FTC says email and text message scams are soaring
Beware of emails or texts trying to get you to divulge financial information by pretending to represent a business, bank or government employee. Credit: Getty Images / Ton Photograph
Cybercriminals are realizing there’s a better chance you’ll open their email than you’ll answer your phone.
The Federal Trade Commission says frauds that begin via email or text accounted for 40% of scams last year, up from 19% in 2020. Scams via phone calls, meanwhile, fell from 67% of all reported frauds in 2020 to 32% last year.
More than half the reported scams were “impersonation frauds.” The scammer tries to get the victim to divulge financial information by pretending to represent a business such as Amazon contacting you about a suspicious charge, a bank claiming there has been unauthorized activity on your account or a government employee needing to verify account information because of a problem with your taxes or Social Security.
Console consolation prize
Atari and Intellivision sold millions of video games and consoles in the 1980s but are now only minor players. Credit: Getty Images / ilbusca
In what could be one of the biggest tech stories of the year — if the year were 1981 — game maker Atari bought rival Intellivision, ending what Atari called “the longest running console war in history.” The two companies sold millions of games and consoles in the 1980s but are now only minor players, supplanted by game systems from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
Inflation wild card
The consequences of higher prices because of inflation may be showing up on credit card bills. Credit reporting agency TransUnion says the average American is carrying a record $6,218 in credit card debt, up from $5,733 a year ago. The number of consumers rolling over monthly balances is also rising — as is the cost of paying the debt over time because interest rates are also rising.
Ford slashes EV battery orders
As EV prices have plunged and demand has slackened, Ford has forecast billions in EV losses for this year. Credit: Pool via AP / Charles Krupa
Ford has begun cutting orders from battery suppliers to stem growing electric vehicle losses. The move is part of a retrenchment of Ford’s EV strategy, which includes reducing spending by $12 billion on battery-powered models, delaying new EVs, cutting prices, and postponing and shrinking planned battery plants. As EV prices have plunged and demand has slackened, Ford has forecast EV losses of up to $5.5 billion this year. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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