AppleCare is Apple's protection plan that covers accidental damage and repairs to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac—but you pay extra on top of the device's price. For many people over 50, it can be worth it if you're worried about dropping your device or spilling coffee on it, since repairs without coverage can cost hundreds of dollars. Worth knowing: check whether your home insurance or credit card already covers device damage before buying AppleCare, as you might be paying twice for the same protection.
Scammers are setting up fake websites that advertise new iPhones at suspiciously low prices—sometimes hundreds of pounds cheaper than Apple's official store—to trick people into sending money they'll never see again. If you're thinking about upgrading your phone, these fake sites look convincing but disappear once they've taken your payment, leaving you without a phone or your money. Worth knowing: stick to buying from Apple's official website, major retailers like John Lewis or Currys, or your mobile network provider—the small savings from unknown websites aren't worth the risk.
Revolut, the popular money transfer app, had customer information stolen by someone who pretended to be a government official and tricked the company into handing over the data. If you use Revolut for sending money abroad or managing accounts, this is a reminder that even big companies can be fooled by convincing scams—and your information might be at risk. Worth knowing: check your Revolut account for any suspicious activity, consider enabling extra security features like two-factor authentication, and watch your bank statements carefully for any unauthorized transactions.
Hackers got hold of email addresses belonging to hundreds of thousands of Trezor cryptocurrency wallet users, after breaking into a company that Trezor works with. Scammers are now using these email addresses to send fake messages pretending to be from Trezor, trying to trick people into giving up their cryptocurrency or wallet passwords. Worth knowing: if you own crypto and receive an unexpected email claiming to be from Trezor or any wallet company, don't click any links—instead, go directly to the official website by typing the address yourself in your browser.
IDScan, a company that stores driver's license information, accidentally leaked personal data and is now offering affected people free credit monitoring and identity protection services. If someone steals your identity, it can take months or even years to sort out the damage—affecting your credit score, bank accounts, and ability to get loans—so having professional monitoring can catch fraud quickly. Worth knowing: check your email and any mail from IDScan to see if you're affected, and take advantage of the free protection they're offering right away rather than waiting.
A company that checks people's identities online has confirmed that hackers stole personal information from over 150 million people, including their names and driver's license details. If you've used online services for banking, travel, or government applications in recent years, your information could be at risk because many organizations rely on this company to verify who you are. Worth knowing: check your bank and credit card statements regularly for suspicious activity, and consider placing a free credit freeze with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to make it harder for criminals to open accounts in your name.
Hackers have found a way to sneak into some people's Claude accounts and use up their purchased tokens without permission—it's like someone else ordering things on your account and you getting the bill. If you subscribe to Claude, this matters because your monthly budget could disappear without you actually using the service, leaving you unable to access the AI when you want it. Worth knowing: check your Claude usage dashboard regularly (look for unusual activity or tokens disappearing), and consider changing your password if you haven't done so recently.
A thief managed to steal $340 million in cryptocurrency—digital money stored online—from a major crypto platform, but then returned most of it, which is highly unusual in the world of cybercrime. If you have savings or investments anywhere online, this shows how vulnerable large sums of digital money can be, even at companies that claim to be secure. Worth knowing: if you're considering cryptocurrency investments, this incident is a reminder to research the platform's security track record and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
Crooks are pretending to work for Instagram, threatening to suspend people's accounts unless they pay money for fake copyright violations that never happened. If your account gets suspended or you receive threatening messages about copyright problems, it's hard to get real help from Meta to sort out whether the threat is genuine. Worth knowing: if someone contacts you demanding payment to save your Instagram account, go directly to Instagram's official website or app to check your account status yourself—never click links in messages or emails asking for payment.
Younger people and phone scammers are both avoiding saying "hello" when they call, which is changing how we answer our phones after two centuries of this simple greeting. Since scammers use silence at the start of a call to detect if a real person picks up, staying quiet yourself has become smart safety advice. Worth knowing: if you answer and hear silence, hang up rather than speaking first—it's a sign the call might not be legitimate.
When you rent a car, the company scans your driver's license—and unfortunately, that personal information can end up stolen and sold to criminals on hidden corners of the internet, sometimes within just hours. For anyone over 50 who has rented a car, gotten a passport, or dealt with any official ID check, this matters because thieves could use your scanned information to create fake IDs or commit identity theft in your name. Worth knowing: when you rent a car or check into a hotel, ask if they truly need to scan your ID or whether they can simply photograph it themselves, and consider checking your credit report regularly for suspicious activity.
The Federal Communications Commission is creating a public scorecard that will rate each phone company on how well they block spam and robocalls, much like a report card showing which companies do the best job protecting you. If you're tired of annoying spam calls, this scorecard will let you see which phone providers are actually working to stop them—and might influence which company deserves your business. Worth knowing: when these scorecards launch, you can check your phone company's grade to understand how seriously they're tackling the robocall problem.
