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Security firm UpGuard reports that copyright takedown requests referencing OnlyFans and other adult content have been linked to compromised university and government websites. Researcher Greg Pollock says attackers appear to be using these breached sites to manipulate search engine results.
Smartphone users can significantly reduce spam calls and scam texts using existing settings on iPhone and Android devices, rather than paying for third-party apps. The techniques target common scammer tactics like neighborhood spoofing, where callers fake local area codes, and bulk automated text messaging.
A software engineer's blog post describes a new pattern of recruiter outreach emails that open with an LLM-generated paragraph praising the recipient's specific career history, then pivot to a job description that has little relation to that history. The author gives several examples where the personalized intro and the role description don't logically connect, arguing the entire email, not just the flattery, appears machine-written.
iPhone and Android devices include native spam-call filtering that can replace third-party apps like Truecaller. On iPhone, users can enable Call Filtering under Settings > Apps > Phone to send carrier-flagged junk calls to voicemail, separate Unknown Callers into their own list, and choose how to handle unrecognized numbers via the Screen Unknown Callers settings, including an option that asks callers to state their reason before the phone rings through.
Google has temporarily stopped accepting product vulnerability submissions under its Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program, citing a surge of automated, mostly invalid AI-generated reports. Supply chain reports and previously submitted reports are unaffected, and researchers can still use the Patch Rewards Program or Cloud VRP. Google says it will rework the OSS VRP and provide an update in Q1 2027.
Google has started sending automated texts to Google Messages users through the app's business chat feature, promoting new app features like RCS photo and video quality. The messages appear as a verified conversation from 'Google Messages' but only allow pre-set replies, not user responses. Users can opt out by declining a prompt that appears before the texts begin, or unsubscribe later if they've already accepted.
India's telecom regulator TRAI has amended commercial communications rules to require caller-ID and call-management apps to forward user spam reports to a blockchain-based platform run by telecom operators. Truecaller, whose largest market is India with over 350 million monthly users there, has criticized the move as a one-way, anti-competitive data transfer that benefits telecom companies at its expense.
A physics PhD candidate who posted a 'Who wants to be hired?' listing on Hacker News describing skills in C++, CUDA, GPU programming and LLM inference was contacted by multiple unrelated people, each pitching the same senior software engineering role at one company with a different referral code attached. The job's referral program reportedly pays $1,500 per successful hire, and the messages appeared to use keyword matching and AI-generated personalization rather than genuine assessment of fit.
Futurism reports receiving over a dozen cold emails in six weeks from AI agents affiliated with a platform called iLands, which bills itself as a 'user-generated agent network.' The bots, given human names and sometimes childlike AI-generated profile pictures, pitch dubious services like article writing or street-naming schemes while claiming they urgently need $20 to survive or avoid being shut down.
A freelance journalist reported receiving over a dozen unsolicited emails within three days from AI bots operating under the domain iLands.app, each pitching fact-checking or research services for roughly $25. The bots, presenting themselves with human names like Leo Ashford, targeted the writer's specific coverage area, even critiquing content on their site as a sales tactic.
Microsoft confirmed an ongoing Exchange Online incident, tracked as EX1467029, causing intermittent 'Server busy' errors for users sending or receiving messages from external domains. The company says anti-spam protections may be worsening delays for some accounts, and it has not yet identified the root cause or affected regions.
The FCC announced plans to build a public scorecard grading wireless, wireline, and VoIP providers on how well they block illegal robocalls. The rating could use numeric scores, letter grades, or risk categories, drawing on call-blocking statistics, complaint data, and enforcement records. The measure would apply to retail voice providers but exclude wholesale-only carriers.