Welcome to your Wednesday, friend. I’m not making this up. Asus is bringing us the wireless Fragrance Mouse. Flip it over, and you’ll find a hidden compartment for your favorite essential oils. It pairs perfectly with their matching laptop, which features a magnetically attached diffuser. As your computer heats up, it releases soothing smells. Isn’t this scent-sational?

😤 You know what else stinks? When your inbox hides my emails! Be a pal and respond to this one. It helps train those algorithms that you want to hear from me. Appreciate you. Onto the tech smarts! — Kim

When I say Dark Web, what comes to mind? A hacker in a hoodie? Digital drug deals and hitmen for hire? Usually what our imagination cooks up is a lot more dramatic than reality. But when it comes to the Dark Web, not so much.

I fired up the Tor browser and went digging into the underbelly of the internet. I’ll show you what I found, but first, what the heck is the Dark Web?

The sites you visit are the tip of the iceberg

Beneath the surface is a hidden part of the internet that isn’t indexed by search engines. The deep web is everything inaccessible to the public for safety, security and privacy reasons, like your specific bank account page, medical records, company databases, cloud storage accounts, private blogs and social media pages, forums that require a login and lots more.
Then there’s the Dark Web, a hidden corner of the deep web that requires special tools to access. There are above-board uses, like covertly contacting journalists if you’re in an unsafe situation. Whistleblowers often use the Dark Web to get their messages out.

Then there are the shadier parts

Like hacking forums, illegal marketplaces and all manner of perverse content. The Dark Web is filled with malware and scams, and law enforcement is there, too, watching for funny business. Simply put: If you don’t know what you’re doing, stay out.

Note: There is absolutely child sexual abuse material on the Dark Web, and it’s not hard to find. I stayed away.

👉 Guns, ammo and silencers

Throw a dart (digitally speaking) and you can find a gun for sale on the Dark Web. One site I landed on was hawking AK-47s for $1,200. This site sells ammo ($60 for 100 rounds to go with the AK-47) and silencers, too. Those start at $600.

Standard shipping is included, express is an extra $30 and “dead drop” shipping will cost you an extra $50. If you’re not familiar, that’s when you have something you definitely don’t want traced back to you sent to an empty building, a landmark or some other prearranged public location.

👉 “Your Secure Marketplace for Drugs”

I found it all — a big bag of Viagra for $135, a gram of ketamine for $60, MDMA for $150 and 28 grams of “top-shelf indoor medical marijuana” for $240. There’s less flashy stuff like Lipitor, Ecstasy and Cialis, plus a whole bunch of substances I’ve never even heard of.

Poison? You can get that, too. Heliotrope (marked as undetectable during an autopsy) is $2,800 to $14,000, ricin starts at $2,500 and potassium cyanide is $5,900.

👉 Faked celebrities

It’s not a Dark Web visit without this. Yes, naked people (women, mostly) are everywhere, and celebrities are the big draw. I didn’t care about seeing A-listers without their clothes.

What’s more interesting are scammers who put together deepfakes that can be used to con folks out of money. A video that sure looks like YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, promises 10,000 lucky folks a free iPhone. It’s a ploy, of course, but these videos really are good enough to trick someone not looking for signs.

👀 It’s one thing to read about all this stuff. Want to see it? Hit my site for pics and that MrBeast video.

✋ I’m not done … Tomorrow, I’ll share the hacking and hitman services I found. Told you the Dark Web is wild!

🐶 Meet Bella, our new pup. I can’t wait for her to come home! Yes, my Amazon cart is loaded.

💰 On a budget? You’d be surprised at the goodies you’ll find for under $10. Check out my list of picks.

🇨🇳 Communist China’s at it again: Now, China’s sending hackers after Microsoft 365 accounts, mostly in the financial services and insurance biz. Their method of choice is password spraying, aka attempting to log in to accounts with all the most common, weakest passwords. This is your friendly reminder to use a complex password* for every single account.

RIP SMS 2FA: Translation if you’re totally confused: Google is ditching text message (SMS) two-factor authentication (2FA) for something more secure. Now you’ll scan a QR code. Why the change? It’s way too easy for scammers to intercept texts and hack accounts.

It’s all your fault: That’s what online homework helper Chegg has to say about Google. They’re suing, claiming AI answers at the top of search results killed their business. Revenue is down 24%, and they’re scrambling to right the ship. My motto: Innovate or you’ll evaporate.

NASA’s new mission to deal with space junk is Apollo G: Over 11,000 satellites orbit Earth. When they crash into each other, it creates junk. (We’re talking 40K pieces of debris in low orbit.) The fix: ELROI (Extremely Low Resource Optical Identifier). In you and me terms, it’s a solar powered, stamp-sized device that’s a license plate for space identification and communication.

Smart Alexa: Might be coming soon to an Echo near you. Today, Amazon is dropping all the details on the next version of Alexa that can actually hold a conversation (not holding my breath). No livestream, but I’ll share all the intel here Thursday. I bet there’s a pay version.

💰 Want to snag a deal on eBay? Researchers found the longer it takes for a seller to reject you, the better shot you have at scoring a bargain. If it’s been a couple hours and they said “no way” to your lowball, go in with a slightly higher offer. You have ’em on the hook.

Kim Kardashian’s Instagram mistake: No, she didn’t post an unedited pic. Instead, she posted about Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu, who was convicted of murdering two people and executed around this time last year. Turns out the picture she posted was a different guy, same name, who is very much alive and now suing for slander and libel. Talk about a false bottom.

Are you still relying on QuickBooks? There’s a smarter, more powerful solution waiting for you. Here’s why NetSuite by Oracle is the right choice for your business:

All-in-one solution: Manage financials, HR, inventory and more from one platform.

Boost efficiency: Eliminate tedious paperwork and get real-time insights to grow your business.

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Whether your business earns hundreds of thousands or hundreds of millions, who wouldn’t want less manual work, better decision-making and higher profits? Now’s the time to make the switch.

“Find the weaknesses in your last response”: Try that next time you’re feeling iffy about an AI chatbot’s response. It’ll reanalyze and look for any major holes or biases. Finish up with, “Try again, but this time …” based on whatever it told you.

Tell Instagram to stop tracking you: Go to your profile and click the three-line icon > Accounts Center. Choose Ad Preferences > Manage info > Activity information from ad partners. Tap Review Settings, then No, don’t make my ads more relevant. Press Confirm. Voila.

Smart home FYI: LED lights might be the problem if your garage door openers stop working. They emit the same frequency and can interfere with remote controls. Genie and LiftMaster sell special bulbs that don’t.

Cheap gas? Yes, please: The free Upside app gives you cash back on gas, groceries and dining out. Download Upside* and use promo code Kim to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.

Picture in picture: You’re at your sister’s house and she’s bringing out the old family photos. There’s a better solution than scanning them or taking a crappy photo of them. PhotoScan by Google Photos is free and gives you a high-res digital copy without that weird glare.

7 credit card commandments: Credit cards are a great way to build your credit history and improve your credit score, but they come with some pitfalls. Clark Howard has seven rules (like paying your balance in full each month) for using credit cards. Subscribe to Clark.com’s free newsletter for more must-have money tips.

This is floating around social media. Doesn’t do diddly, so don’t believe it or share it.

Happy birthday! OK, with hundreds of thousands of you reading, I know it has to be at least one person’s special day. Hit this link for a big ol’ list of 114 freebies you can get on your birthday.

🍻 Ever heard the one about people queuing up for drinks at Old Faithful's birthday party? You're not missing much. The punch line blows.

“Hey, Kim, what was the name of that …” I get so many questions about our security sponsors. You need five security products. I put together a handy resource where you can find what they do, links and deals I’ve negotiated just for you. See you back here tomorrow with the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim