for this device will be discontinued. Its competitor, Rabbit, is looking to create an Android Agent to allow more features that can take advantage of a connected phone.

Moving to the AI bot side of things, xAI released its latest flagship model, Grok 3, and we learned that the free Chinese chatbot, DeepSeek, gained popularity as its database was shown to leak sensitive information. Showing once again, if something is free — you are the product.

On the entertainment side, Microsoft shows progress toward real-time AI-generated game worlds, indicating what may be to come. Alternatively, this can help designers come up with new ways of approaching game stories or environments.

Lastly, a new Snapchat-like app gained popularity over the last few weeks. Download Pika on iOS or check out their web app to “replace items in your videos with anything you can imagine.”

🗞️ ICYMI: Tech Headlines

😎 POTW: Architecture Picks

As a fan of unique architecture, I shared a bit of cool things in Weekly Wheaties #242 last year. However, I’ve still been saving some other links to share. Enjoy!

📦 Featured Product

Earlier this year in Weekly Wheaties #2503 I provided an update on the world of Cord Cutting. I briefly mentioned it, but wanted to give a bit more insight into the Tablo Over-the-Air Tuner DVR. I recently starting using this model, along with this antenna, to watch local channels with the ability to record them for playback. Luckily, I was able to access close to 90 channels. It also has an app for most streaming devices, making it very easy to switch back and forth. There are mixed reviews on the Tablo, but I wanted to share some nuances for you to be aware of if you choose to go this route. Anything you want to watch live and possibly pause, it helps to start recording it first. It also doesn’t work if the internet is down, but you can always put a splitter on your antenna and run a cable directly to your TV as a backup. Lastly, I highly suggest hard-wiring it to your network, as connecting over WiFi caused a few issues (especially if you have multiple SSIDs).