Weekly output: Craig Newmark + Count von Count, T-Mobile freebies, Android fake call detection, election security

I’m on my way to the other half of the world tonight–once again, I’m speaking at Web Summit Rio. This time the organizers (who as per our usual arrangement are picking up airfare and lodging) have me moderating four panels. All of them are about AI in some way, and two only got added to my schedule this weekend.

6/1/2026: ‘Craigslist Founder Teams Up With a Muppet to Persuade People to Stop Clicking on Scams, PCMag

For the second time in six months, I had a video conversation with Craiglist founder-turned philanthropist Craig Newmark about his Take9 efforts to get people to take a beat before clicking through sketchy links. This time, we discussed how Newmark has enlisted the help of a vaguely vampiric purple potentate–Sesame Street’s Count von Count–in this effort.

6/2/2026: T-Mobile Offers Fresh Set of Freebies for 10th Anniversary of T-Mobile Tuesdays, PCMag

T-Mobile offered an advance on this news but got the final version of their press release to me way too late in the workday on Monday. My editors were fine with me filing something Tuesday afternoon.

6/3/2026: Google Will Soon Spot Fake Calls on Supported Android Phones, PCMag

I noted some of the software dependencies of the new fake-call-detection feature, but Ars Technica’s Ryan Whitwam (once again) went into much more detail about them in his writeup.

6/3/2026: Report Cites Misinformation As Key Threat to Election Security, Doesn’t Name the Biggest Offenders, PCMag

The chance to quiz one of Check Point’s security experts about this report made for a more interesting post. Having to update it with a clarification about leaked credentials from the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue made for a more time-consuming post.

U Mobile rolls out network-level scam protection, over 265 mil scam calls and SMS blocked so far #apps #cellusys #digitallife #firewall #news #scam #scamcalls #scamprotection #smsfirewall #telco #umobile #unifiedsignallingfirewall

https://soyacincau.com/2025/12/30/u-mobile-cellusys-network-level-scam-protection/

Truecaller’s Free Family Protection Tool Can Now Warn You When Loved Ones Get Scam Calls

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://in.mashable.com/tech/103335/truecallers-free-family-protection-tool-can-now-warn-you-when-loved-ones-get-scam-calls

Getting so many scam/s[am calls, thank goodness for android's call info.

#SpamCalls #ScamCalls

Ông trùm lừa đảo Chen Zhi bị truy tố, nhưng các cuộc gọi scam vẫn tiếp tục hoành hành bất chấp nỗ lực của cơ quan chức năng toàn cầu. Với quy mô ngành công nghiệp lừa đảo lên tới 64 tỷ USD, việc triệt phá tận gốc vẫn vô cùng khó khăn do mạng lưới hoạt động phức tạp, liên kết跨国 và sử dụng công nghệ tinh vi.

#ChenZhi #CyberCrime #LừaĐảoTrựcTuyến #AnNinhMạng #ScamCalls #Fraud #CyberSecurity #LuatPhap #TangTruongScam #GlobalFraud #AnNinhSo #ChongLonTu

https://vietnamnet.vn/ly-do-ong-trum-chen-zhi-

The City of Houston Controller's Office has received several reports of scam callers impersonating city officials. 

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/city-of-houston/2025/08/04/527868/city-of-houston-office-warns-of-scam-calls-impersonating-city-officials/

#CityOfHouston #Houston #Local #News #CityOfHoustonControllerSOffice #HoustonScams #ImpersonationCalls #ScamCalls

#OnlineScams and Attacks in #America Today

73% of #US. adults have experienced some kind of #onlinescam or attack, and these are common across age groups. Most get #scamcalls, texts and emails at least weekly

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/07/31/online-scams-and-attacks-in-america-today/