Ransomware puts hospitals in danger

Primary Topic

This episode dives into the significant threats ransomware poses to hospitals, highlighting specific cases and broader implications for healthcare security.

Episode Summary

In this critical episode of the Kim Komando Show, titled "Ransomware Puts Hospitals in Danger," Kim discusses the severe impacts of ransomware attacks on healthcare facilities. She focuses on a recent attack on Ascension, a large nonprofit healthcare system that was forced to revert to pen and paper after their systems were locked down. This scenario underscores the vulnerabilities in hospital networks and the dire consequences of such attacks on patient care and data security. Kim advises listeners on steps to take for personal medical data protection, including obtaining physical copies of medical records and utilizing features in health apps to store information securely.

Main Takeaways

  1. Healthcare Systems at Risk: Ransomware can cripple hospital operations, leading to a reliance on outdated methods like paper records.
  2. Personal Data Security: Individuals should maintain physical copies of their medical records to avoid being compromised during an attack.
  3. Proactive Measures: Using digital tools to download and store medical records offline can provide an essential backup.
  4. Awareness and Prevention: Public awareness about cybersecurity measures and personal data protection is crucial.
  5. Impact on Patient Care: Cyberattacks can directly endanger lives by hindering access to critical patient information.

Episode Chapters

1: Introduction to Cybersecurity in Healthcare

Kim Komando introduces the topic of ransomware in healthcare, setting the stage for a detailed discussion on its impacts. Kim Komando: "We maybe just shrug off cyberattacks on hospitals, but today we'll see why we should care more."

2: The Ascension Case Study

Detailed examination of the ransomware attack on Ascension that paralyzed the healthcare provider's operations. Kim Komando: "Ascension's operations were reduced to notebooks and post-it notes, a dire situation for any hospital."

3: Protecting Your Medical Data

Kim provides actionable advice for listeners on safeguarding their personal medical information against cyber threats. Kim Komando: "Download your medical records to a PDF from your health app to keep a personal backup."

4: Closing Thoughts

Reflections on the broader implications of cybersecurity in healthcare and encouragements for personal action. Kim Komando: "Keep physical copies of all your medical records; it could be a lifesaver in emergencies."

Actionable Advice

  1. Download Medical Records: Use health apps to download and store all medical records as a PDF.
  2. Keep Physical Copies: Securely store printed copies of essential medical documents.
  3. Educate Yourself: Stay informed about cybersecurity and personal data protection measures.
  4. Use Secure Networks: Ensure that any internet connection used to access medical information is secure.
  5. Regular Updates: Keep all digital devices updated to protect against vulnerabilities.

About This Episode

The hack on Ascension threw its 140 hospitals and 40 senior facilities into full-blown chaos. Plus, Google's untrustworthy AI, tech phrases you'll never use again, and lost sleep from binge-watching.

People

Kim Komando

Companies

Ascension

Books

None

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

Transcript

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Kim Commando
Hey, it's Kim Commando today, your daily podcast to keep you up to date with all things digital and beyond. And I'd love to have have you be a part of our podcast. You can make an appointment to speak with me. Just head over to commando.com. and on the top right there's a button that says email, Kim. Fill that out, and that's it. All right, we're gonna kick things off with a PSA, a public service announcement. If you live around high voltage power lines, they are very dangerous. You don't wanna climb them. Here's what happened in Portland, Oregon. This guy decided to climb a power line tower for the ultimate selfie. Oh, the view. It's gonna be amazing. I'm gonna get all these likes and comments, and people are gonna go, oh, gosh, I can't believe you would do such a dangerous thing. Okay, it didn't end well. He didn't die. But after getting electrocuted and falling 40ft, the transformer blew. But luckily, an off duty paramedic just happened to be nearby and just sprang into action. The victim was conscious, breathing after the fall, went to the hospital, everything's fine. But here's the deal. High voltage power lines can pack a punch with up to 57,000 volts. I'll tell you one thing about this guy. He is not mentally grounded. And on that note, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to this. It's America's largest show about all things digital. I'm, of course, Kim commando, your beloved digital goddess here with you once again. And let me tell you, you're about to get more tech smarts, because every single thing is now a tech thing. I just want you to think about that. And if you're a brand new listener to the show, welcome aboard. Glad to have you with us. And if you're a regular listener, welcome back. Now you can find my award winning show on over 420 top stations throughout the United States. You can also find us in your favorite podcast player. Just search for Kim Commando show. And you can find us with commercials and commercial free. And you can also get the Kim Commando show commercial free as part of your commando community membership. Yes, commercial free. I did say that. Alrighty. I need two things from each and every one of you. The best way for me to continue to grow the show is for you to tell one friend, that's it. And number two, tell me what you want to hear more about. Head over to commando.com and then hit that link that says, ask Kim. Every single day, just for you. I visit at least 35 or 40 different sites to make sure that we are both up to date on everything that's going on in the tech world. And let me tell you, every single day is a brand new day. Just so many things are changing right now. And here are the top five things that you need to know that's happening about tech right now. And we're going to start with the news. Because whether you're liberal or conservative or somewhere in between, the news media is America's favorite punching bag. And this punch may soon be lethal. Now, I'm not saying that the news media is dead. Don't be putting that on social. But what I am saying is that there are about to be a lot less of news media sites. Why? Because Google's latest artificial intelligence is taking dead aim at the media. Okay, here's what's going on. When you search for a news story, instead of listing various news websites that have various versions of the story, Google's new AI is going to scan the Internet and piece together its own version of the story for you. And let me tell you, news gathering organizations are up in arms. You see, if Google sends them less traffic, that translates into what? Fewer readers. And that translates into slashed advertising revenues. So for major news sites, that could mean layoffs. For the smaller sites, probably bankruptcy. And for you and me, this means that Google AI, with whatever bias it has, is about to become your media gatekeeper. And let me tell you, the most distrusted name in news. Moving on to number two. Get this. There are now 5504 Starlink satellites in low earth orbiting, bringing high speed broadband service to almost anywhere on Earth. This is amazing. But by the end of the summer, a new generation of Starlink satellites will begin communicating with your cell phones so that this way, you will never be out of range again. By the end of August, SpaceX will have its first direct to cellular phone service ready to go. This is really big news. T mobile customers are going to get first with basic texting on regular unmodified four g and five g phones. Now, by mid next year, SpaceX and T Mobile are planning on opening satellite best self service, data and voice. By the end of the year, wow, isn't that something? Really is. Now the connection's not going to be the fastest like 5g. It's going to be more like LTE service, but it's going to be everywhere. But hold on, there's more. At and t said they're going to be launching their satellites with AsT mobile also this summer. Wow, isn't that something? Moving on to number three. The top three email scams that are happening right now, I need to tell you about number one. Email disguises, banks and delivery services. They are the main culprits. Very cleverly disguised email. It looks almost exactly like the bank or delivery company. That's it. Number two, you have a package. It's from the post office. Just click the link. Don't do that. The post office, the USP's, they're never going to send these messages. Okay, then we also have UPS services. Your delivery driver can't find your address. Once again, do not click. And finally, the fank bank employee. Please kindly send me your secret banking pin or a temporary access code. Oh, come on, people. You gotta be smarter than this. Moving on to number four, let's have a little fun and remember some phrases that we used to use every single day. But as popular as they were, we're never gonna use them again. Here's one that you used all the time. You remember this one? Did you drop off the film to get developed? Yeah. What about, hey, where's the nearest payphone? Yeah, there's an entire generation of people who have never, ever seen or used a payphone, ever. Where are the yellow pages? Don't forget to rewind because you got to take that back to blockbuster. That's kind of a twofer. Or how about one that's a little bit non tech? Hey, roll down the window back there. And of course, one we can never forget. I'll fax that right over to you. Yeah, I know. Isn't it crazy when you think of all this tech that we had and was like, so amazing that we could use it now? We look back and go, oh, seems a little archaic. Finally, this coming in at number five. This is super serious. And I know that you want to have a lot of fun this Memorial day weekend, but most of us have heard about all the cyber attacks on America's hospital chains, and we maybe just shrug them off and say, oh, well, you know what? That's just another cyber attack. What does that have to do with me? All right, let's talk about ascension, the nonprofit healthcare system operating 140 hospitals across 19 states. It's a big operation. Now, recently, their entire operation was reduced to notebooks and post it notes. All electronic patient charts were just frozen. Now, what are inside these charts? Yes. The patient's entire history, the core of the hospital's ability to provide care. Lies were at risk. It was a ransomware attack. So here's what you need to do. I want you to go old school on me. I want you to make a list of all your medications, contact your doctors, and get physical copies of all your medical records. Now, keep them safely with you so that should a medical emergency happen, your chances of survival are not compromised by cyber criminals or a hospital trying to figure out how to pay some ransomware. Now, if you are on an iPhone, I want you to look deep inside your health app, because inside there, there's a way for you to download all your medical records, all of them, to a PDF. I did that myself. 66 pages. Wow. Going all the way back to 2012, and I was so impressed with myself, I'll tell you this just for a second, is that I thought, oh, I wonder how much I weighed in 2012, how much I weigh. So I looked it up, and I was like, hmm, I weigh two pounds less now. I was like, whoa. Okay, this is a good thing. All right, coming up. Let me tell you, it's just jam packed. We're going to talk about binge watching. One great trick. When you're traveling five places that you're being recorded about right now, and you're like, I had no idea that was happening. Also, if you're getting credit card solicitations in the mail, there is a way for you to make that stuff, and you need to make it stop, because what? Mail theft is on the rise? It seems like every time you turn around, you're like, oh, my gosh. All right. And then we have all of your great phone calls, and you have me in commando.

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Kim Commando
So how would you like to win a brand new iPhone 15? You can. A $799 new iPhone may have your name on it, but in order to win it, you got to enter. And where do you do that? Winfromkim.com dot. Once again, that's winfromkim.com. dot go there right now while you're thinking about it. Now, what's the catch? You have to get at least a couple of issues of my free newsletter, which you're going to love. And by the way, if you already get the newsletter, you can still enter to win again. That address. Win from kim.com. win from kim.com. oh, and I was looking at the number of positive reviews the other day. So amazing. Thank you, guys and gals. Really warms my heart. I'm so glad that you guys love it. Over 223,000 thumbs up. Whoa. Our rating right now is 4.92 out of five stars. So, I mean, all those people can't be wrong. So you want to go to win from Kim.com? alrighty then. How about we start with Daniel in St. Paul, Minnesota. Hi there, Daniel.

Daniel
Awesome. Thank you so much for taking my call. I try to listen to you every week, and I have to tell you, I hope it's okay to tell you this. About a year or so ago, you let all your listeners know about the need to make an urgent security update on iPhones and to do it right away. And my wife has the X phone, and she never got any kind of a notification, you know, from her carrier or from Apple. She had to proactively go into settings on her X phone in general and software update. And she got that emergency update right away just because you announced it on the show. So thank you.

Kim Commando
You bet.

Daniel
Absolutely. You know, so what's, what's going on now is that my wife has never had her own laptop. She has a work laptop, but she never had her own laptop. So I want to get her a laptop for her birthday, and I was looking for your advice because I'm an end user. I don't know anything about computers. I could tell you what she wanted to be able to do. She wants to be able to connect her iTunes. She wants Microsoft, Microsoft office. She's into Excel, the professional excel, so she wants the spreadsheets. She wants to be able to store pictures. She wants to be able to have itunes listen, itunes. She wants to be able to make long distance phone calls using WhatsApp, Skype. She wants to be able to watch movies on Netflix and on tv, if that's possible, you know, through, sure. Through an ethernet, you know, cable, not, you know, not a cable, you know, like a USB port or Wi Fi.

Kim Commando
She can just do it under wi fi.

Daniel
Yes, Wi Fi, yes, exactly.

Kim Commando
Okay.

Daniel
Zoom. And, you know, and of course, to be able to have conference calls with Zoom, you know, have Zoom meetings, whatever.

Kim Commando
Does she have a preference for Apple or windows?

Daniel
She does. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that. Yeah, she's, she's, she's been a windows user all her life, and she's just way more comfortable with the operating system on windows, so. So she wants windows, and she's looking for a screen that kind of matches the size of her laptop that she uses at work, which is like, it's 14 inches measured from left to right, not diagonally. And she wants a high resolution screen, you know, for watching things. And I could spend it like up to 1500.

Kim Commando
So that's a pretty good price. That's for sure. I mean, you know, luckily, you know, you probably don't need to spend that much.

Kim Commando
Okay.

Kim Commando
And. But what might be nice for you to do is to buy a laptop and then to buy a second screen, a second monitor, so that this way she can have two monitors going when she has her laptop. And, you know, she has it stationary on a desk when she's not carrying it around or something like that. Because when you have two screens, it just, it's so sweet. Have you ever used two screens?

Daniel
Yes.

Kim Commando
Okay. So you know what it's like. I mean, you can have like, one screen doing one thing, another one, and it, you know, so she could have actually, you know, watching a movie while she's, you know, doing her email or whatever she may be doing at that time.

Daniel
Okay, I see what you're saying.

Kim Commando
So the reason why. So if you said 1500, what I'm thinking is that you spend maybe $900 on a really good laptop.

Daniel
Okay?

Kim Commando
And then you can spend another $300 or so on that second screen. And then you kind of, you kind of have her all set up. And of course, what you want to do, too, is that you take a nice picture of the two of you and then you have that made into a mouse pad.

Daniel
Ah, that's a good idea.

Kim Commando
And you get her an external mouse, too, because, you know, so a lot of, because when you're sitting there and you have your laptop, you know, maybe there's, you know what I mean? It's always nice to have an external.

Daniel
Mouse, but for sure, 100%.

Kim Commando
Or, you know, or if you don't want to do that, you can just buy a mouse pad, you know, because guys don't think like, this generally, is that you get.

Daniel
No, that's a great point. No, I agree. I mean, on a laptop, you definitely want the external. I don't know why, but it seems to work better sometimes. The, the laptop. I don't know, what do you call it when you have a mouse pad? When you have a mouse. But it's not a mouse.

Kim Commando
No, it's the trackpad.

Daniel
Yeah, the trackpad. Right. Thanks. So that, that thing sometimes, like, it doesn't work. And then I plug in the external mouse on my laptop and voila. You know, I don't know why, but. Yeah, sometimes that happens.

Kim Commando
Yeah. So you get. So I would get her a nice wireless mouse. You don't want to get that. You know, get a wireless one. So this way it shows up to yield that cord and then get her a nice mouse pad. Like I said, picture of you or a picture of all the kids and the grandkids, you know, something that's really personal because that'll be like, unexpected. And give that to her last because she'll be all over the moon with the laptop and then she'll be over the moon with the monitor because you'll explain to her how that works and then you'll give her the mouse, you know, the third thing, and then you give her the mouse pad.

Daniel
I have to confess, I mean, I had, I had to let her know that I was seeking your advice because I would never know all this detailed information about what she wants if I didn't ask her.

Kim Commando
Ok. Yeah.

Daniel
I had to tell her. It can't be a surprise because there's just too much, you know, that I need to know before I get something that's going to match what she wants for sure.

Kim Commando
So basically what we're going to look at is a nice intel, you know, like I seven processor, 1 tb solid state drive. Of course it's going to have the webcam built in and Windows eleven and a nice touch screen. And, you know, and what I'm thinking about is about $900. It's a Dell inspirion. So I'm going to put you on hold. And Amber, who you spoke to already, our lovely and talented call screener today, among other things. She does so much here in the building, it's crazy. But she's going to send you a link out to that Dell inspiron that I was just mentioning. And then, you know, as far as a monitor, you know what to pick for that. If you need any help with the monitor or the mouse, just let me know and then we'll go ahead and do some pics along there. But this Dell inspirion is pretty sweet. And by the way, if you are looking for a laptop, we have the laptop finder quiz. That's right over@commando.com dot just type in laptop finder quiz, and I'm certain that that's going to pop right up for you. Dan, thank you so much for your call. Give your wife my regards and tell her happy birthday from Kim Commando. All right, I know I'm a little late to the game, but I've suddenly discovered the series dexter. I know it sounds really horrible, like a guy who's a serial murderer, but he does it for good purposes. I know that plotline. You're like, I would never watch that, and I wouldn't have never watched it before, but I just started watching the series, and I do admit that I am losing some sleep over it. I'm not alone. More than three fourths of all Americans don't get enough sleep because of their tech. A survey by the american Academy of Sleep Medicine says that 90% of adults have lost sleep due to binge watching. So what do you do now if you're a chronic binge watcher? Turn off autoplay. It makes it super easy to go from episode to episode, so it's designed to keep you engaged, alert, and watching. So turn it off on Netflix, on Amazon prime, and Hulu. Next, you can create a sleep timer on your tv. This way, the tv will automatically shut off the screen at a specified time. And if all else fails, just go cold turkey. Say no more streaming for me until I can get enough. Shut up. Hey, you want to stay right where you are? Because we have more great tips, tricks, and secrets coming up here on the Kim commando show.

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Yeah.

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Kim Commando
Now, I know that you know that there are cameras everywhere you look, but you may not be fully aware of how many times you're being recorded throughout the day. I've got a tip about that coming up. And also later on, you know, mail theft is on the rise. So I want you to make sure that you opt out of these unsolicited credit card offers. I'm going to tell you exactly how you can do that, the easy and free way. And of course, we have all of your phone calls. But before we get to all of that, let's talk about Apple and Google Maps. Okay? Tremendous. They're so good at getting you where you need to go, especially when your phone signal is spotty. But you need to know an important trick. Now, before you hit the road, I want you to make sure that you save your Apple or Google Maps directions for what's called offline use. This simple step is going to save your bacon when you need directions, but you hit an area without any cell coverage. So for Google Maps, you start by searching for your destination. Type the name or address of the location. Then in that more option, those are the three dot menu. Hit that. And that's where that magic appears. Download offline map. Now. Apple Maps. I know late to the party, they just added this feature works pretty much the same. Search for your destination, hit that more button, and that's where you can download the map for offline news. Now, heads up. If you're traveling overseas and you want to try to avoid some of those expensive data charges, the roaming charges, I want you to always remember this tip, because having your maps downloaded can keep you from those very expensive roaming fees. All right, back to the phones. We go with Beth in Houston, Texas. Interesting question. Hi there, Beth.

Beth
I'm a single, retired teacher, 63 years old, with a lot of single friends, and they're always looking for a new and improved way dating site. And I know it's flooded out there with dating sites, but everybody jumps from one to the next thinking there's going to be a whole new group of people, and it's going to be the magic group. You're going to find Mister right instead of mister right now for sure. And, you know, if Andrew hadn't found his woman of his dreams, then maybe he would like to try this new dating app that I have an idea for.

Kim Commando
Okay.

Beth
I just don't know how to bring it to fruition. I've never created an app. So I'd like a little advice.

Kim Commando
Okay. Well, you know, you start with anything. You start with an app just like anything else. You start by jotting down all your ideas, the pros and cons, what you want it to include, the competitive analysis of what is already out there, what exists, and also look at the failures of different dating apps to figure out what they did wrong. And this is even before you even attempt to build an app. I mean, it's just doing a great, you know, business plans, so to speak. And then once you have all that done is that's when you can start creating mock ups, and then you visualize what your app is going to look like. You can find somebody locally, you can find somebody on the Internet to help you do this. If you're not that artistic person. I'm not. Are you?

Beth
A little. I won't say very much so, but I have done a few mock ups. I've taken notes. I feel like whether my app would be just. I don't think it'll be just another dating site. I think it will be gain interest, because I have a three part idea that will help them narrow down to find the right person that is a good fit.

Kim Commando
Okay. And so we also want to make sure that you protect your idea legally. That's why I don't want you to give out the idea on the air. Right.

Beth
Right. So I won't do that.

Kim Commando
So it's. So it's a good idea for you to, you know, set aside some money and time, spend an hour with a good intellectual property rights attorney, and explain to him or her what you're trying to do, and ask them specifically, how do you protect your idea? And. And then they'll walk you through the legal process. I can't tell you how to do that. I'm not a lawyer, but I will tell you that, you know, anytime I need somebody to do this, I just. That's who I look for. I don't do it myself because I don't. I can't be good at everything, you know, just. We have to draw the line somewhere. Then there are. There are app builder platforms, like appipie. Instead of, like, apple pie, it's appy pie and bubble and adelo. That's Adalo. And. And so they will give you the tools to build your own app. Or you can hire a developer or an agency to do this. You can find places. You can find. People do this on upwork. But that when you. If you get to that, that's when I want you to call me, because I want to walk you through how not to get screwed, because it's really easy to do that.

Beth
That was my concern and why I reached out to you, because I could google and find places that would help me make it. But I don't know if they're valid. I don't know if I give them my idea, and then all of a sudden, it pops up here somewhere in the Internet, and like you said, I'm screwed.

Kim Commando
Yeah. So that's why I want to make sure that you talk to an attorney first. And it's well worth the $500. I know a lot of people like, oh, you know, it's $500. Okay? Let me tell you, me starting this company and running this business has been the most expensive master's and doctorate's degree in business I've ever gotten in my entire life, okay? And one of the things that I have learned over time is that you don't skimp on legal resources. You know, it's. That's because anytime I try to do something myself, I'm like, oh, I can read that a contract. I can do that myself. That's when it's like, oh, probably should have somebody look at that. Didn't think of that type of thing. And so let's take it from there. And then there are places where your teacher, you like to learn, okay? Go to Udemy, u d e m y, coursera or code academy, and look at, and take some courses about building an app and take notes along the way. You know, knowledge is power. So this way, when you go into this, whether you hire a developer or an agency, is that you're going to have a foundation of knowledge and they're not going to be able to screw you over as easily because you're going to raise your hand and go, uh uh, what about this?

Beth
So you said it was u d m e. Udemy.

Kim Commando
That's udemyu to me. Just try udemy or course or coursera. There are courses on YouTube, but a lot of these courses and these classes on YouTube, they're going to try to sell you something at the end or in the middle, in the beginning. And it's. And that's why, like, if you were going to take a course, go to the right place, you know, right. And even if the, if the course costs $10, so what? You know, $10, you're going to go spend that in Starbucks, you know, for a cup of coffee, you know that, you know, you can make it home for $0.50, but it's at Starbucks. So. So, you know, so just, you know, let's start here. And then as you start moving your idea along and along and along, and then I throw something, a curveball at you, make sure you add some AI in that. Everybody loves AI, AI, AI. Artificial intelligence. Make sure. And look at what bumble is doing with AI. I know they got a lot of flag for it, like, oh, this is stupid. But what they're trying to do is say, like, two a bots are going to talk to each other and then find the right person for you. Okay, we're going to go there one day, just not tomorrow. So just think of some AI that you can add into your business plan, too. Beth, thanks for your call today. All right, step outside your house, and I want you to have a big smile. Show off those pearly whites because you're being recorded. Here are five places that could be watching you. Number one, your Uber Lyft. Lots of rideshare drivers are installing cams, both video and audio, to record. Now, if you live in a one party consent state, the driver does not need your permission. Number two, the ATM. Okay, not a total shocker, but the cams often capture this wide angle, which means they're recording the entire surrounding area, too. Three, workplace break rooms. Yeah, even when you're off the clock, there could be a camera keeping tabs on you. Next at number four, street lights. Yes. They are becoming so common in cities. Take a look at traffic and public safety. Chicago, LA, New York, they all these large networks of them. And five, the movie theater. What? Why in the movie theater? To deter and detect piracy. Yes. So smile big. All right, coming up, we still have more of your phone calls you don't want to miss. And also, that really great tip on how to opt out of unsolicited credit card mail. Here on the Kim commando show.

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Kim Commando
So right now you're listening to the Kim commando show, right? And I'm so glad that you're doing that. I mean, it's just so rewarding that I have so many people that. That depend on me and that I can just help have a better digital life. But it goes a little bit further than this. And, you know, every single day, I do what's called a daily tech update. So you get the top news story of the day, and then you also get one great digital life tip. Now, let me tell you, I was looking at the numbers. This podcast, they have doubled. Oh, my gosh. The number of listeners to this podcast, that has doubled in the last couple of months. Why? Because it's so good. So wherever you get your podcast, make sure that you get the daily tech update. And it's perfect for, like, say, when you're taking the dog for a quick walk or potty break, you're making your coffee, sipping your coffee, maybe doing a little gardening, just, you know, just like a short activity. Again, the daily Tech update. You can search for my last name, commando with a cave, but I really want you to try the daily tech update. I know you're going to love it. You really will, in my humble opinion. Of course I know because I write it and I host it and all that other good stuff, but it really is a great product. It really is. That's the daily Tech update. All righty, then. John in Fort Worth, Texas. Glad to have you with us.

Kim Commando
Well, a few months ago, I started noticing similar responses by strangers to post from my female friends on Facebook. And they start out with flattery and then they state, oh, I sent a friend request, but it didn't go through. Could you send me a friend request? And if you look at the names and profile pictures on some of these accounts, they're those of retired us military officers. Officers, specifically, generals. Now, most of your regular listeners probably know by now this is an attempt to initiate a military romance scam for sure. So, yeah, so I started doing a little digging. I did a Facebook friend search on the names of these officers, and it took a few hours, but I found over 5800 fake accounts pretending to be those of just 19 retired us military officers. And now the number is probably much higher. For sure. I only counted those accounts that use the rank and the name or the name and a matching profile picture. So I've tried reporting some of these accounts to Facebook, but the response always got was that the accounts did not violate Facebook's community standards.

Kim Commando
Nice.

Kim Commando
Yeah, it's against the community standards. One, to not use your real name, and two, to pretend to be somebody else. Right?

Kim Commando
For sure.

Kim Commando
Yeah. Well, okay, so if you look at the FBI statistics on these scams as recently as 2021, the losses in the US due to confidence in fraud and romance scams were about $1 billion.

Kim Commando
Crazy.

Kim Commando
With about 25,000 victims. And those are just the ones that are reported.

Kim Commando
Yeah, exactly, because that's a good point. Because a lot of people, they get scammed and they're just too embarrassed to. To say anything or to report or do anything about it.

Kim Commando
Well, I get that Facebook can't stop all the scams in their platform, but do they have to make it so easy for the scammers? Isn't there any other way to get Facebook to take some kind of action on these fake accounts?

Kim Commando
You know, unfortunately, probably not, because you know what? They just don't give a rats. They don't care.

Kim Commando
Well, I've actually written my representatives and I have gotten no responses. And I guess the only thing I can do is just to try to raise awareness. Like calling you on the show.

Kim Commando
Sure. I mean, you know, and, you know, you know, it's a noble effort. And I don't mean to just say, well, it's, you know, they don't give a rat, so we're just gonna move on. No, I mean, you know, there is public awareness and there are so many lonely people and Facebook. You would think that because it is a publicly traded company, right. That they would have certain community morals and values in order to uphold that, to maintain a good stature within the community that they are serving. But unfortunately, they don't care or else they would do something about it. You know, they always go back and they whine, they go, oh, we can't do this because there's just too many. There's our algorithms.

Kim Commando
You know, come on, they've got 22,000 employees. All they got to do is to give one employee, you know, administrative rights to lock every one of those accounts with those names and go find the real person. You don't even have to go find the person that has the real account. I mean, if you lock r1 account in order to lock out 3000 fake ones, you think, is that a big loss?

Kim Commando
Yeah. And you know what? It's a logical solution. But they're going to say, oh, it's like whack a mole. We get one down, another one pops up. But their algorithms are good enough to censor what's in your newsfeed. To only show you what you want to see.

Kim Commando
Right?

Kim Commando
Okay. Which is very alarming to me because like 75% of the us population is getting their news from Facebook, but they're only seeing the news that they want to see. But they can do that. They can track every single thing about us. Mark Zuckerberg can go have his 40th birthday that he did most recently on a $300 million yacht. Ok, ok. A $300 million yacht. Ok. It's not just $300 million, okay? You're talking about probably at least 75 full time employees. You have to dock it, you have to fill it up with gas. Then you need the tinder behind it to carry all the toys that you're going to bring and your helicopter and everything else. Okay? But we still have people getting taken not just by romance scams, but everything else on Facebook. And he does not care, otherwise they would do something about it affects their bottom line.

Kim Commando
Well, you know, maybe if it affects her image and then affects her bottom line, something will happen. But until then, good luck.

Kim Commando
But I'm glad that you called in because hopefully somebody is listening right now who's getting romanced by a general, a former general who just happens to be living overseas, that they, they just think you're just so great, you're so wonderful, and they can't wait to start a life with you. And you're like, yes, this is what I've been waiting for my whole life. And then the general says his pension and his retirement check didn't arrive and he just needs some money to hold over until that check comes in. And then he'll surely pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today, which he'll never do. John, thanks for your call. Have you ever found your mailbox just overflowing with unsolicited credit card and insurance offers? And you wonder, like, how did these companies get my name and address in the first place? Ah, yes, the credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, Transunion Innovus. They provide lists of consumers based upon specific criteria to credit card and insurance companies for pre screened offers. Because you're so good. Yes, it's completely legal, but you can opt out. It's called opt out pre screened. Now this is really interesting to me. Opt out prescreen is actually a tool developed by these credit bureaus. I'm sure they were like facing some possible lawsuits or lawsuits or legislation. They're like, okay, we need to come up with some way to fix this. So here is where you need to go. Opt out prescreened.com. and then you can opt out for either five years or forever. Just fill out the form. Now, if you want to opt out permanently, you have to use snail mail. But it's worth it. You just simply print, sign and mail a confirmation form. The address again, optoutprescreen.com. optoutprescreen.com. And one more address, winfromkim.com for that free iPhone. This program is a copyrighted production of Westar multimedia entertainment and protected by the copyright laws. Any rebroadcast or use of this program for commercial, business, economic or financial purposes without the written permission of Westar multimedia entertainment, strictly prohibited.

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