Agnes and Ryan discuss the January 2025 TikTok ban ruling and what data apps can collect, then spend most of the episode on scams: fake IRS calls, celebrity romance scams, phishing emails, marketplace overpayment tricks and spoofed email addresses. They explain how to verify a caller, why the IRS starts contact by mail, and how AI could make scams easier to run.
Takeaways
- The IRS opens contact by mail and does not demand payment over an unexpected phone call, so hang up and verify through an official number.
- Assume an unsolicited caller is a scammer until proven otherwise, and ask them questions they cannot answer, such as which business they are calling.
- Limit what you post and share online, use a business domain for business email, and consider locking or monitoring your credit.
Chapters
- 0:00 Welcome and the scam calls and texts
- 6:52 Celebrity romance scams
- 12:10 The TikTok ruling and creator alternatives
- 14:17 What data apps can collect
- 15:50 Social media impersonation and a personal scam
- 20:35 Tax-time scams and the IRS
- 24:46 Phishing emails and spoofed addresses
- 28:24 Marketplace and car-buying scams
- 32:02 Data breaches, dark web and credit protection
- 36:52 Confronting scammers and verifying callers
- 41:38 Customs and package scams, and AI-run fraud
- 45:20 Tax help and closing thoughts
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