How to Avoid Mother’s Day Shopping Scams This Year Mother’s Day is one of the biggest spending occasions of the year, and 2026 is expected to be no exception. According to recent reports, total spending could top $35 billion. That kind of money attracts scammers as much as it attracts shoppers. If you’re buying gifts online this week, a few minutes of caution could save you from losing both your money and your peace of mind. ...
Why You Should Think Twice Before Trusting AI With Your Personal Secrets Most of us treat AI assistants like a smart friend who never judges. We ask them to draft emails, summarize meeting notes, and sometimes even walk us through personal dilemmas. But that friend is not a person. It’s a software service that runs on someone else’s servers, and everything you type may be stored, analysed, or shared in ways you don’t expect. ...
Why You Should Think Twice Before Telling AI Your Secrets AI chatbots, voice assistants, and productivity tools have become part of everyday life. They help us draft emails, summarize meetings, and even offer a listening ear. But as these tools get more useful, a quieter question is gaining attention: what happens to everything you tell them? Recent incidents suggest the answer isn’t always reassuring. ...
Prom Dress Scams Are Real: How to Spot Fake Websites and Shop Safely Prom season brings excitement — and, unfortunately, an uptick in scam websites designed to look like legitimate dress retailers. The Better Business Bureau recently issued an alert warning shoppers in the Hudson Valley about fake prom dress sites, but this problem isn’t limited to one region. Scammers nationwide are setting up storefronts that take your money and deliver nothing — or a knockoff that looks nothing like the photo. ...
Chrome Quietly Removes Privacy Promise About On-Device AI — Here’s What to Do If you’ve been using Chrome’s newer AI features under the assumption that everything stays on your device, a recent change might give you pause. Around the start of May 2026, Google removed a key statement from Chrome’s settings page that had explicitly promised on-device AI does not send data to Google servers. At the same time, separate reports indicate that Chrome is installing a large AI model (roughly 4 GB) that reappears even after you delete it. ...
BBB Warns Hudson Valley Shoppers About Fake Prom Dress Websites: How to Stay Safe Prom season is a busy time for high school students and their families, and scammers know it. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recently issued an alert for shoppers in the Hudson Valley region, warning about fake prom dress websites popping up just as demand peaks. These sites look legitimate at first glance—professional photos, enticing discounts—but they are designed to take your money and deliver nothing. ...
Fake Prom Dress Websites: How to Spot and Avoid Them Prom season is a busy time for both shoppers and scammers. Every year, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) receives reports of fraudulent websites that appear to sell prom dresses at irresistible prices, but instead take consumers’ money and personal information — or deliver nothing at all. This year, the BBB issued an alert specifically for shoppers in the Hudson Valley, New York, though the scam is not limited to that region. If you or your teen are shopping online for a prom dress, understanding how to recognize these fake sites can save you time, money, and frustration. ...
Chrome Drops Privacy Promise for On-Device AI: What It Means for Your Data If you use Google Chrome, you may have noticed it recently downloaded a large AI model in the background. That alone raised eyebrows, but a more troubling detail has since come to light: Chrome quietly deleted a line from its privacy page that claimed its on-device AI features do not send data to Google’s servers. This article explains what changed, what it means for your privacy, and what you can do about it. ...
Fake Prom Dress Websites Are Tricking Shoppers — Here’s How to Avoid Them Prom season is just around the corner, and for many families in the Hudson Valley and beyond, that means hunting for the perfect dress online. Unfortunately, scammers are exploiting the rush. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has issued an alert warning about fraudulent websites that pose as prom dress retailers, only to disappear after taking your money — and sometimes your personal information. ...
New Pew Data: One in Three Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online. Here’s What to Know. The numbers are striking. According to a November 2025 survey from the Pew Research Center, roughly one in three U.S. adults say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That’s about 32% of the population — a figure that should give any regular online shopper reason to pause. ...