Say hello to a marvelous Monday, friend! Let’s kick your week off with a fun dose of tech trivia. The first email message was a head-scratcher. Was it … A.) "Hello, world!" B.) A math formula, C.) A knock-knock joke or D.) A bunch of letters? You’ll find the answer at the end.

🔐 Say NO to surveillance capitalism! Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo scan your emails and sell your data to who-knows-who. With StartMail, you’ll enjoy a private, secure and encrypted email address. It's super easy to bring all your old emails to your new, secure account. If you need a hand, StartMail will help. My readers get an exclusive 60% off, plus a free trial. — Kim

Wonder why Apple and Google suddenly started rolling out anti-stalking alerts for their Bluetooth trackers? Apple’s dealing with a class-action lawsuit from victims who say abusers used AirTags to track and harass them.

Now, on iOS 17.5 and Android 6.0, your phone will alert you when an unknown tracker is moving with you. These alerts, though, might not pop up until it’s too late. That’s why I need to share this important information with you.

How long can a stalker track you undetected?

Apple can take up to nine hours to notify you about an unknown tracker on or near you. That’s plenty of time for a stalker to get to you, especially if they’re local.

That means if a carjacker tags your vehicle, you might lead them right to your house before you ever get alerted.

There are other loopholes, too. Older tracking devices can still follow you without an alert. Savvy creeps can even reconfigure new trackers to track you for months undetected.

Been in one of these situations recently?

Take steps to protect yourself if you’ve:

• Had an ex show up somewhere unannounced or harass you via text or voicemail.
• Driven over the border to Canada or Mexico. (Crooks tag tourists’ cars to steal or for trafficking illegal items.)
• Had a creepy interaction with a stranger at a bar or store.

Run a manual check on your phone

You can check for trackers even if you don’t get an alert. On iPhone or Android, head to Settings > Safety & Emergency > Unknown tracker alerts > Scan now.

Run this check while in your home, in your car, or even near clothes or bags you typically wear or carry when you leave the house.

Do a physical scan

On your person:

• Check your pockets and bags when you go out and when you come home. AirTags are tiny, so people can slip them in without your noticing.
• When you’re out, zip up your bags and keep them close by.

In your car:

• Check the wheel wells, grill and underside of your car.
• If someone untrustworthy has had access to your car, look in the seat crevices, seat pockets, glove compartment and trunk.

‘Kim, I found a tracker. What now?’

Let’s say you find an Apple AirTag or another GPS tracker on or near your person and you don’t recognize it. Scary, right? Depending on your situation, you might want to hold off on disabling it.

• Instead, make an envelope out of aluminum foil. Put the tracker inside, and make sure there are no gaps or holes. The foil will block any signals, so the person who installed it will just think it’s out of range.
• Then, take the foil-wrapped tracker to a police station. They can figure out who put the tracker in your car.

I’ve heard too many stories from stalking victims in my career. I don’t want you or a loved one to be another. Share this story with folks in your life to help keep them safe.

These sneaky organizers help you get more room out of your, uh, room.

• Clean up that pile of shoes on the floor. This hanging shoe organizer is 32% off with a coupon. So smart.
• If your linen closet looks like a war zone, allow me to introduce you to vacuum storage bags. They’re 21% off right now, and they can shrink your bulky bedding by up to 80%.
• Your bathroom might be tiny, but I know you have room for this shelf (31% off). It’s small storage for TP, candles and cleaners.
• This wall-mounted broom and tool organizer keeps your mudroom and garage in check (25% off with a coupon).
• Save pantry space and stick this clever coffee pod drawer right under your Keurig or Nespresso (38% off). Boom, clean kitchen counters.

🚨 CrowdStrike’s global outage isn’t over: Scammers are out in full force using fake CrowdStrike websites to push phishing emails and phone calls posing as tech support to steal your info. Don’t give info over the phone, and check unfamiliar email senders’ domains very carefully. The official CrowdStrike website and domain is crowdstrike⁠.⁠com.

Stay far, far away: Scammers use crypto ATMs to defraud U.S. victims out of millions every year. They’re less regulated and let you send money overseas instantaneously. A 77-year-old woman just got scammed out of $9,000. Once her money left the country, she was SOL. Listen up: No legitimate entity will ever ask you to send money in crypto or from an ATM.

🗞️ Trust fall: Science says you’re more likely to believe fake news from an acquaintance than your best friend. That’s why so many scammers pose as long-lost classmates or distant relatives. Focusing instead on who’s sharing — not what’s being shared — could be the best way to stop fake news.

Third is the new first: T‑Mobile just beat Verizon and AT&T on pretty much every metric that counts. Yep, the third-largest U.S. cell carrier was No. 1 in consistency, customer ratings and speed. Its upload and download speeds were nearly twice as fast as those from the Big Two. T‑Mobile is running a 45% off promo for folks 55 and older* right now. I’d say it’s worth a look.

Ctrl + Space + X is Musk’s favorite keyboard shortcut: You used to be able to break into Elon Musk’s Starlink with just a leaked username and password. Then, bingo — you’ve got yourself some pricey hardware with someone else’s credit card. Now, they’re finally adding a two-factor authentication pop-up if someone tries to change your account email address or phone number. About time.

🏠 If you can’t build it, Prime it: With housing prices through the roof, Amazon’s doubled down on selling tiny homes. This two-bedroom cabin has a huge porch and looks like any modern Airbnb. Pay $35,000 and it’ll show up on your doorstep (or future doorstep) in less than a month.

¡Ay, car-amba! Last year, GM nearly tied its 1979 record for Corvettes sold. While other sports cars struggled, GM moved twice as many (paywall link) Corvettes as in 2019. Why? Engineers put the motor in the back, just like high-end supercars. I swear it looks like a Ferrari. Now, gearheads are lining up.

💸 This isn’t tech, but it is free money: Chase and Wells Fargo want your business so badly, they’ll give you $300 to open a new checking account. At Bank of America, it’s $200. The catch: You have to set up direct deposit. Check with your local branch for all the details.

Good price, excellent audio: You don’t have to spend $200 or more for high-quality earbuds. Raycons* have studio-quality sound and a whopping 32 hours of battery life, and they fit comfortably in every ear with precise fittings. Grab ‘em for 15% off (and free shipping!) right now at BuyRaycon.com/kim.

📅 AI personal assistant: Google Gemini or ChatGPT can plan your day for you. Tell the AI your top three priorities, appointments or commitments and how long a task typically takes. Then, ask it to create a schedule. Just like that, you’ll get a bulleted list, scheduled right down to the minute.

Lemme Turk to ya: I mentioned Amazon Mechanical Turk on the show, and a lot of you had questions. With mTurk, you can get paid to complete tasks that are easier for people than bots, like analyzing images and transcribing audio. Sign up here for a Worker account.

💻 Ctrl + Alt + Del for Chromebook: Press Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. Scan the list of apps and webpages. If your machine is lagging and you spot one with high memory consumption, click it and select End Task.

Overspend on Prime Day? Send back what you don’t actually need for a full cash refund. Log into your account, click Your Orders, find the item and select Return item. On the dropdown menu that appears, hit “No longer needed.” Free return shipping, woo!

Your Big Tech email account is technically “free,” but that just means you’re not paying money. Instead, you hand over more data than you realize. They track everything from your location and clicks to the email contacts you talk to most.

Say goodbye to all that with StartMail, a secure email provider with no invasive tracking or annoying ads. You get access to top privacy features, like unlimited disposable email addresses and easy-to-use encrypted communication, in an inbox that looks just like the one you’re used to. They even have a business subscription option with extra storage, shared email aliases and the flexibility to add unlimited domains.

Use my link to get an exclusive 60% off an annual subscription to StartMail. (You can use my discount on the new business plan, too.) You won’t find a better deal anywhere, so now's the time to give it a shot!

Please leave me alone: How to stop political texts.

🎣 Bait and switch: Dollar stores are pulling shady tricks at checkout. Don’t fall for ‘em.

iOS 18 is coming: Here are some cool things ahead.

The answer: D.) A bunch of letters. In 1971, the first email message sent by Ray Tomlinson said, "QWERTYUIOP." No, that wasn’t Ray saying, “Qwerty U I Op.” It’s the first line of letters on a standard keyboard.

Speaking of … What's management's favorite keyboard shortcut? Shift + Blame.

Stop letting Big Tech decide what emails you see. StartMail is my pick for privacy-first email. It’s super easy to switch over your contacts and mail, or you can treat it as a fresh inbox for only your VIPs. Save 60% now with my special link. Btw, I get no residuals if you buy.

See you right back here tomorrow, my friend. Until then, keep being your awesome self. — Kim