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Nighttime photo of the front of an AT&T retail store, with the large, glowing AT&T blue globe logo centered at the top of the building facade. Below the logo is the word ‘AT&T’ in white capital letters. The building exterior is made of brick and concrete in warm brown tones, with a glass storefront showing some interior lights. Overlaid at the bottom of the image is bold white text that reads: ‘AT&T Customers: You Might Get a Payout From a Massive Data Breach Settlement.’ The image warns AT&T customers about a potential compensation payment resulting from a major data breach lawsuit settlement.

If you’ve had an AT&T account in the past few years, you might be eligible for a share of a $177 million settlement involving two major data breaches.

The leaks exposed Social Security numbers and call records for more than 100 million current and former customers. If you’re affected, you’ll get a notice by email or mail starting next month. Just follow the instructions to file your claim by the November 18 deadline.

CNET says individuals who can demonstrate that the breach caused them harm may be eligible for a payout of up to $5,000, but anyone whose data was compromised may still receive a smaller amount.

The image is a logo-style graphic with the title “Cyber Game: Social Media Unscramble”. The top of the image shows the words “Cyber Game” in black bold letters, next to a red pixelated hand-shaped cursor icon pointing upward. Below this, large grey block letters spell out “Social Media” in a modern, monospaced font. Underneath, the word “Unscramble” is written in all lowercase letters, appearing partially transparent or slightly distorted, suggesting a puzzle theme. The overall design uses simple, clean typography to evoke the idea of an interactive game or activity focused on unscrambling words related to social media and cybersecurity.
Social Media Unscramble

Phish of the Week

The image shows a presentation slide with a phishing awareness message. On the left side, large bold white text says: “This phish is so sneaky, the CEO of Instagram almost fell for it.” The background is a blue-toned, modern conference room or auditorium with glass walls and angular light fixtures. On the right side of the image, there is a giant projected photo of Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram. He is wearing glasses, a black shirt with a zipper collar, and looking upward to the right with a surprised or thoughtful expression. The top of the photo has an Instagram Stories caption that says “RAN OUT OF CHAIRS.” At the bottom of the projected image is a mock Instagram interface showing “Send message” and icons for interactions, emphasizing the social media context of the phishing threat.

Buckle up: this phishing example is very tricky!

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri says he was nearly fooled by a sophisticated phishing attack that appeared to come from Google, complete with a convincing email and a genuine-looking link. He only avoided getting duped because a friend had warned him about a similar scam.

Use your mouse to drag the red slider bar from side to side to spot the clues.

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Phishing image: Kaspersky

Update Your Passwords Now

These organizations say they have been hacked recently. If you do business with any of these companies, change your account password and use two-factor authentication wherever possible.

The image shows six company and organization logos arranged in two rows and three columns on a white background. Top left: The Qantas logo, featuring a stylized red kangaroo on a red triangle next to the word “QANTAS” in bold, modern gray lettering. Top center: The Kelly Benefits logo, with a green lion’s head in front of a heraldic shield, followed by the company name “Kelly Benefits” in green sans-serif font. Top right: The Texas Department of Transportation logo, which is a blue rectangle with a white star and motion lines, a stylized road, and the words “Texas Department of Transportation” underneath in white. Bottom left: The Esse Health logo, which includes a sunrise graphic over a blue arc with “esse” in large lowercase blue letters and “HEALTH” in smaller capital letters below. Bottom center: The Food Lion logo, showing a bold black lion graphic standing on four legs, with “FOOD LION” written underneath in uppercase blue letters. Bottom right: The Idealab logo, displaying the word “idealab” with “idea” in black and “lab” in gray, and four small colorful square pixels (red, green, yellow, and blue) forming a plus sign to the left. The image appears to represent companies and organizations impacted by a data breach or cybersecurity event.
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A conceptual digital illustration shows a large white smartphone lying flat on a white surface. Emerging vertically from the phone’s screen are several tall, white bookshelves arranged in a row. Each bookshelf is filled with colorful books and magazines, representing a vast digital library. The shelves appear three-dimensional and realistic, giving the impression that a physical library is coming to life from within the device. The phone’s details — including the home button, charging port, and side buttons — are visible, emphasizing the connection between modern technology and access to unlimited information. The image symbolizes e-libraries, digital learning, and the convenience of mobile access to knowledge.

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A black-and-white cartoon shows two men standing in front of a large, neatly arranged bookshelf full of books. One man, wearing glasses and a collared shirt, stands casually with his hands in his pockets. The other man stands facing him with his arms crossed, listening. The man with glasses says, “Actually I don’t read much, they’re just background for my video calls.” The cartoon humorously highlights how people sometimes use impressive-looking bookshelves purely as a backdrop for virtual meetings, without actually reading the books. The artist’s signature “Dave Carpenter” appears below the drawing, and the website CartoonStock.com is noted in the bottom corner.

Answers to Your
Cybersecurity Questions

A digital illustration shows a smartphone with a shopping app open, displaying a pink dress for sale. The phone screen is surrounded by red and orange warning icons and alert triangles, suggesting potential danger or scam. The background is dark with blurred, colorful city lights, creating a night-time, urban feel. Large white text on the left side says: “How to tell if that cool product for sale on social media is legit. (Hint: it may not be.)” The image warns viewers about the risks of buying products from social media ads that may be fraudulent or suspicious.

“You’ve done a great job reporting on how products advertised on Facebook and Instagram are often scams. But I keep seeing cool items I want to buy—how can I tell if they’re actually legit?”

This is a huge problem. Meta makes a lot of money selling these ads, but many of the products either don’t exist or are cheap, shoddy versions that bear no resemblance to the images. Here’s an example:

A split image shows an example of a potential online shopping scam. On the left, there’s an Instagram ad from a company called “Shopsmallgo” showing cute crocheted plush toys labeled “Emotional Support Marshmallow – On Fire, Original, Roasted.” A big red arrow points from the ad to the right side, labeled “Online reviews.” The right side shows a Google search for “is linenmass legit” with results from ScamAdviser and Gridinsoft warning that “the trust score of linenmass.com is extremely low” and that it may be a scam. The image illustrates the importance of checking online reviews before buying products from social media ads, even if they look harmless or cute.

Here’s a simple way to check if a store is legitimate: take the store’s name like “shopsmallgo” and type it into a search engine along with the word “legit” or “scam.”

Trusted sites like ScamAdvisor.com or Trustpilot often provide ratings and user reviews that can help you spot red flags. If the store doesn’t show up in search results at all, that’s a warning sign—many scam sites disappear within days of going live.

Always pay with a credit card, not a debit card, because credit cards offer stronger fraud protection (though you might need to file a dispute and wait for resolution, particularly when using PayPal).

When in doubt, try to find the product on a website you already know and trust.

A close-up photo shows a hand holding a dark-colored credit card with a visible chip. Below the card is a glowing, wavy line of neon light in shades of blue, pink, and purple, representing wireless signals or contactless technology. The background is dark and softly blurred with warm bokeh lights. White text at the top says: “A reader warns: ‘be careful with those credit cards, folks.’” The image suggests a reminder to stay cautious when using credit cards, especially with contactless or NFC features.

“Reports of people being charged just by standing near a checkout terminal are largely exaggerated. Maybe, but it apparently happened to me a few years ago. I happened to be in a Best Buy browsing for a new router. I never approached a checkout terminal, and I didn’t make a purchase.

I also hadn’t been to a Best Buy for a couple of years before that day. I checked my credit card bill when payment was due, and apparently, I had purchased a new laptop at Best Buy, with the charge date being the day after I visited the store.

Of course, I hadn’t even visited the laptop section of the store. Was the date and store just a coincidence or an indication that my CC had been read there? I don’t know.”

This sounds more like a case of card skimming or number theft rather than an in-store charge caused by getting your credit card too close to a touchless terminal.

If someone harvested your card info (possibly even days or weeks before your Best Buy visit), they could have used it later at a store you had recently visited, which understandably raises red flags. Unless the charge was tied to your actual card being present via chip or tap, it likely came from a cloned card or stolen number, which, unfortunately, remains a common form of fraud.

If you still have access to the charge details or receipt info from that incident, your card issuer may be able to tell whether it was a “card-present” or “card-not-present” transaction. That will help confirm what happened.

A dark, modern-looking image with a neon outline of the Windows logo glowing on a wall in pink and blue light. The neon light casts a vivid blue and purple glow onto the floor and walls of the room. Large white bold text at the bottom says: “Heads up, Windows 10 users.” The visual suggests an alert or important message specifically for people using Windows 10.

“I use Windows 10 on my home computer, but I got an email saying it will stop working in October. Do I have to buy a new computer?”

Windows 10 won’t stop working in October 2025, but Microsoft will stop sending out security updates and bug fixes for it. That means your computer will still run, but it will gradually become more vulnerable to viruses and hackers. To check if your computer can safely upgrade to Windows 11 in the US, follow these steps:

  • Download Microsoft’s tool for checking your computer: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-use-the-pc-health-check-app-9c8abd9b-03ba-4e67-81ef-36f37caa7844
  • Open the app and click “Check now.” It will tell you if your PC can run Windows 11 and what (if anything) needs to be upgraded.

 

If your PC can’t handle upgrading to Windows 11, you can either continue using it cautiously or consider replacing it to stay fully protected.

A side-by-side comparison shows the old and new versions of the Windows “Blue Screen of Death” error message. On the left, the “Old” screen is bright blue with a sad face emoticon and the text: “Your PC ran into a problem again. We’re just do nothing and some more blah blah blah.” Below that, it says: “You will not find any information for the error online: SYSTEM_BLAHBLAH_FAILED.” On the right, the “New” version has a black background with a white sad face emoticon and updated text: “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then you can restart. 100% complete.” Below is a QR code and a link for more information about the error and possible fixes. Between the two images, red arrows point from “Old” to “New.

By the way, Microsoft is phasing out to the infamous Blue Screen of Death; yes, the one we’ve all groaned at for years. In its place, Windows 11 will now show a Black Screen of Death. But it still means the same thing: something crashed big time.

Send us your cybersecurity question for possible use in a future newsletter.

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